The Apparition

Context

John Donne's Personal Life

• John Donne's tumultuous personal life, including his secret marriage to Anne More and the consequent financial and social difficulties, influenced much of his poetry. The Apparition reflects a darker, more cynical view of love and relationships, possibly stemming from Donne's own experiences with betrayal and emotional pain.
• Donne's early life was marked by a wild youth, which later contrasted with his deep religious convictions as he converted from Catholicism to Anglicism. This poem captures some of the bitterness and disillusionment that might have arisen from his early romantic escapades.

Literary Context

• The Apparition is part of Donne's Songs and Sonnets, which display his metaphysical style. Metaphysical poetry is known for its intellectual complexity, emotional intensity, and the use of elaborate conceits. This poem exemplifies these characteristics through its unique blend of macabre imagery and emotional intensity.

• The poem stands out for its use of a ghostly figure to convey feelings of betrayal and revenge, a departure from the more conventional themes of love and admiration found in much Renaissance poetry.

  

• Donne's work often explores the darker aspects of human emotion and experience, and The Apparition is a prime example of this, focusing on themes of betrayal, revenge, and the transient nature of life and love.

Historical and Political Background

• The early 17th century was a time of significant religious and political upheaval in England. Donne's conversion from Catholicism to Anglicism during this period is indicative of the broader religious tensions that influenced his writing.
• The Renaissance era's fascination with the supernatural and the afterlife is reflected in the poem's ghostly imagery and themes of death and revenge. This period was marked by a growing interest in exploring the boundaries between life and death, and The Apparition taps into these cultural preoccupations.
• Donne's poetry often challenges societal norms and expectations, reflecting the intellectual and cultural shifts of the time. In The Apparition, he subverts the traditional love poem by infusing it with bitterness and a desire for revenge, highlighting the complexity and duality of human emotions in the face of betrayal.

Structure and Form

Form, Meter, and Rhyme

• The poem consists of a single 17-line stanza.
• It employs an irregular meter, primarily iambic, but frequently shifts between iambic pentameter, trimeter, and tetrameter, reflecting the speaker's emotional instability.
• The rhyme scheme is ABBABCDCDCEFFEGGG, contributing to the erratic and turbulent tone of the poem.

Speaker and Setting

• The speaker is a scorned lover addressing the woman who has rejected him.
• The setting is imagined, taking place in the speaker's mind as he envisions himself haunting his beloved and her new lover as a ghost.

Poetic Devices

• Hyperbole: The speaker's declaration that he will die from heartbreak is exaggerated to convey his intense emotional pain.
• Metaphor: The beloved is metaphorically described as a "murderess", highlighting the perceived severity of her rejection.
• Allusion: References to "vestal" virgins and ancient Roman religious practices underscore the speaker's accusation of hypocrisy.
• Irony: The speaker's elaborate revenge fantasy ironically reveals his torment and obsession, rather than any real power over his beloved.

Key Themes

Rejection and Revenge

• The poem explores the bitterness and desire for revenge that can arise from unrequited love.

"When by thy scorn, O murd'ress, I am dead / And that thou think'st thee free / From all solicitation from me, / Then shall my ghost come to thy bed" (Lines 1-4)

Women's Hypocrisy and Male Jealousy

• The speaker accuses his beloved of pretending to be chaste while implying she will soon be with another man.

"And thee, feign'd vestal, in worse arms shall see" (Line 5)

Line by Line Analysis

Lines 1-3

When by thy scorn, O murd'ress, I am dead

And that thou think'st thee free

From all solicitation from me,

_"_When by thy scorn, O murd'ress, I am dead"

• The speaker accuses his beloved of metaphorically killing him with her rejection.

"And that thou think'st thee free / From all solicitation from me,"

• He suggests that she believes she will be free from his advances after his death.

Lines 4-5

Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,

And thee, feign'd vestal, in worse arms shall see;

"Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,"

• The speaker imagines haunting his beloved's bed as a ghost.

"And thee, feign'd vestal, in worse arms shall see;"

• He envisions her in the arms of another, less worthy man, accusing her of false chastity.

Lines 6-10

Then thy sick taper will begin to wink,

And he, whose thou art then, being tir'd before,

Will, if thou stir, or pinch to wake him, think

Thou call'st for more,

And in false sleep will from thee shrink;

"Then thy sick taper will begin to wink,"

• The candle by her bed will flicker uneasily, adding to the ghostly atmosphere.

"And he, whose thou art then, being tir'd before,"

• Her new lover will already be exhausted from previous activities.

"Will, if thou stir, or pinch to wake him, think / Thou call'st for more,"

• If she tries to wake him, he will pretend to be asleep, thinking she wants more sex.

"And in false sleep will from thee shrink;"

• He will move away from her, pretending to be asleep.

Lines 11-13

And then, poor aspen wretch neglected thou

Bath'd in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lie

A verier ghost than I.

"And then, poor aspen wretch, neglected thou"

• She will be left alone, trembling like an aspen tree.

"Bath'd in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lie"

• She will lie in a cold sweat, resembling mercury in its fluidity and chill.

"A verier ghost than I."

• She will appear more ghostly than the speaker himself.

Lines 14-17

What I will say, I will not tell thee now,

Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,

I had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,

"What I will say, I will not tell thee now,"

• The speaker withholds his planned words, suggesting their dreadfulness.

"Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,"

• He fears revealing his words might cause her to take him back out of fear, rather than genuine remorse.

"I'had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,"

• He prefers that she suffer and regret her actions.

_"_Than by my threat'nings rest still innocent."

• He would rather she feel the pain of guilt than remain unscathed by his threats.