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As-salamu alaykum and good day everyone. Welcome
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back and let's continue our lesson on our friend
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John Donne. As we saw last time we examined some
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texts by John Donne himself and by George Herbert
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who is also a follower of John Donne. We realized
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that during the Elizabethan and the Jacobian ages
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there were poets, major poets following the rules
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of decorum. They were writing according to a set
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of rules they had to follow in a way or another.
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But despite that, despite the strong current, the
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many people who were writing this kind of
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literature, there were some poets who were writing
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something different, totally different. In a way,
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they were experimenting on new forms, new
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language, new themes. They were breaking the rules
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of decorum. They were challenging the authority
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itself, the mainstream opinion of what it is to
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write poetry and literature. Today, I'll continue
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talking about John Donne. and examine the features
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of his poetry and that of the metaphysical poetry.
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In general, last time I summed up the class and I
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concluded saying that because John Donne did this,
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because he wrote different poetry, he was not
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welcomed in a way. He was not received well. He
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was negatively framed, remember? As a bad poet, as
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a difficult poet, A person who doesn't write
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poetry but writes verse. So his poetry is not
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poetry because it breaks the rules. For about 200
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years, John Donne and his followers were outside
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the English canon. Remember the English canon when
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we said it's not objective? Because the people who
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determine the canon are the people who benefit
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from the canon, who are closer to the king
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probably or the queen. And it was T.S. Eliot. And
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we already know who T.S. Eliot is. He's a famous
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20th century poet and critic. T.S. Eliot brought
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those poets back to life. He resurrected them. He
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opened their graves and brought them back to life
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and made them famous again. He showed how
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important their poetry was. And as a matter of
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fact, many poets in the 20th century were
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following the example of John Donne and his poets.
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And a very important example how John Donne and
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his followers were negatively framed is the fact
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that they were described as metaphysical poets.
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The term meta and physical, what does it have to
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do with pottery? Physical and metaphysical, beyond
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nature and supernatural and beyond the physical.
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Many people try to explain the term, what it
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means. But personally, I believe it doesn't mean
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much. Because it was used as a negative word, as
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TSE let's say, as a term of abuse. As an insult,
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thank you. Metaphysical. Seriously, when you see,
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when I tell you, OK, here is a romantic poem, and
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here is a metaphysical poem, which one would you
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choose before reading? Probably the romantic,
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because it's a romantic poem. Something you might
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find good, you think would be good. But
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metaphysical poetry. So early in the 20th century,
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TS Eliot again
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showed how important Don and his followers were at
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Marvel and at George Herbert. And many poets
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started, in a way, imitating them, following them,
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using them as examples. And they become, nowadays,
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John Donne and his followers are more important
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than Johnson and even probably Dryden and other
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poets. And this is how funny life can be and
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literature can be. When you are alive, nobody
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cares about you. 100 years later, nobody cares
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about you. 100 years, even 200 years later, nobody
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cares about you. But later on, something happens
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and you become the most important poet around.
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John Donne, in my opinion, is one of the most
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famous poets. Not only for his good poetry,
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wonderful poetry, that still even today talks to
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us like Shakespeare. But because he brought new
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things, new themes, new forms to English poetry
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early in the 17th century. So let's study more
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about John Donne.
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Remember this? Did we study this already before?
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Can someone read? Please. Come live with me and be
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my love and we will have some new pleasures as
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well. Very good. Come live with me and be my love
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and we will have some new pleasures as well.
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Pleasures as well. Did we study this before
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already? Yes. Who is the poet here? Did we study
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this? Haven't we studied this before? Oh, we
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studied something by Marlowe, remember? Are you
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sure? Are you sure this is Marlowe? Remember the
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passionate Chiba to his love? How does it begin?
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Does anybody memorize the lines, the first
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couplet? The passionate Chiba to his love. What
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does he say? He says, What is this Marlowe? The
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first line is Marlowe. What is the second one
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Marlowe? All. This is Marlowe. Come live with me
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and be my love and we will all the pleasures grow.
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And this is done. Done says some, new. Here all,
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old. Here some, but this some is new it's
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interesting so let's try to compare between these
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couplets so again this is مانو but this is دانس
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what do you notice what is the major difference
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here same number of feet same rhyme scheme same
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almost everything same first line but the second
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line we have here all the definite article, and
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here we have some, but this some is new. And this
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is the metaphysical poetry, this is John Donne. He
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knew, he was conscious that he was writing new
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poetry, that he was writing something different.
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that he was changing the history of English poetry
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in a way or another, that he was breaking the
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rule. Many people, critics say that Jonathan was
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just a digression. He just was writing poetry the
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way he liked. That's true, but There's also strong
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evidence in his poetry that John Donne knew that
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he was contradicting, swimming against the
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current, like some of you said last time, that he
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was breaking the rules of decorum of the
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Elizabethan poetry writing process. So here,
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remember we said this represents the Elizabethan
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English poetry. Rules, decorum, everything counts,
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and the poet is idealistic. Remember the courtly
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love? Come live with me and be like, because I own
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all the pleasures, the idealism. Idealized love.
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And in John Donne, we said John Donne is
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realistic. He's an individual. He's more
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realistic. He knows he can't own all. But when he
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is doing this, he's contradicting. So he's saying
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some in other ways. He's telling us, no one can
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own all things. And at the same time, he tells us,
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I have new kinds of pleasure, exactly like his
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poetry, new kinds of poetry, poems in a way that
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he is giving us new forms. We saw, for example,
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the new rhyme scheme for the sonnet and we saw the
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new themes he introduced to the sonnet. Turn the
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sonnet from a love poem into a religious poem.
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Remember, the sonnet is the most sacred form of
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all poetry. 14 lines, love, Italian,
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Shakespearean. For Don, he broke this. He mixed
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both forms, and he had his own form, the John
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Donne form of sonnets. Is it about love? It's
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about religion, about God, batter my heart, three
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persons, God, death, be not proud, et cetera. In
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this context here, I need to talk about something
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called parody and something else called
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intertextuality.
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Listen. We spoke probably briefly about parody
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before. Parody is to parody something to imitate,
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to copy. You do something, I do something similar
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to it. But I change a little bit. So parody in
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Arabic is some kind of like muhaka, something like
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this. When someone writes a text, you write a text
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similar to it. We studied this probably in Arabic,
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Jareer, Al-Farazdaq, and how they were writing,
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using the same meter and the same rhyme to write
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about the same thing, but it's the opposite. Now,
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parody is a very important literary device.
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Generally, it means when you imitate another
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literary work. When you imitate another literal in
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a comic way, okay? In a comic way, just to make
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fun of it. However, for John Donne, comedy is also
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serious.
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It's not only comic, ha ha ha, let's laugh at
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Marlow, let's make fun of Marlow. It's also
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serious. Why is it serious? Because in his parody,
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when we study the whole poem, we see how, for
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example, Marlow is idealistic, is dreamy. Dreamy,
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you know? He dreams of owning all the pleasures.
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And we saw, for example, how he represents the
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woman as silent and weak. He's just, she doesn't
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reply, she doesn't act. She is not there in the
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text. She's just listening to him. Assuming that
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she is there. Probably he sent her a letter. So
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come live with me and be my love. In a way, he's
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very persuasive. He's tricking her. He doesn't
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think highly of the woman. He thinks the woman is
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not smart as he is. Because any smart woman would
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say, come on, you're just a shepherd. I can't come
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with you. You don't have one pleasure, let alone
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all the pleasures. And instead of wasting your
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time, go take care of the sheep you're supposed to
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be taken care of. So the woman here is weak. It's
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not weak, actually. It's presented as weak. And in
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Dan, when you read the whole poem, you will
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realize that he presents us with a smart woman, an
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intellectual.
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An intellectual, a woman who thinks for herself, a
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woman who understands poetry and understands
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debate and understands what the poet is trying to
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do. So when Jonathan is doing this, he's
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criticizing not only Marlowe, but criticizing
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Marlowe's society. Thank you very much. He's
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criticizing the society in which women are
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negatively portrayed. as objects for men to own
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and control. But in John Donne, the woman is
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strong, is powerful, is independent. You know
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independent? Yes. Not dependent on man. So that's
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why parody for John Donne is very serious. Serious
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because it criticizes not only other poets, but
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also the society itself. He's telling, why are you
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treating women this badly? Why? Why? Women are as
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smart as men and maybe smarter. We see this
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constantly in Joan Dunn's portrait. The other
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thing is intertextuality. So again, how does Joan
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Dunn criticize the society? By parodying it, by
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making fun, by mocking. You know mock? Make fun of
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something in a serious way. Intertextuality, in a
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way it's similar to this. Text, you know text?
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Intertext. Intertext, where texts are
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interconnected, linked. Intertextuality in Arabic
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is attanas.
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When a critic, sorry, a poet quotes, uses poetry
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from another poet, from another person. When a
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writer uses a quote, a quotation, or an extract
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from another text. This is called intertextuality.
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Marlow says, come live with me and be my love. Don
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says, come live with me and So this text has
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intertextuality. Why? Because originally it was
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said by Marlowe. But is John Donne criticizing,
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copying Marlowe 100%, copy-paste, photocopying
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him? No, he changed. But why does he do this? He
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could have written the whole poem without this
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couplet and it would be a totally different poem.
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But he's telling us, wait, my whole poem here is
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mainly to criticize Marlow and the society. So I'm
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beginning from Marlow. You would say, hey, Dan is
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using Marlow. I know many people confuse this,
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confused between these couplets. He is using
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Marlow not as, you know, to imitate him in a way
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where he is following his steps. Oh, I want to be
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like Marlow. I want to do like Marlow. He's doing
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this to criticize him and criticize his portrait.
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The idealism of the Elizabethan age, the way that
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women were negatively portrayed as silent and
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weak, and other things are mocked. criticized and
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attacked in John Donne. He does this constantly in
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an amazing way. That's why many women, by the way,
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love John Donne's poetry. Because it gives them a
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voice. It gives them a presence. And sometimes the
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woman is smarter than the man himself. She can't
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be tricked by, come live with me and be my love.
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OK? So if in the exam I ask you to contextualize
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this, In exam, there will be a question asking you
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to contextualize extracts from poetry we studied.
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Here, you should say, this is a text by Marlow
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from a passionate shepherd or a passionate
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shepherd to his love. In this couplet, the poet is
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inviting his mistress or beloved and promising her
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all the pleasures. Here, we have what we call
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courtly love. or idealized love. What is idealized
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love about idealism? Not realistic. Okay, so
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Marlow, the passionate shepherd promising all,
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however, the imperfect rhyme here might expose the
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poet as fake, as ungenuine. Not truthful, because
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we realize that he is a shepherd. He doesn't own
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anything. If you need to comment on this, you
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should say, this is by John Donne from a poem
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called The Bait. You know what a bait is? Remember
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Shylock? I'll bait with it. Bait. Shylock. When
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they said, what do you want to do with a pound of
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flesh? I will bait. Bait, to'am al-samaka. When
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you want to fish, you use some kind of food for
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strange name for a love poem. So this is by John
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Donne from The Bait. In this poem, John Donne is
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parodying Marlow.
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It's important to use the word parody. Parodying
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Marlow because he's criticizing Oh, and the
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society. In this couplet, John Donne is more
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realistic because he says some, not all, and at
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the same time, he clearly tells us that he's
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bringing new themes, new issues, new forms to
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poetry. Again, John Donne criticizes Malo by
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parodying him.
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Criticizes the way he represents women. Criticizes
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his idealized love. He's more realistic because he
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uses the word son. And at the same time, John
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Donne clearly and consciously tells us that he is
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bringing new themes, new issues, and new forms to
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poetry.
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It's interesting what parody can do.
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So this is again the summary I said last time.
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Okay, for next class we can probably examine two
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extracts from Andrew Marvel and Herbert. What are
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the features of John Donne's portrait?
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Someone.
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Tell me, what are the features of John Donne's
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poetry? What are the characteristics? I remember
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we had the characteristics of Old English, Middle
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English, Shakespeare, Marlow.
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If you have to mention three or four features
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about John Donne, what is special? What is
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different about his poetry? Can you tell me,
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please? His poetry,
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thank you, is more realistic than the Elizabethan
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poetry, which is generally idealistic. He's more
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realistic.
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His poetry is about a man's problems, a woman's
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problems, about individual issues, things we face
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probably on a daily basis, not idealized love.
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In the sonnet, thank you. So this is an example,
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but generally he introduced us to new poetic forms
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where the meaning is more important than the rule.
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For example, in the sonnet, He changes the rhyme
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scheme, the form, and changes the theme itself of
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the sonnet. Very good. More.
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More.
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I just, by the way, mentioned most of them right
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now. OK, again, please. His poetry is a mixture
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between love religion and daily life issues. OK,
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so generally, his poetry mixes between secular and
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religious. There are many love poems by John Donne
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and many religious poems by John Donne, but
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sometimes the same poem could have a mixture of
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both. We discussed this when we spoke about battle
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my heart three person God. There is this strong
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love intimate relationship between him and the
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person and the person in the poem is God. More.
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Please. He uses parody.
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Thank you very much. He was critical of his
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community. In his poetry, he shows his opinion
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about not only poetry, but also the society
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itself. So he uses parody and intertextuality to
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criticize. To criticize his society and poetry
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itself. What else? Please. He had great knowledge
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about the classical literature. Yeah, but it
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doesn't show much in his portrait, because he
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doesn't follow the rules of neoclassicism. He
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breaks these rules. But again, you don't break
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something unless you are well read into it. Yeah?
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More? He wanted to say the same thing. He broke
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the rules of Decorum. We've seen his poem,
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remember, The Sun Rising? Some lines are five
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feet, some two, some three. So he, simply
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speaking, he breaks the rules of Decorum. What
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else?
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Okay, so let's go through the list and speak about
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two or three features that I didn't mention
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before. So number one, he introduces us to new
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poetic forms, for example, the sonnet. Sorry, this
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should be the sonnet, okay? And he didn't create
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the sonnet, it was already there, but he changed
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the theme and the form. He uses parody and
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intertextuality sometimes. to make fun of, to
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criticize the existing rules of decorum and social
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rules. Mainly here, the status of women. In Donne,
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the woman is equal to man. If not, sometimes
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smarter and more intellectual than him. This is
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new. This is like Shakespeare, like Portia in The
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Magic of Venice. He uses the conceit. Listen, the
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conceit is a very important
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literary device in the metaphysical photo. A
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conceit is generally a metaphor.
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Remember a metaphor when you liken something to
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something? But here a conceit is a literal device
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where the relationship between the two things
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you're talking about is unlikely. So you liken a
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woman to a rose, right? You liken a woman to what?
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To a tree, to the moon. Beautiful thing. But these
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are conventional images. For Jonathan, he uses
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totally different imagery. He uses what we call
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the conceit. The conceit is a long metaphor.
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a long metaphor. Sometimes the whole poem is one
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metaphor, one conceit, in which the relationship
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between A and B, when you say A is like B,
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sometimes there is a similarity. When you say she
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is like a rose, she is like a dove, you want to
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say that she's peaceful like the dove. She's
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beautiful as the rose, right? But here, for Joan
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Dunn, the vehicle and the tenor do not usually
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have an apparent relationship. Take this example.
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When he talks to his wife, he tells her, we are
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like stiff twin compasses. Do you know what a
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compass is? Yeah, the compass is the device that
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shows us north. But that's the compass. Here, this
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is different. This is, in geometry, when you're
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doing mathematics and draw shapes in geometry, you
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know, you need to use this device to make circles.
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You know? What do you call this? Yeah.
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So Jonathan is telling his wife that you and I are
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like a stiff twin compasses.
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What? Weird, strange. We're not used to this. This
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is new. How? It's like you and I are like this,
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like we're part of the same thing. We are one.
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It's like you and I are like this notebook. How?
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Weird, strange. But when you think of it, oh, we
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are connected, we come together, even if we are
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sometimes far away from each other, we're still
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connected in the center here. Oh, that's genius.
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That's new at the same time. So the stiff twin
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compasses, he tells his wife lesson, we are one
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because sometimes it's like this, the stiff twin
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compasses. Sometimes I go away, but when I am
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away, we are still connected. And he tells the
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woman, his wife, you are the fixed foot. You are
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here. So again, it's the woman who controls this
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relationship. She is fixed here. She is the core
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of the relationship. So no matter how long I am
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far away, when I go around, at the end of the day,
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I'm going to go back as long as you are fixed in
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the middle. This is called a conceit. In another
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00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:18,560
poem called The Flea, this is another example. You
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00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,140
know what the flea is? What's the flea? A tiny
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00:27:22,140 --> 00:27:28,620
insect? Barghout? Barghout? You know? Barghout?
403
00:27:29,620 --> 00:27:33,500
Insect? The flea. So a flea bites him, sucks his
404
00:27:33,500 --> 00:27:36,500
blood, and bites the woman and sucks her blood.
405
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And he tells her, listen, we are you, I, the flea
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are one. Because our blood is inside one. And at
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00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,660
the beginning, it's like, this is strange in a
408
00:27:51,660 --> 00:27:54,800
way. But when you come to think of it, it's also
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genius. And imagine they, remember we spoke about
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00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:02,220
three persons, God, Trinity. Here, there's the
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00:28:02,220 --> 00:28:06,720
idea of Trinity again. Because the flea, you, and
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00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,160
I are like a religious triangle. We form it here.
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00:28:11,550 --> 00:28:14,330
His imagery and conceit sometimes might sound
414
00:28:14,330 --> 00:28:17,710
strange. But when you analyze them, when you
415
00:28:17,710 --> 00:28:20,810
understand them in their context, they are new and
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00:28:20,810 --> 00:28:23,290
innovative and genius and smart. They always make
417
00:28:23,290 --> 00:28:26,990
you laugh. Really interesting. Because for John
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Donne, he was fit up with, shall I compare the
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blossoms of the day or the trees or the flowers or
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the moon or the sun. Okay, realism against
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Elizabethan idealism, display of wit. He was
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educated and also wit, he was smart. He uses his
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00:28:46,510 --> 00:28:49,690
argumentative style. He tells you an idea and
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00:28:49,690 --> 00:28:52,410
you're like, you're crazy, this can't be possible.
425
00:28:52,530 --> 00:28:55,310
At the end of the poem, interesting, that could be
426
00:28:55,310 --> 00:28:56,110
possible in a way.
427
00:28:59,270 --> 00:29:02,130
Yeah, and then he's convincing, you know, he's
428
00:29:02,130 --> 00:29:04,550
argumentative. But when he does this, he's not
429
00:29:06,970 --> 00:29:10,650
controlling the other person. Because in the flea,
430
00:29:11,050 --> 00:29:14,510
when he tells the woman, oh, this flea is sacred.
431
00:29:14,650 --> 00:29:19,250
It has our blood. What does she do? She kills the
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00:29:19,250 --> 00:29:23,850
flea. Yeah. Because she can't be deceived. She's
433
00:29:23,850 --> 00:29:27,430
powerful. She's smart. Come on. And she kills the
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00:29:27,430 --> 00:29:35,770
flea to show that she can't be tricked by him. And
435
00:29:35,770 --> 00:29:40,010
the dramatic, remember the poem last time, The Sun
436
00:29:40,010 --> 00:29:46,370
Rising? How does it begin? Busy old fool unruly
437
00:29:46,370 --> 00:29:49,810
sun. This is drama. This is dramatic. He
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00:29:49,810 --> 00:29:53,890
dramatizes his experience. He's sitting here. His
439
00:29:53,890 --> 00:29:57,270
beloved is sitting there. A flea bites her, and a
440
00:29:57,270 --> 00:29:59,330
flea bites him. And it's a whole poetic
441
00:29:59,330 --> 00:30:01,850
experience. He dramatizes this in a beautiful way.
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00:30:02,250 --> 00:30:04,710
He wants to talk about his relationship to God,
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00:30:04,770 --> 00:30:09,370
with God. And then, butter my heart, three-person
444
00:30:09,370 --> 00:30:13,410
God. It's like every poem is either an inner
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00:30:13,410 --> 00:30:15,990
personal dialogue, a soliloquy, or a public
446
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speech. And that's the drama here. Again, he lived
447
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,660
during the golden age of drama, during the time of
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00:30:22,660 --> 00:30:25,220
Shakespeare. And he must have seen some of
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00:30:25,220 --> 00:30:28,620
Shakespeare's plays and other dramatists. So the
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00:30:28,620 --> 00:30:32,280
dramatic style is also there. Each poem is like a
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00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:34,440
sketch. When you go home today, try to read, for
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00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:38,640
example, or watch or listen to The Sun Rising on
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YouTube. You'll see a lot of drama. Even if you
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look at the poem, remember? I think I still have
455
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it here.
