John Donne Poetry Summaries
A Jet Ring Sent - correct answerLiteral interpretation of a lover receiving a mourning
ring to signify the end of their relationship
A Valediction Forbidding Mourning - correct answerPoem written in the form of a
farewell letter, where the speaker forbids his love from mourning their relationship as
their love will grow spiritually stronger despite the distance between them
Air and Angels - correct answerSpeaker explores physical and spiritual love and says
that neither love can be complete without the other - connotations of physical air and
spiritual angels.
His Picture - correct answerA young lover departing on a sea voyage offers his love a
portrait of him, but warns her that he won't look like that for long as people change
The Anniversary - correct answerThe speaker talks about the everlasting and loyal
nature of his love as it grows stronger through time, but creates a paradox by
considering the anniversary and putting a time on their love.
The Apparition - correct answerThe speaker questions the virginity of the woman he is
with, threatening to come back and haunt her if she is lying
The Canonization - correct answerThe speaker tells critics of his love to "let him love",
suggesting that love is timeless in that it can strike at any age and is able to give lovers
saint-like immortality
The Flea - correct answerDemanding speaker uses the conceit of a flea to convince a
woman to spend the night with him in a clumsy three stanza poem
The Good Morrow - correct answerAubade that describes love as a religious experience
by showing that erotic love produces the safe effects as religion can. The speaker
abandons the outside world and and finds immortality
The Relic - correct answerSpeaker equates their love to saints as they should be
canonised for their pure and spiritual love, as signified by the bracelet of hair around his
wrist
The Sun Rising - correct answerThe speaker personifies the sun, treating is as
competition for his lover's attention.
The Triple Fool - correct answerA self-reflective poem about rejection and dealing with
lost love
A Jet Ring Sent - correct answerLiteral interpretation of a lover receiving a mourning
ring to signify the end of their relationship
A Valediction Forbidding Mourning - correct answerPoem written in the form of a
farewell letter, where the speaker forbids his love from mourning their relationship as
their love will grow spiritually stronger despite the distance between them
Air and Angels - correct answerSpeaker explores physical and spiritual love and says
that neither love can be complete without the other - connotations of physical air and
spiritual angels.
His Picture - correct answerA young lover departing on a sea voyage offers his love a
portrait of him, but warns her that he won't look like that for long as people change
The Anniversary - correct answerThe speaker talks about the everlasting and loyal
nature of his love as it grows stronger through time, but creates a paradox by
considering the anniversary and putting a time on their love.
The Apparition - correct answerThe speaker questions the virginity of the woman he is
with, threatening to come back and haunt her if she is lying
The Canonization - correct answerThe speaker tells critics of his love to "let him love",
suggesting that love is timeless in that it can strike at any age and is able to give lovers
saint-like immortality
The Flea - correct answerDemanding speaker uses the conceit of a flea to convince a
woman to spend the night with him in a clumsy three stanza poem
The Good Morrow - correct answerAubade that describes love as a religious experience
by showing that erotic love produces the safe effects as religion can. The speaker
abandons the outside world and and finds immortality
The Relic - correct answerSpeaker equates their love to saints as they should be
canonised for their pure and spiritual love, as signified by the bracelet of hair around his
wrist
The Sun Rising - correct answerThe speaker personifies the sun, treating is as
competition for his lover's attention.
The Triple Fool - correct answerA self-reflective poem about rejection and dealing with
lost love
