The Importance Of History In Poetry

“The Importance of History in Literature” Two English poets, John Donne and Margaret Cavendish, wrote during the periods known as the Renaissance and the Restoration respectively. “The Sun Rising” by Donne details a scene in which the speaker berates the sun for rising and disturbing him and his lover. “A World in an Earring” by Cavendish discusses the idea that on the inside of an earring there is a smaller version of our world. In the Donne poem, the speaker utilizes personification such as, “Busy old fool, unruly Sun,” to create a one-way conversation between himself and the sun (1). In the Cavendish poem, the speaker explains that the center of an earring is home to a smaller version of the solar system, “An earring round may well …show more content…
Throughout “The Sun Rising,” Donne considers the depth of his feelings for his lover; “I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink, / But that I would not lose her sight so long,” “She’s all states, and all prices,” and “Thou sun art half as happy as we” (13-14, 21, 25). If it were just one line of the poem, then one could argue that the time period in which the text was written is irrelevant when considering the two poems because Cavendish also explores the topic of love in her poem. However, the entire poem, and a majority of Donne’s poetry, are about love and his emotions. This is not unusual considering most of the poetry written during the Renaissance falls into the genre of lyrical poetry which is characterized by the authors’ expression of emotions. Lyric poetry fell out of favor by the time of the Restoration. In its place, poems examining science, politics, and religion became more popular. For example, in Cavendishes’ “A World in an Earring” the speaker explains, “And lightnings, thunder, and great winds may blow / Within this earring, yet the ear knows not… / There earthquakes be, which mountains vast down fling, / And yet ne’er stir the lady’s ear” her theory that a smaller world inhabited by humans exists inside an earing (11-12,17-18). Throughout the poem, Cavendish incorporates both science and natural philosophy with specific references to natural disasters and speculation about the existence of smaller worlds within our own. This is completely opposite of Donne who only briefly mentions the scientific explanation for how the earth receives heat. Furthermore, most of Cavendish’s writing details a scientific or natural processes which is attributed to the scientific revolution of the Restoration. These examples reveal the genres in which these poems fall emphasize their place