Posted by Callie Brown on March 31, 19103 at 00:06:42:

In Reply to: Does Anyone Know Anything About 'The Relic'??? posted by stef on October 01, 19102 at 15:50:33:

Similar to John Donne’s lover’s souls poems “The Canonization” and “The Ecstasie,” “The Relic” emits a serious tone of undying devotion and connection between lovers.
The speaker in “The Relic” is a man, uming a role as if he were deceased. An obvious auditor remains absent from the poem, shown through the non-colloquial tone and absence of a direct address. The speaker seems to be reflecting back upon an experience that has not yet happened--the death of him and his love. Thus, the subject of the poem is love; not merely lust, but eternal and ethereal love.
Though the poet sets forth no physical setting, the action within the mind of the speaker provide the substance of the poem. The reflections upon the life and love of the speaker and his love create a dream-like feeling for the reader, enhancing the ethereal and supernatural feeling of the poem.
In his poems, Donne utilizes many forms of figurative language. However, he uses some more often than others; allusions to the Bible, a progressive tone, and an underlying elitist tone are common in his poetry and present in “The Relic.” The reference to “the last busy day” (ln 10), “Mary Magdalen” (ln 17), “guardian angels” (ln 26) and the presence of the subject of death establish that the poem is highly serious; dealing with the supernatural, the subject of love being considered chaste and reverent.
The progressive tone is set through the three stanzas. The first stanza creates a serious tone with reference to the hair around the deceased’s wrist--according to superstition it would mark the place where two lovers’ souls would meet on Judgement Day. However, the action is rather domestic, consisting of only the two lovers. The second stanza progresses the tone from serious to elitist: “I would have that age by this paper taught/ What miracles we harmless lovers wrought.” (ln 21-22) Here the action progresses from a domestic to a state issue. “Then he that digs us up will bring/ Us to the bishop or the king,/ To make us relics…” (ln 14-16) In the third stanza, a predominant superior tone is established: “All measure, and all language, I should p,/ Should I tell what a miracle she was.” (ln 32-33) At this point, the final point, the action has surped the confines of Earth and has progressed to the ethereal and supernatural, again emphasizing the elitist attitude of the speaker.
In addition to Donne’s progression technique, he maintains a constant rhyme scheme. Each stanza, consisting of eleven lines, follows a AABBCDDCEEE rhyme scheme. Separation and transition are shown by punctuation periods only at the end of stanzas. However, the rhyme scheme separates each stanza into three sections, consisting of two sets of four lines and a conclusive three lines. The first set of four lines establishes a situation, the second set establishes the action, and the last three lines conclude the stanza.
Donne clearly presents the theme of love in “The Relic.” However, he addresses the eternal aspect of true love, love beyond lust, love more powerful than death, love as an indescribable miracle. He compares the lovers’ unity to angels: “Difference of we never knew,/ No more than guardian angels do.”

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup