Alex Millan

The Source of John Donne's Persuasive Power

Abstract

Many critics have attempted to identify what makes the arguments in John Donne’s “Songs and Sonnets” so persuasive. This thesis contends that the source of Donne’s persuasive power lies in five persuasive techniques employed by Donne’s speakers. These five techniques are identified in several poems with particularly convincing arguments. The exploration reveals that the five major techniques found in Donne’s persuasive poems are 1) vigorously presenting the speaker’s point of view, 2) systematically proving each claim, 3) employing vivid metaphors and similes to ground the arguments in a pleasing and convincing fashion, 4) using a bold and direct manner of expression, and 5) rapidly adjusting strategies in the midst of an argument.

Introduction

Many critics and other poets have commented on John Donne’s persuasive power and have tried to identify its origin. Frank Kermode writes that Thomas Carew, a contemporary of Donne, praised his masculine expression (Kermode 9). This phrase is echoed by Helen Carr who says, “[Donne’s speakers’] range of attitudes and feelings—impatience, desire, mastery, energy, tenderness—together suggest something very recognizable still as ideally masculine” (Carr 96). Carr alleges that Donne’s persuasive style comes from the manly ethos of the speakers. Stanley Fish acknowledges the role of arguments in what he identifies as the source of Donne’s persuasive power: his technique of utilizing “the capacity of words to make connection with one another rather than with some external referent that constrains them to accuracy” (Fish 158). According to Fish, by basing his arguments on language manipulation rather than on the real world, Donne has greater flexibility in making his points. Fish supports his claim by detailing instances in Donne’s poems where his speakers draw elaborate conclusions from insignificant premises through a series of language manipulations. Fish goes on to argue that this approach puts the speaker in control of readers since “the reader is always a step behind the gymnastic contortions of the poet’s rhetorical logic, straining to understand a point that has already been abandoned, striving to maintain a focus on a scene whose configurations refuse to stand still” (Fish 158). Throwing readers off guard makes them more receptive to the logic of the speakers.

While both Carr and Fish provide insightful comments, their analysis is incomplete. While Carr accurately identifies that the ethos of Donne’s speakers makes the poems more persuasive, crediting this attribute emphasizes the speakers’ deliveries and not their actual words. This type of analysis is incomplete since the arguments are the primary focus of the poems. The arguments themselves have a much greater impact on readers than the personas that make them. Fish’s analysis is similarly deficient. While the arguments in some of Donne’s poems are based on word manipulation, this method does not occur in all of them. Furthermore, in poems where the technique is found, it is not used throughout the poem, since arguments need to be at least partially based in reality.

Donne’s persuasive power cannot be attributed to this technique alone. This thesis will provide a more complete understanding of the source of Donne’s persuasiveness by looking at the actual arguments that the speakers employ in his persuasion poems. In doing so, argumentative techniques that add persuasiveness to a poem will be identified. These techniques will include strategies of both rhetoric and delivery so the arguments themselves, in addition to the qualities of the speakers, will be examined. The forceful deliveries of the speakers combined with the rhetorical techniques they employ enable Donne to present arguments persuasively in his argumentative and seduction poems. Poems in Donne’s “Songs and Sonnets” can be categorized based on the style and intent of the speaker. The poems fit into seven groups. 1) Sarcastic poems are ones in which the speaker makes backhanded attacks on ex-lovers, such as in “The Message.” 2) In poems such as "The Anniversaire" the speaker praises his love and calls it superior to other loves 3) Angry poems are ones in which the speaker expresses rage at a person, such as in “The Curse.” 4) In some poems, the speaker comments on his romantic situation, such as in “The Diet.” 5) And in others, the speaker makes general comments on the nature of love, such as in “Lover’s Infiniteness.” The other two groups of poems are 6) argumentative poems and 7) seduction poems.

These two groups make up Donne’s persuasion poems, since the speakers in these poems try to persuade someone to take a specific action or to adopt a certain point of view. By the end of each poem, almost every reader is either converted to the speaker’s point of view or at least has an appreciation for the speaker’s argumentative skill. These poems represent tremendous feats of persuasive prowess. Poems falling under the argumentative category are “Woman’s Constancy,” “The Canonization,” “The Sunne Rising,” and “Breake of Day.” The speakers in these poems have a variety of aims in their persuasions: one speaker tries to stop people from criticizing his love, while another tries to get the sun to stop shining into his room. The persuasive power of an argumentative poem is determined by whether or not the reader sides with the speaker at the end of the poem rather than the speaker’s opponent. This evaluation method is advocated by John Maynard when he writes, “We read a dramatic monologue by reading its likely effect on another person also part of our read, the listener” (Maynard 107). The listener Maynard refers to is a witness rather than a participant in the debate. Since readers are in the position of witnesses, they can evaluate a poem’s persuasiveness by determining the effect the poem has on them. If, at the poem’s end, the readers have been swayed, the poem is persuasive.

