Since the beginning of philosophical thought in humans, there has been a wide variety of beliefs about the four natural elements: earth, water, air, and fire. Most of the great philosophical and scientific minds in history have pondered on the elements, and all of them have come to their own conclusions. Many people characterize these elements as something that is both a spiritual being and a physical presence. The elements seem to embody both the divide and the overlap between the spiritual world and the physical realm, thus making them some of the most philosophically interesting ideas to ever exist. The four natural elements each represent highly specific qualities that have remained consistent throughout history. John Donne expertly fit
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(13-16)
In this poem, fire is representative of death and illness, as the fire is what is killing the woman he loves. Fire is mentioned again in Donne’s Holy Sonnet 7, From death, you numberless infinities Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go, All whom the flood did, and fire shall o'erthrow, All whom war, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies, Despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes, Shall behold God, and never taste death's woe. (3-8)
In this particular poem, although the poem itself does not have a negative connotation, the fire individually is simply referring to something which has caused death. Donne typically continues this train of thought throughout his poems, and does not have tendencies towards any positive aspects of fire. Water was often used to refer to tears, crying, sadness or calmness in sixteenth century poetry. Edmund Spenser wrote a poem entitled Sonnet XVIII which includes water in its content. The poem reads, And, when I weep, she says, “Tears are but water,” And, when I sigh, she says, “I know the …show more content…
Across all mediums, however, there was a common thread that linked the elements to each other. Donne’s thoughts about the four elements fit right in with the other thoughts about the elements of his time period, making his poetry highly relevant and appropriate for his time period. Donne used the elements to quickly express thoughts in his poems. Instead of going into great detail about a tears, he can simply use the element of water to create the same effect. The same is true, in different ways, for all of the other elements. The four natural elements were just as effective as similes or other rhetorical devices in conveying emotions and thoughts without using a lot of words, and still fitting nicely into the author’s prose. Donne was a master of the elements, using them frequently in many of his poems; he therefore brought new meanings to very old philosophical
(13-16)
In this poem, fire is representative of death and illness, as the fire is what is killing the woman he loves. Fire is mentioned again in Donne’s Holy Sonnet 7, From death, you numberless infinities Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go, All whom the flood did, and fire shall o'erthrow, All whom war, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies, Despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes, Shall behold God, and never taste death's woe. (3-8)
In this particular poem, although the poem itself does not have a negative connotation, the fire individually is simply referring to something which has caused death. Donne typically continues this train of thought throughout his poems, and does not have tendencies towards any positive aspects of fire. Water was often used to refer to tears, crying, sadness or calmness in sixteenth century poetry. Edmund Spenser wrote a poem entitled Sonnet XVIII which includes water in its content. The poem reads, And, when I weep, she says, “Tears are but water,” And, when I sigh, she says, “I know the …show more content…
Across all mediums, however, there was a common thread that linked the elements to each other. Donne’s thoughts about the four elements fit right in with the other thoughts about the elements of his time period, making his poetry highly relevant and appropriate for his time period. Donne used the elements to quickly express thoughts in his poems. Instead of going into great detail about a tears, he can simply use the element of water to create the same effect. The same is true, in different ways, for all of the other elements. The four natural elements were just as effective as similes or other rhetorical devices in conveying emotions and thoughts without using a lot of words, and still fitting nicely into the author’s prose. Donne was a master of the elements, using them frequently in many of his poems; he therefore brought new meanings to very old philosophical