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00:30:52,060 --> 00:30:58,640
okay okay okay do i have it i don't okay if you
457
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:04,440
look here everyone there's
458
00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:11,600
also curtain what's curtain It's like there's a
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00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:14,820
stage here, and the curtain opens, and people are,
460
00:31:15,140 --> 00:31:18,100
in a way, performing this act. This is what is
461
00:31:18,100 --> 00:31:22,800
meant by drama. Drama that the singular experience
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00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:28,240
he lives comes out to life as a play, as a short
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00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:32,300
sketch that can easily be performed. He dramatizes
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the experience, the way he speaks, the way he
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portrays it.
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And don't forget this, there is a lot of criticism
467
00:31:45,910 --> 00:31:50,290
of mainstream established rules of decorum. Simply
468
00:31:50,290 --> 00:31:56,250
speaking, John Donne breaks the rules. And
469
00:31:56,250 --> 00:32:00,430
thematically speaking, Metaphysical poetry
470
00:32:00,430 --> 00:32:04,270
empowers women. You know what empower means? Gives
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00:32:04,270 --> 00:32:07,330
them power. Gives them a voice and gives them
472
00:32:07,330 --> 00:32:10,850
space in their... When you compare women in
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00:32:10,850 --> 00:32:13,650
Marlow, for example, sometimes Shakespeare, and
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00:32:13,650 --> 00:32:16,490
women in John Donne, you'll find that they have a
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00:32:16,490 --> 00:32:19,870
strong presence. Even if sometimes they don't
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00:32:19,870 --> 00:32:22,050
speak, they act. In The Flea, the woman doesn't
477
00:32:22,050 --> 00:32:26,440
speak. But what does she do? She does the most
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00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,740
important thing. She acts. She kills the flame. He
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gives her voice. That's why many women critics,
480
00:32:34,460 --> 00:32:38,240
they love John Donne. And they praise him for the
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00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:40,600
way he depicts a powerful, strong woman. Even
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00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:42,640
Virginia Woolf. We'll talk about Virginia Woolf
483
00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,000
probably in two months. She's a very famous
484
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,560
feminist of the 20th century. She praises John
485
00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:52,360
Donne as a poet who depicts women as powerful as
486
00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:57,200
the man is. And we have many personal experiences
487
00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,780
rather than a poet who talks about the fairy queen
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00:32:59,780 --> 00:33:03,140
or the queen of England or the battles and the...
489
00:33:03,140 --> 00:33:06,300
We have someone who speaks about, who conveys the
490
00:33:06,300 --> 00:33:10,040
inner feelings of an individual, of a man. How he
491
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,440
feels when he's sad, when he's in love, when he's
492
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:16,990
not, etc. In brief, Metaphysical poetry is full of
493
00:33:16,990 --> 00:33:21,130
modern ideas, modern ideas that we still feel
494
00:33:21,130 --> 00:33:26,010
today and can internalize and externalize. There
495
00:33:26,010 --> 00:33:29,150
are scientific geographical explorations, there is
496
00:33:29,150 --> 00:33:32,170
original imagery there, and sometimes the inner
497
00:33:32,170 --> 00:33:35,610
conflict in the soliloquies like the ones we had
498
00:33:35,610 --> 00:33:38,710
in Shakespeare. The whole poem could be an
499
00:33:38,710 --> 00:33:42,430
internal monologue in a way. Finally, they
500
00:33:42,430 --> 00:33:45,530
experimented with language and verse forms with
501
00:33:45,530 --> 00:33:48,390
great originality. Originality means new things.
502
00:33:49,250 --> 00:33:52,570
They experimented with poetic forms like we saw in
503
00:33:52,570 --> 00:33:58,830
the sonnet and the other texts, The Sun Rising.
504
00:34:00,610 --> 00:34:05,570
Now, to conclude this, remember I said John Donne
505
00:34:05,570 --> 00:34:09,210
was not well-received during his time and after.