Seduction poems constitute the other type of persuasion poems. Poems included in this group are “The Dreame,” “The Apparition,” “The Extasie,” and “The Flea.” The speaker in each of these poems shares the same purpose in making his arguments: to get a woman to sleep with him. The approach that Donne’s speakers use to persuade their loves is to construct logical arguments that the women evaluate. Arlene N. Okerlund calls this approach an effective strategy when she writes, “The ultimate compliment Donne pays his ladies, in fact, is to treat them as intellectual equals (surely the most successful stratagem yet developed by any seducer)” (Okerlund p.42). The seduction poems can therefore be evaluated as pieces of persuasion since the speaker’s success is based on the strength of the argument. Okerlund says, “Instead of flattery or supplication, dialectics must win her heart” (p. 42). The speaker’s argument is persuasive if the reader thinks the woman has been seduced, or at least if the argument could theoretically persuade a reasonable woman.

Exploring Donne’s persuasion poems will reveal that there are several persuasive techniques repeatedly found in them. These techniques help the speakers create powerful arguments that persuade readers. One technique found in almost all of Donne’s persuasion poems is that the speakers vigorously present their arguments while barely alluding to the counterarguments. This technique applies to both rhetoric and delivery of the poem. The speakers of the poems control what parts of the debate the readers are exposed to, and they use this power to their advantage. The two sides of the debate in persuasion poems are never presented equally; the speaker always gives more lines to his side. When the counterargument is presented, the speaker often frames the argument with a sarcastic tone or rhetorical questions to make the opposing side seem ridiculous. The more the reader is exposed to one side of an issue, the greater her tendency to adopt that side as her own. By unequally presenting the argument, Donne’s speakers set the reader up to be persuaded.

A second persuasive technique characteristic of Donne’s persuasion poems is that his speakers systematically prove each claim. Kermode writes, “Poets and critics were struck by the way Donne exhibits the play of an agile mind within the sensuous body of poetry, so that even his most passionate poems work by wit, abounding in argument and analogy; the poetry and the argument cannot be abstracted from each other” (Kermode 9). The wit in the poems comes from Donne’s use of logic. This logic can be seen when Donne’s speakers give examples and evidence to support their claims. Many times this evidence comes from proving the definition of the claim asserted. Donne’s speakers do this by showing that that the elements of the definition have been met. An example of this technique occurs in “The Canonization.” In this poem the speaker states, “Call her one, mee another flye,/We’are Tapers too, and at our owne cost die” (Donne ll. 20-21). Here the speaker asserts that he and the woman are tapers, which he proves by saying that through sex they possess the characteristic of dying at their own cost, since in Donne’s time sex was thought to shorten the life span, like tapers do. In several instances, Donne’s speakers use a form of proof by definition when they refer to contract laws, since contracts require certain elements or exceptions to be proven. Proving by definition is such a formulated process that it leaves little room for logic flaws and enables the speakers to make logically sound arguments. This logic is very convincing and persuades the reader to the more sensible side.

A third persuasive technique found in many of Donne’s poems is employing vivid metaphors and similes to ground the arguments in a pleasing and convincing fashion. Donne’s speakers use these poetic devices not for decoration but to help explain abstract concepts of love. This practical use is evidenced in the fact that many of Donne’s metaphors come from ordinary objects that are familiar. Many of Donne’s images come from business or are objects that can be found in urban settings. This familiarity makes the metaphors easy to understand, which is beneficial in persuading a reader. A fourth persuasive technique in Donne’s poems is that his speakers use a bold and direct manner of expression. In this delivery technique, Donne includes lines that contain especially loaded words delivered in a straightforward manner. This technique occurs in the opening of “The Curse” in which the speaker says, “Who ever guesses, thinks, or dreames he knowes/Who is my mistris, wither by this curse” (Donne ll. 1-2). This powerful threat is delivered simply and directly which gives it a tremendous force. This force helps persuade readers by adding emotional power to the logic of the argument. Strong lines also help the persuasion by acting as a sound bite. The strong phrases stick with the reader and at a subconscious level cause the reader to side with the speaker. The final trait that characterizes Donne’s poems is that speakers adjust their strategies in the midst of an argument. If an argument is not going well, Donne’s speakers do not give up but try different arguments to win over both the audience in the poem and the reader. Kermode claims, “We cannot think of Donne without thinking of relentless argument” (p. 11). This trait helps Donne’s speakers get their points across since their determination often pays off in coming up with an argument that works.

