The Canonization: an Analysis of Structure and Symbolism

The poem ‘Canonization’ by John Donne, with its witty analogies and inventive use of conceits, exemplifies metaphysical poetry. The poem begins abruptly in typical Donne fashion. The speaker is addressing someone who seems to disapprove of his love. He asks the addressee to keep quiet or chide him for his other shortcomings like his palsy, gout, greying hair or his ruined fortune. Then he talks about things the society deems important and tells the addressee to work on obtaining them instead of criticizing the speaker. The addressee is asked to work on improving is own state or mind by wealth or arts; to take a course or enter a profession; or to preoccupy himself with gaining favour with the nobility or chasing money. It is implied that these things hold no value for the speaker and that there is something inherently wrong with the society which encourages greed, sycophancy and cupidity but faults him for his love.

In the second stanza, the poet parodies contemporary Petrarchan notions of love and places them in stark contrast with the ugly realities of the world. He asks rhetorically, “who’s injured by my love?” The torments of love experienced by the speaker, his sighs, tears, colds and passion, do not harm anyone else. The innocence of his love is then played off against the misery, exploitation and suffering prevalent in the real world. His sighs do not sink ships, nor do his tears flood lands. The approaching spring is not chilled by his colds and the heat in his veins is not the cause of plague. The true tragedies in this world, the wars and the quarrelling men, are not affected by his love at all. The stanza ends with the mention of the speaker’s lover who for the first time becomes an active participant in what till now was only mentioned by the speaker as “my love”.

The third stanza is filled with metaphors which bring into light the saintly nature of the lovers. The poet says that the lovers do not care about the censure of the society because their love has made them what they are. The society may compare them to insignificant flies/moths, but even such a comparison brings into light their saintly nature because like moths they too are ready to sacrifice themselves at the flame (of love). The lovers are then compared to a candle that dies at its own cost. Similarly, the lovers are consumed by their own passion. Conventional symbols “eagle and the dove” denoting the male strength and female gentleness are then used to explain how opposing forces are brought together within them. The speaker then compares himself and his beloved to a phoenix, which also has a religious significance with regards to the resurrection awaiting the lovers. The two lovers become one to rise above their sexuality and give credibility to the legend of the phoenix. After being consumed by their passion they are reborn from the ashes of their love. The word “die” is used as a play on the popular renaissance pun meaning orgasm. Thus, by living beyond their own ‘death’ they perform a miracle which can be taken as a sign of sanctification. The sexual act is presented as a sacrament, celebrated by two saints (the lovers), in worship of their religion (love). This application of sexual images in a religious context is almost blasphemous.

In the third stanza, the poet gradually moves away the ironic, witty banter and acquires a serious tone. The tenderness and seriousness continues in the fourth stanza. The speaker says that the lovers are ready to die for their love. After their death, even if their legend is not fit for tombs and hearse, it will be fit for poetry. The lovers have no desire to be remembered in chronicles but will “build in sonnets pretty rooms”. This metaphor is even more appropriate because the Italian word for ‘room’ is ‘stanza’.

The lovers are then compared to the “greatest ashes” whose virtue remains unchanged whether they are kept in “well-wrought urns”(pretty sonnets) or “half acre tombs”(chronicles). These hymns written as a tribute to their love will lead to their canonization and other lovers will invoke the speaker and his beloved.

Their quintessential love is further explored in the last stanza. Their love has made them one another’s hermitage. In becoming hermits, they do not give up the world but “drive” into each other’s eyes the soul of the whole world with its countries, towns and courts. Thereby they made mirrors or spyglasses through which the whole world can be viewed. The other lovers will then pray for the pattern of the speaker’s love, so that they may model their own love after it.