China and the West

Yan, Kui. Shi ren Duo'en yan jiu = A systematic venture into John Donne [ID D30990].
In the introduction Yan Kui points out that, for the most part, Donne still awaits discovery in China and hopes that the present study will help readers understand Donne in particular, metaphysical poetry in general, and English literature as a whole. In Part I, Love Poetry discusses the major stylistic and the¬matic characteristics of Donne's love poems. Argues that by exploring such themes as woman's unfaithfulness, man's fickleness, and love as the unification of body and soul, Donne conducts a dialectical search for truth. Shows how Donne uses an orderly past and chaotic present interactively to reveal the nature of man in a world of political, religious, and social conflict. Maintains that Donne's image of death in his poems shows how he has a sense of belonging to both of the two conflicting worlds. Holds that the pleasure of reading Donne's poetry comes from the vitality of his mind and from his elaborate uses of dramatic elements, paradox, and conceit. In Part II, Divine Poetry focuses on Donne's desire to be united with God and on the archetypal journey in his religious poems. Sees Donne's divine poems as a record of his personal struggle to appropriate divine revelation to himself, to intensify his sense of moral obligation, and as an appeal to Christ as both lover and savior. Maintains that the religious poetry is motivated by a passion as strong as anything in his love poems and reveals his vigorous search for truth. In Part III, The Sermons explores Donne's role as a poet-priest and his search for divine truth as seen in his sermons. Points out striking similarities and differences between his sermons and his poetry, claiming that his sermons are, in fact, poetry without rhyme. In the conclusion, maintains that Donne's works show a sevenfold interaction between content and form, convention and originality, life and art, literature and ideology, poetry and prose, mirror and lamp. Contains a bibliography, an index of works by Donne, and an index of names.