This thesis explores each of Donne’s persuasion poems and identifies the persuasive techniques contained within. The five techniques of 1) vigorously presenting the speaker’s point of view, 2) systematically proving each claim, 3) employing vivid metaphors and similes to ground the arguments in a pleasing and convincing fashion, 4) using a bold and direct manner of expression, and 5) rapidly adjusting strategies in the midst of the argument. This thesis will also note persuasive techniques that are specific to certain poems. In doing so, it will be discovered that these techniques are what give Donne’s poems their persuasive power.

“Breake of Day”

“Breake of Day” is an argumentative poem in which the female speaker expresses to her male lover that she is upset that he is leaving her bed in the morning. The poem fits into the category of an argumentative poem because the woman is not attempting to seduce the man. She is instead trying to convince him not to leave her bed. By having a female speaker, “Breake of Day” differs from most of the poems in Donne’s “Songs and Sonnets,” but Donne makes the female speaker’s argument as forceful as those of his male speakers. In particular, Donne employs the techniques of vigorously presenting the speaker’s point of view, using clear logic, and employing a good simile to make the speaker’s argument in “Breake of Day” persuasive.

One persuasive technique found in the poem is that the speaker spends much less time presenting the man’s argument than she does her own. The speaker mentions the man’s initial argument for getting out of bed at the beginning of the poem: “’Tis true, ’tis day; what though it be?/O wilt thou therefore rise from me?/Why should we rise, because ’tis light” (Donne ll. 1-3). The counterargument is also presented when the woman asks, “Must businesse thee from hence remove?” (Donne l. 13). These four lines are the only ones in the eighteen-line poem that reveal the man’s argument; the speaker uses the rest of the poem to elaborate on her arguments.

Additionally, the incredulous tone that accompanies each question makes the counterargument seem ridiculous. The minimal amount of lines and the negative framing of the man’s argument set up a disparity between the arguments, which causes the reader to more readily accept the woman’s argument. In terms of the actual content of the argument, the speaker bases her points in logic. Such logic is shown in the response the woman gives to the man’s claim that he is getting up because it is morning: “Did we lie downe, because ’twas night?/Love which in spight of darknesse brought us hether,/Should in despight of light keepe us together” (Donne ll. 4-6). The woman’s rhetorical question puts a hole in the man’s argument by questioning why morning necessitates getting out of bed. While the normal action taken by people in the morning is to get out of bed, the speaker suggests that there is no direct connection between daylight and having to leave a bed. The practice is merely an artificial construction that over time has turned into a convention. This is a valid argument because, while early humans had to get up at first light for their survival, modern humans do not confront such urgent situations in the morning. The man can give no reason why daylight necessitates getting out of bed. In contrast, the woman supports her claim that they did not just go to bed because it was dark by saying that love was also a factor that drove them to bed. With that statement, she uses the events of the previous night as evidence to support her claim. She then argues that since it is easier to be separated in darkness, love should similarly be able to overcome daytime to keep the two of them together. This point represents a logical development of her argument. When the clear logic of the woman’s argument is compared to the man’s inability to show a connection between his premise and his conclusion, the woman’s argument appears more persuasive.

A third persuasive technique is found when the speaker further diminishes the man’s other claim: that he should get out of bed to go do business. The woman uses an excellent simile to condemn this reason: Oh, that’s the worst disease of love, The poore, the foule, the false, love can Admit, but not the busied man. He which hath businesse, and makes love, doth doe Such wrong, as when a maryed man doth wooe (Donne ll. 14-18). The speaker justifies the claim that a man who gives such an excuse should not even participate in love, through the use of a simile that compares men who have business with married men who court other women. This comparison is fitting since, in both cases, a man cannot direct his full attention to the woman whom he is with. A married man making advances toward another woman is clearly a reprehensible act. This comparison effectively condemns the excuse of having business to do. The appropriateness of the comparison and the fact that the simile is readily understood to be unfavorable, make it a technique that further strengthens the woman’s argument over the man’s. In using the techniques of vigorously presenting her point of view, using clear logic, and employing a good simile, the speaker presents an argument that is much more persuasive than the counterargument. The reader cannot help but take the woman’s side of the debate. By using these techniques, the female speaker in “Breake of Day” presents an argument as persuasively as any of Donne’s male speakers.

