How can the poet and his beloved be canonized for love?
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Answer
How can the poet and his beloved be canonized for love?
John Donne’s (1572-1631) “The Canonization,” published in his 1633 collection Poems, is a wonderful love poem. In this poem, the speaker/poet is an aged lover. He talks about how deeply he and his beloved love each other. The speaker also says that poetry will make their love immortal and canonized. People will worship their love like saints.
Pure and Passionate Love: At the beginning of the poem, the speaker says his love is pure and harmless. His love does not harm anyone. His love does not sink ships, destroy farms, or spread diseases. So, people should not disturb or insult this aged lover.
The speaker also says he and his beloved love each other very passionately. He compares themselves to tapers (candles), flies, and even a phoenix. They die for love and are born again like the phoenix bird. This means they consume their love again and again.
Canonized through Poetry: Then, the speaker says that poetry will make their love immortal and canonized. They may not be remembered like great heroes in beautiful tombstones or history books. But their love will be remembered through poetry. As he says:
“And by these hymns, all shall approve
Us canonized for Love.”
People will read poems about their love centuries after centuries. And people will admire them like saints for their deep love. Thus, they will be canonized (made saints) for their pure and eternal love.
In short, the poet/speaker and his beloved can be canonized by poetry for their pure and eternal love. Their love will live forever in poetry like the lives of saints.