506
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,840
Many critics of that time were not happy with John
507
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:17,240
Donne. And they said many horrible things about
508
00:34:17,240 --> 00:34:22,140
him. So horrible that it influenced the way we see
509
00:34:22,140 --> 00:34:26,260
John Donne even today. Many people nowadays, not
510
00:34:26,260 --> 00:34:29,280
many, but some people who don't like John Donne
511
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,040
Generally, it's not because they don't like John
512
00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:36,520
Donne, but because they read John Donne through
513
00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,860
these critics. When you read what Ben Jonson, John
514
00:34:39,860 --> 00:34:44,520
Dryden, Alexander Poe, Osama Johnson, what they
515
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:46,620
say about John Donne, you think, oh my God, this
516
00:34:46,620 --> 00:34:50,460
is a horrible poet. And this is how serious and
517
00:34:50,460 --> 00:34:53,900
dangerous framing is, remember? Framing when
518
00:34:53,900 --> 00:34:57,780
critics make us think in a particular way. So I
519
00:34:57,780 --> 00:34:59,620
tell you, don't read Shakespeare. Shakespeare is
520
00:34:59,620 --> 00:35:02,420
difficult. So what do you think of Shakespeare?
521
00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:05,620
He's difficult. Have you read Shakespeare? No. Ben
522
00:35:05,620 --> 00:35:07,280
Jonson told me this, or somebody else told me.
523
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:11,080
That's why it's always good to read the text
524
00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:15,930
itself for yourself. Go for the text. Try to
525
00:35:15,930 --> 00:35:18,110
understand it. Read it once and twice and see how
526
00:35:18,110 --> 00:35:23,090
it relates to you. So to summarize, the whole
527
00:35:23,090 --> 00:35:26,450
reception thing, the framing, reception and
528
00:35:26,450 --> 00:35:29,670
framing of John Donne, generally by mainstream
529
00:35:29,670 --> 00:35:32,450
critics, the official critics, he was received
530
00:35:32,450 --> 00:35:35,890
negatively. See, for example, Ben Johnson said he
531
00:35:35,890 --> 00:35:41,330
would perish. Hanging. And he deserved hanging.
532
00:35:41,450 --> 00:35:45,410
Oh, my God. When someone commits a crime, kills
533
00:35:45,410 --> 00:35:49,010
somebody, maybe he deserves hanging, right? Why
534
00:35:49,010 --> 00:35:51,970
would you hang someone because he breaks the rules
535
00:35:51,970 --> 00:35:57,830
of poetry? This is how extreme. But in my opinion,
536
00:35:58,410 --> 00:36:02,110
those people viewed John Donne as a threat. Oh,
537
00:36:02,210 --> 00:36:04,090
someone writing different poetry. Maybe he's going
538
00:36:04,090 --> 00:36:07,770
to steal all the patrons, all the money from us,
539
00:36:07,790 --> 00:36:11,420
maybe. But many people love the rules of Decorum.
540
00:36:11,500 --> 00:36:14,000
If you don't follow the rules, you're not a good
541
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:17,620
person. John Dryden said, John Donne affects the
542
00:36:17,620 --> 00:36:20,480
metaphysics and he perplexes the mind of the first
543
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:25,280
six. The first six, women. You know what perplex
544
00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:31,240
means? Confused. John Donne confuses women. This
545
00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:36,320
is what Dryden says. Who the hell are you to speak
546
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:41,720
for women? Seriously. Who are you to speak for
547
00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:44,520
women? Why do you appoint yourself as the
548
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:45,700
spokesperson for women?
549
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,300
His idea here, he says, in other words, he says
550
00:36:52,300 --> 00:36:55,760
John Donne is anti-feminist. But I think he is
551
00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:58,180
anti-feminist, because he assumes that women will
552
00:36:58,180 --> 00:37:01,680
not understand John Donne's poetry. He thinks
553
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,500
women are less intellectual, are, I don't know,
554
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:09,470
maybe stupid. And that's how anti-feminist Dryden
555
00:37:09,470 --> 00:37:16,390
is himself. So this guy says he would perish, he
556
00:37:16,390 --> 00:37:20,770
deserves hanging. Dryden said he perplexes, he
557
00:37:20,770 --> 00:37:25,450
confuses the mind of the fair sex, the women. And
558
00:37:25,450 --> 00:37:30,210
then Samuel Johnson, another critic, said John
559
00:37:30,210 --> 00:37:38,010
Donne uses a combination of dissimilar images and
560
00:37:38,010 --> 00:37:41,790
heterogeneous ideas linked with violence.