“The Canonization”

In “The Canonization,” the speaker is upset that people are criticizing his love. In response, he constructs an argument to persuade his detractors to leave him alone. Donne employs several techniques to make the argument persuasive: he uses a bold and direct opening line, he shows good logic both when he attacks the argument of his detractors and when he systematically proves his own points, and finally he personally derides his detractors to make them look petty. Donne establishes a persuasive tone at the start of the poem with a bold and direct opening line: “For Godsake hold your tongue, and let me love” (Donne l. 1). The angry tone ultimately helps the speaker get his point across by giving force to the speaker’s arguments. All the logic that is to follow will be reinforced by this emotion, which makes for a persuasive combination.

The obvious frustration expressed by the speaker also sets the reader up to disapprove of the detractors’ argument since it creates the feeling that the arguments are merely a nuisance rather than an objection that should be taken seriously. Another effect of such a strongly worded line is that it sticks with the reader like a sound bite. More than any line in the poem, including the arguments of the detractors, the reader will remember that line and look back on it. With a powerful line, the reader is one step closer to being persuaded to the speaker’s side.

However, the bulk of the persuasive force of the argument comes from the speaker’s logic. The first logical argument comes when the speaker attacks the argument of his detractors by questioning why he should stop loving. At one point the speaker asks, “Alas, alas, who’s injur’d by my love” (Donne l. 10). The speaker refutes the argument of his detractors by challenging whether his love hurts other people. The only proper approach to persuade a person to stop doing something is to show that the act is hurting other people. If the act is only hurting that individual, the man can claim that he can live with the consequences. The speaker follows with a string of examples that show no one else is getting hurt: What merchants ships have my sighs drown’d? Who saies my teares have overflow’d his ground? When did my colds a forward spring remove?” When did the heats which my veines fill Adde one more to the plaguie Bill? (Donne ll. 11-15) The speaker cleverly shows that the symptoms of his love have not caused any harm to other people. In doing so, the speaker disproves detractors by showing that they failed to prove the only justification they can give for him to stop loving.

In contrast to the weak logic of the detractors, the speaker uses sound logic in furthering his own argument. The approach the speaker employs is to make a claim and then shows that the criterion has been met to make the claim true. This approach is followed when the speaker claims his love proves the riddle of the phoenix: The Phoenix ridle hath more wit By us, we two being one, are it. So to one neutrall thing both sexes fit, Wee dye and rise the same, and prove Mysterious by this love (Donne ll. 23-27). It seems like the speaker is making a ridiculous claim by saying that his love proves the riddle of the phoenix; however, he supports it by showing how the elements of the phoenix myth are met. The hermaphroditic element of the phoenix myth is fulfilled by the speaker and his woman coming together. The resurrection element is met by the couple rising after having sex, which in Donne’s time was referred to as “dying.” By showing that the elements of the myth are met, the speaker justifies his preposterous assertion.

The speaker uses the same method to prove that he and his love will be canonized. The speaker says, And if no peece of Chronicle wee prove, We’ll build in sonnets pretty roomes; As well a well wrought urne becomes The greatest ashes, as halfe-acre tombes, And by these hymnes, all shall approve Us Canoniz’d for Love (Donne ll. 31-36). The speaker and his love will be regarded as saintly because they will meet the necessary requirement of having their love admired by many people. This sanctification will occur when the public is exposed to his love poems of which this poem presumably is a part. The fact that this poem is being read proves that people are learning about the speaker’s love, and in doing so are recognizing that his love belongs to the highest order. The assertion is logically sound since it is self-fulfilling. This systematic proof of each claim makes the speaker’s argument compelling and allows him to make audacious assertions.

At the end of the poem, the speaker employs the technique of character assassination. The speaker characterizes his detractors negatively by saying “And thus invoke us; You whom reverend love/Made one anothers hermitage;/You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage” (Donne ll. 37-39). The speaker accuses his detractors of possessing defective love. This technique is persuasive because it makes the detractors seem motivated to attack the speaker’s love by their own weaknesses. This approach discredits the arguments of the detractors by making them seem based out of jealousy rather than reality. Ending the poem with a character attack that exposes the inferiority of the detractors makes the speaker come off as the winner of the argument.

By utilizing the techniques of bold and direct lines, clear logic, and personal attacks the speaker makes his argument far more persuasive than that of the detractors. By the end of the poem, the reader sympathizes with the speaker and his beloved. The reader willingly agrees that these lovers have been sanctified by the holy law and should be canonized. Instead of criticizing the couple, their detractors should seek to learn from them.

