The Relic Flashcards
If you had to give a brief overview of this poem what would it be?
This poem presents a depth of feeling found in love that is only reserved for the few.
Why does the speaker talk about “Mary Magdalen” and him being “something else thereby”
The speakes refers to his lover as Mary magdalen and indirectly refers to himself as Christ to avoid acts of Blasphemy.
He intends to elevate their relationship past something purely physical, highlighted through the hair bracelet and instead transform it into something eternal and spiriual.
What is the importance of the “bright hair about the bone”
This image is symbolic of their physical union, as at the time it was believed that when you go to heaven your primary relationship will be with god and not your lover. By having the bracelet of hair they can stay together eternally, cementing their relationship as something undying.
“to make us relics” - Where and how would you use this quote
I would use this quote to
“to make us relics” - Catholicism must be the central religion of the time as Donne referenced Idolitary, something strictly condemned by Protestants. Through this Catholic reading Donne presents his relationship as profoundly sacred, such that it should be an example to all other lovers, implying they should cherish and even study the depths of their love.
What quotation displays how Donne canno’t even begin to describe how picturesque their love is?
“All measure, and all laguage, I should pass”
- Whilst this quotation seems like a paradox as Donne says he cannot begin to describe their love, just having written a whole poem about it, it is implied that the poem itself is not enough to encapsulate the deepest creveses to which their love extends.