561
00:37:44,310 --> 00:37:47,270
Yeah, there is some dissimilarity when you read
562
00:37:47,270 --> 00:37:50,270
some imagery by John Donne, some poetry, but later
563
00:37:50,270 --> 00:37:53,010
on, upon second reading and a third reading and
564
00:37:53,010 --> 00:37:55,790
more analysis and more interpretation, you can see
565
00:37:55,790 --> 00:37:58,450
the connection. But if you don't want to see the
566
00:37:58,450 --> 00:37:59,650
connection, you're not going to see the
567
00:37:59,650 --> 00:38:03,670
connection. But again, I'll go back to framing.
568
00:38:04,650 --> 00:38:06,790
When you study John Donne, and the first thing you
569
00:38:06,790 --> 00:38:09,590
read about John Donne is what Johnson says here,
570
00:38:09,670 --> 00:38:11,790
that he uses dissimilar ideas. And oh, yeah, he
571
00:38:11,790 --> 00:38:14,830
uses dissimilar ideas. Bye bye, Donne. That's why
572
00:38:14,830 --> 00:38:18,010
it's dangerous to read poets through what critics
573
00:38:18,010 --> 00:38:21,410
say about him. Read the poet. Read the writer face
574
00:38:21,410 --> 00:38:23,690
to face. Come face to face with his poetry. And
575
00:38:23,690 --> 00:38:29,510
finally, many people said, OK, even Dryden. And
576
00:38:29,510 --> 00:38:33,630
Johnson said, John Donne is not a poet, but they
577
00:38:33,630 --> 00:38:38,910
said he is an intelligent person. He is a wit. He
578
00:38:38,910 --> 00:38:44,110
has a strong sharp wit. He's smart. He's genius.
579
00:38:45,070 --> 00:38:50,670
Even this Alexander Pope says no. John Donne
580
00:38:50,670 --> 00:38:54,610
doesn't have imagination. This is how much they
581
00:38:54,610 --> 00:39:00,580
disliked him. But believe me, it was much for his
582
00:39:00,580 --> 00:39:04,080
breaking the rules, for him criticizing their way
583
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:08,480
of writing, the way poetry was written, than
584
00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:10,420
anything else. It wasn't because his poetry was
585
00:39:10,420 --> 00:39:13,480
bad. The evidence is that people like T.S. Eliot
586
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:17,260
nowadays, in the 20th century, 21st century,
587
00:39:17,900 --> 00:39:21,880
studied him, loved him, and quoted him, and used
588
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:28,410
his poetry as praised him in a way or another. So
589
00:39:28,410 --> 00:39:30,550
Ben Jonson was a contemporary of Shakespeare, but
590
00:39:30,550 --> 00:39:34,310
Dryden and Johnson and Alexander Pope came later
591
00:39:34,310 --> 00:39:37,230
after Shakespeare. But they played a very
592
00:39:37,230 --> 00:39:40,450
important role in negatively framing John Donne
593
00:39:40,450 --> 00:39:43,770
and kicking him out. But because John Donne is a
594
00:39:43,770 --> 00:39:47,390
beautiful poet, strong genius, he came back to
595
00:39:47,390 --> 00:39:51,790
life 200 years later. I'll stop here. And if you
596
00:39:51,790 --> 00:39:54,310
have a question, please do ask.
597
00:40:02,390 --> 00:40:05,030
No, no, no, you don't. But just that those people
598
00:40:05,030 --> 00:40:09,370
criticized John Donne, it's probably too much for
599
00:40:09,370 --> 00:40:11,510
you. Just I want you to know that at least Ben
600
00:40:11,510 --> 00:40:14,090
Jensen said he deserved hanging. If you know this,
601
00:40:14,450 --> 00:40:17,910
maybe one other thing that perplexes the minds of
602
00:40:17,910 --> 00:40:19,490
the first six, that's enough. You don't have to
603
00:40:19,490 --> 00:40:21,830
memorize everything. And you don't have to
604
00:40:21,830 --> 00:40:27,290
memorize word for word. Thank you very much. I'll
605
00:40:27,290 --> 00:40:27,750
stop here.