“Woman’s Constancy”

In “Woman’s Constancy” the speaker addresses a woman with whom he has just spent the night. The speaker believes that the woman will want to leave him in the morning. He argues with her by suggesting the excuses that she will use when she tries to leave. The speaker’s argument possesses the persuasive techniques of disdainfully framing the response, systematically proving claims through the use of contract law, and choosing not to refute the opposing argument.

The first technique that the speaker employs is to present the woman’s arguments in a derisive way. The speaker is able to do this since he delivers the arguments of the woman when he says, Now thou hast lov’d me one whole day, To morrow when thou leav’st, what wilt thou say? Wilt thou then Antedate some new made vow? Or say that now We are not just those persons, which we were (Donnell. 1-5). The speaker’s opening line sets up a sarcastic tone for the poem by suggesting that the woman thinks one day is a significant period of time. This tone carries over to when he presents the woman’s possible excuses and makes them sound absurd. The speaker’s use of rhetorical questions also disparages the woman’s argument, since a tone of disbelief accompanies each question. “Woman’s Constancy” is unique amongst Donne’s poems in that the counterargument gets the majority of lines. Since the speaker disdainfully frames the arguments, however, he is in control and the reader never is swayed by any of the excuses the woman could make.

Yet in turning to the excuses themselves, some of them are pretty good and would make valid counterarguments for the woman if she were to use them. Two possible excuses in particular are very logical: Or, that oathes made in reverentiall feare Of Love, and his wrath, any may forsweare? Or, as true deaths, true maryages untie, So lovers contracts, images of those, Binde but till sleep, deaths image, them unloose (Donne ll. 6-10). The logic in these excuses is based on contract law. Contracts are considered binding, unless an exception clause is met. The focus on arguing a contract is to prove the exception has occurred. In the first excuse, the speaker claims that the lovers’ contract can be invalidated since it was made in fear of the god of love. A common aspect of any contract is that it is not binding if it was signed out of fear. The woman’s excuse therefore seems valid since she shows that she has met this exception.

In the second excuse, an agreement to spend the night is likened to an imitation of marriage. If marriages are no longer binding at death, then sleep, which is like death, should end the lovers’ contract. This excuse is sound since she would make her argument in the morning when sleep would have occurred so the exception would be met. In looking at the language of the excuses and leaving out the condescending way the speaker delivers them, the excuses are persuasive since they are logically sound.

The final persuasive technique occurs when the speaker does not bother to refute the excuses. The speaker says, Vaine lunatique, against these scapes I could Dispute, and conquer, if I would, Which I abstaine to doe, For by to morrow, I may thinke so too (Donne ll. 14-17). The speaker claims that he could refute each of these excuses if he wanted to. This assertion is true since the speaker framed the excuses with sarcasm and disbelief that made them seem ridiculous. Also, the speaker came up with the excuses, and he would not have suggested them to the woman if he did not have responses for them. By refusing to dignify the excuses with a response, the speaker portrays the excuses as insignificant.

The speaker’s control is further evidenced when he suggests the possibility of using the excuses himself in the morning. The speaker may not even like the woman, so he does not care about winning the argument. Regardless of whether he cares or not, the control and indifference he shows by not refuting the excuses cause him to win anyway.

The three persuasive techniques of framing the counterargument, systematically proving claims, and choosing not to refute the opposing argument are found in the poem though they fall on different sides of the debate. By the end of the poem the reader is convinced that the speaker has won the argument. Initially it seemed foolish for the speaker to suggest such good excuses for the woman to use. The woman was not going to come up with those excuses herself, since no one but Donne could think of them. At the end of the poem, however, the reader realizes that there was no risk in providing the woman with these excuses since the outcome of the argument was never in doubt.

“The Sunne Rising”

“The Sunne Rising” is one of Donne’s most popular poems. It is unique among Donne’s argumentative poems in that the speaker addresses an inanimate object, the Sunne. The poem sounds like the other ones; however, since the speaker personifies the Sunne so successfully he seems to be talking to a person. In the poem, the speaker is lying in bed with his lover and is upset that sunlight is shining through the window. The speaker constructs an argument to try to get the Sunne to leave so he and his lover can stay in bed.

