The Anatomy of the World (cont'd) and George Herbert

Following our discussion of last time, we will continue reading Donne's 'The Anatomy of the World.' Is there a relationship between argument and form? How does the structure of the First Anniversary which we outlined last time contribute to the meaning of the poem? Is there a relationship between Donne's conception of the soul - composed of understanding, memory, and will - and the internal structure of the poem? Why does Donne say of Elizabeth that she is both 'Quire' and 'Song'? What - from the 'Anatomy' enacted in the poem - is the role of the poet?

A famous literary critic once said: 'For early modern scientists and philosophers, knowledge was a matter of being apart; for Donne and his contemporaries, knowledge is a question of taking part.' Could such a statement be justified in a reading of Donne's poem? An even more famous psychoanalyst, Jonathan Lear, writes, that the 'conception of objectivity, worked out in seventeenth-century science, assumes that knowledge is available 'from no perspective at all.' This perspective, which Lear calls, 'outside of love' must be 'one of developmental failure.' Can Lear's statement be translated in such a way to be useful to a reading of Donne's poem.

Please make sure that you have a copy of the poem - with line numbers, and sections and sub-sections marked off - for next class. We may look at some selections from the Second Anniversary (which I will provide in class) before moving on to the poetry of George Herbert.

Most of Herbert's poems are available on the luminarium website, here, or on this kind of funky (note Temple model in the background ) site. You can also find them in the Oxford edition of Herbert on the reserve shelf in the library; there are other copies on the library shelves. There is also a pdf file of selected poems on our site (though there are certain advantages to reading from a serious scholarly edition). Ideally, we should read all of Herbert's poems from The Temple; Herbert conceived of his work as a whole - with the parts relating one to the other. But for next class focus on 'The Dedication,' 'The Altar,' 'The Reprisall,' 'Redemption,' 'Easter-wings,' 'Prayer I,' 'The Temper II,' 'Jordan I and II,' 'Church-monuments,' 'The Windows,' 'Deniall,' 'Love I, II, III,' 'Bunch of Grapes,' 'The Elixir,' 'The Collar,' 'The Pulley,' 'A True Hymne.'

Be sure to check here again for further updates or guidance.