The poem is not truly argumentative, however, because in the middle of the poem, the speaker turns from arguing with the Sunne to praising the woman he is with. Until the focus shifts, the persuasive technique found in the poem is a personal attack through insulting the Sunne, challenging its power, and giving it commands. These techniques give force to the speaker’s delivery and lower the audience’s impression of the Sunne. The persuasive force of the poem comes from the angry tone the speaker uses when talking to the Sunne. From the start of the poem, the speaker establishes his angry tone by insulting the Sunne. Busie old foole, unruly Sunne, Why dost thou thus, Through windowes, and through curtaines call on us? Must to thy motions lovers seasons run (Donne ll. 1-4). In a formal argument, it would be unmannerly to insult an opponent. By insulting the Sunne, the speaker shows that he is so overcome with anger that he is unable to restrain himself. This emotion carries over through the rest of the poem and gives the speaker’s words additional force.

Additionally, insults diminish the power and the importance of the Sunne by generating the idea that the Sunne does not need to be respected. In arguments, if one person, or the Sunne, is well respected, they have credibility with the audience. By insulting the Sunne, the speaker eliminates this advantage. The speaker further diminishes the importance of the Sunne by questioning the power it possesses. At one point, the speaker challenges the Sunne’s brightness by saying: Thy beames, so reverend, and strong Why shouldst thou thinke? I could eclipse and cloud them with a winke, But that I would not lose her sight so long (Donne ll. 11-14). The speaker is not impressed by the Sunne’s brightness since he can close his eyes if he chooses. This attack severely challenges the Sunne’s power since brightness is the most important attribute of the Sunne. If the Sunne’s brightness is not respected, then there is no reason to respect the Sunne.

Another way the speaker diminishes the importance of the Sunne is by giving it orders. The speaker suggests that the Sunne take alternative actions: "Sawcy pedantique wretch, goe chide Late schoole boyes and sowre prentices, Goe tell Court-huntsmen, that the King will ride, Call countrey ants to harvest offices" (Donne ll. 5-8). These suggestions take the form of direct commands. By giving orders to the Sunne, the speaker asserts that he has the power. The dismissive content of the orders reinforces the speaker’s power by portraying the Sunne as merely a nuisance the speaker wants to be rid of. By diminishing the Sunne and establishing that he is the one with power, the speaker gains credibility with the audience.

While argumentative elements and persuasive techniques are present in the first part of the poem, they are absent later on. Instead of arguing with the Sunne, the speaker turns his attention to praising the woman that he is with. Romantic lines abound as when the speaker says “She’is all States, and all Princes, I,/Nothing else is” (Donnell. 21-22). The speaker is consumed by the woman. This change of purpose is epitomized when the speaker tells the Sunne to stay in the room and just to shine on them: "Thine age askes ease, and since thy duties bee To warme the world, that’s done in warming us. Shine here to us, and thou art every where; This bed thy center is, these walls, thy spheare" (Donne ll. 27-30). Telling the Sunne to stay in the room is the complete opposite of what the speaker wanted in the first half of the poem. The speaker becomes so focused on his love that he forgets his initial argument.

While parts of the poem are extremely argumentative, “The Sunne Rising” is not a complete argumentative poem since the argument does not carry through till the end. While the poem may not truly be argumentative, it certainly is persuasive. By personally attacking the Sunne through insults, challenging its power, and giving orders, the speaker crafts a forceful delivery and causes the audience to transfer any importance and reverence for the Sunne to himself. The speaker possesses influence with readers, which causes them to side with him. Noticeably, the speaker does not rely on logic to make his argument. “The Sunne Rising” demonstrates how a speaker can craft a persuasive argument solely with a forceful delivery and personal attacks.

“The Dreame”

“The Dreame” is a seduction poem in which the speaker tries to get a woman to sleep with him. Initially the speaker is confident it is going to happen, but the woman proves reluctant. The overarching technique of the poem is adapting arguments since the speaker shows tremendous flexibility in adjusting based on how the persuasion is going. During the course of the poem, the speaker also uses poem-specific techniques of praising the woman, directly asking for sex, praising with conditions, then finally taking back the praise.

Initially in the poem, the speaker tries to get the woman to sleep with him by praising her. The speaker starts the poem by saying, “Deare love, for nothing lesse than thee/Would I have broke this happy dreame” (Donne ll. 1-2). The speaker expresses how much he loves the woman and how valuable she is. Later in the stanza, the speaker tells the woman, “Thou art so truth, that thoughts of thee suffice,/To make dreames truths; and fables histories” (Donne ll. 7-8). Through praise, the speaker hopes to endear himself to the woman so she will sleep with him. This seduction technique is unimaginative, and it shows that at this point, the speaker is confident that the woman will sleep with him.

After the speaker praises the woman, he then asks her to have sex with him in a direct manner. The speaker ends the first stanza by saying, “Enter these armes, for since thou thoughtst it best,/Not to dreame all my dreame, let’s act the rest” (Donne ll. 9-10). The speaker is very blunt about what he wants from the woman. He even gives her a direct command to enter his arms. The man is so confident that the woman will sleep with him that he just comes right out with his request. This approach, however, does not work since the poem is not one stanza long.

When the speaker’s request fails, he alters his seduction strategy. He continues to praise the woman, but he starts giving praise based on her meeting certain conditions. At one point the speaker says: "But when I saw thou sawest my heart, And knew’st my thoughts, beyond an Angels art, When thou knew’st what I dreamt, when thou knew’st when Excesse of joy would wake me, and cam’st then, I must confesse, it could not chuse but bee Prophane, to thinke thee any thing but thee" (Donne ll. 15-20). The speaker says that the woman is superior to even an angel based on the woman reading his thoughts and choosing the right moment to wake him. The woman can demonstrate that she knew his heart and his thoughts by sleeping with him. If she does not, then she is not superior to an angel since she would have failed to meet the requirement. Basing the praise on conditions is more sophisticated than regular praising since it employs logic similar to proving by definition. If the woman wants to be thought of as being superior to an angel, she has to sleep with the speaker.

When this approach fails, the speaker responds by taking back his praise. The speaker harshly says to the woman, “Coming and staying show’d thee, thee,/But rising makes me doubt, that now,/Thou art not thou” (Donne ll. 21-23). The speaker no longer says that the woman is superior to an angel because by refusing to sleep with him, she fails the requirement. Despite this change of tone, the speaker does not give up hope of sleeping with the woman. He gives her another chance by saying: "Perchance as torches which must ready bee, Men light and put out, so thou deal’st with mee, Thou cam’st to kindle, goest to come; Then I Will dreame that hope againe, but else would die" (Donne ll. 27-30). With the torch metaphor, the speaker leaves open the possibility that the woman left so that she could excite his desires at a later time. The metaphor enables the speaker to explore if he has hope. However, by leaving in the first place, the woman showed that she did not care about the man’s praise so she will probably not take advantage of this second chance.

In modifying his techniques based on how the seduction is proceeding, the speaker uses the technique of adapting his argument throughout the poem. The speaker goes from purely praising the woman to praising with conditions, to taking back the praise while leaving her a chance to earn it back. In switching techniques, the speaker recognizes that the tactic he is using is not working so he will try a different one. Trying different ways to seduce the woman increases the speaker’s chances of finding a strategy that works. This technique of adapting arguments is far superior to sticking with an approach whether it works or not. Despite the adaptability the speaker showed in switching seduction techniques, at the poem’s end, it appears that the woman will not sleep with him. Readers of the poem can recognize that the speaker gave it a good try, but success just would not come to him. Although the speaker failed in his goal, readers are undoubtedly impressed with the speaker’s strategies.

“The Apparition”

In “The Apparition,” Donne’s speaker employs very unconventional methods to seduce a woman. Instead of using flattery or romantic lines, the speaker’s technique is to use fear to try to get the woman to be with him. This method is so unconventional that many readers do not read “The Apparition” as a seduction poem.

To accomplish his goal, the speaker frightens the woman by using strongly worded lines, threatening the woman, and negatively depicting the competition. While the majority of readers do not consider “The Apparition” to be a seduction poem, there is textual evidence to the contrary. The scholar Laurence Perrine contributes to the debate by saying: “The Apparition” has been misread by generations of interpreters as an expression of hate and revulsion in which the motive of the speaker, a rejected lover, is revenge. It is, in reality, a poem of thwarted love and unspent desire in which the speaker makes a last desperate effort to obtain his lady’s favors (Perrine p. 3). The poem’s content supports Perrine’s claim. Early in the poem, the speaker alludes to past attempts to seduce the woman when he says, “And that thou thinkst thee free/From all solicitation from mee” (Donne ll. 1-2). The word “solicitation” indicates that the speaker has been romantically interested in the woman. This interest introduces the idea that the speaker’s ultimate goal may be to seduce the woman.

The idea that the speaker’s aim is seduction is confirmed at the poem’s conclusion when the speaker says, “I had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,/Than by my threatnings rest still innocent” (Donne ll. 16-17). The crime the woman needs to repent for is revealed earlier in the poem when the speaker says the woman is killing him by refusing his advances. The woman can be innocent if she accepts the speaker’s solicitations and thus ceases to kill him. This conclusion shows that the speaker’s aim all along has been for the woman to sleep with him. This intent characterizes “The Apparition” as a seduction poem. The technique the speaker uses to seduce the woman is to frighten her into being with him. The speaker hopes that if he scares the woman enough, she will choose to be with him to avoid facing the grim future that awaits her if she rejects him.

While this approach is unconventional, the speaker has tried seducing the woman through conventional approaches that have failed. Frightening the woman is a way for the speaker to try a new technique since his old techniques are not working. The first fear technique employed by the speaker is a strong line at the beginning of the poem. The speaker opens by saying, “When by thy scorne, O murdresse, I am dead” (Donne l. 1). This line is strongly worded in that it uses words loaded with negative connotations like “murdresse” and “dead.” By accusing the woman of murder at the outset, the speaker is establishing an aggressive tone that carries an emotional force throughout the rest of the poem. This emotional force puts the woman in a vulnerable position, and sets her up to be persuaded.

The predominant fear strategy employed by the speaker is to threaten the woman. The threat takes the form of a ghost that will haunt her as the speaker reveals when saying, “Then shall my ghost come to thy bed” (Donne l. 4). This threat is consistent with the claim that the woman is killing the speaker since ghosts are thought to avenge undeserved deaths. Being haunted by a ghost is a frightening prospect that the woman would want to avoid. If the ghost’s presence is not intimidating enough, the speaker claims that the ghost will issue a frightening proclamation. The speaker says, “What I will say, I will not tell thee now,/Lest that preserve thee’” (Donne ll. 14-15). The “I” the speaker refers to is his ghost. There are many painful utterances the ghost can make, such as cursing the woman or damning her, but the speaker does not reveal what will be said. Laurence Perrine feels that the speaker withholds this information because “[the speaker] is gambling on the psychological principle that an unknown threat is more frightening than a known one . . . not telling will be more frightening than telling” (Perrine 2).

Not revealing what the ghost will say is another way in which the speaker further frightens the woman. The final way in which the speaker frightens the woman into being with him is by negatively depicting the alternative. The speaker gives a grim portrait of the man she will be with if she does not accept him when he says: "And he, whose thou art then, being tyr’d before, Will, if you stirre, or pinch to wake him, thinke Thou call’st for more, And in false sleepe will from thee shrinke, And then poore Aspen wretch, neglected thou Bath’d in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lye" (Donne ll. 7-12). The woman’s future lover is presented as pathetic. He does not have much ability in bed since he pretends to be sleeping to avoid having sex. He also is not protective since he does not come to the woman’s aid when she is confronted by the ghost. With this description, the speaker tries to convince the woman into thinking that she would be better off had she accepted him. This is a type of threat since the speaker presents a scene of future misery if she does not accept him. By threatening, the speaker tries to get the woman to be with him out of fear of the alternatives.

Through using strongly worded lines, threatening the woman, and negatively depicting the competition, Donne’s speaker makes the unusual attempt at seducing the woman through fear. It is safe to say that the speaker is very effective in frightening the woman, but it is unknown whether this approach will cause the lady to accept him. This approach certainly has the advantage of novelty, and since standard seduction techniques were not working on the woman, maybe a novel approach will.

“The Extasie”

Like “The Apparition,” there is debate as to whether or not “The Extasie” is really a seduction poem. People advocating that “The Extasie” is not a seduction poem argue that the poem’s emphasis is a discussion of pure love. Charles Mitchell supports this view by saying that the poem is concerned with showing how love makes people human (Mitchell p. 91). Those who believe otherwise argue that the emphasis on pure love is exactly what makes the speaker’s approach seductive. Frank Kermode summarizes the poem by saying, “In ‘The Extasie’, the argument, a tissue of fallacies, sounds solemnly convincing and consecutive, so that it is surprising to find it ending with an immodest proposal” (Kermode p. 9). The discussion of pure love is a vehicle for the speaker to employ a seductive technique of not appearing interested in sex to get the woman to sleep with him. The speaker creates this impression by not immediately making seductive advances and giving sex a purpose greater than pleasure. The question as to whether or not “The Extasie” is a seduction poem can be answered by looking at the way the speaker sets the scene at the beginning of the poem.

The speaker opens by describes a scene of the couple lying together outside: "Where, like a pillow on a bed, A Pregnant banke swel’d up, to rest The violets reclining head, Sat we two, one anothers best" (Donne ll. 1-4). By describing the scene like the couple is in bed, the speaker introduces the idea that the poem is about seduction. The speaker further sets the scene by describing the relationship of the couple. The speaker says: "So to’entergraft our hands, as yet Was all the meanes to make us one, And pictures in our eyes to get Was all our propagation" (Donne ll. 9-12). The couple is physically very close together, but remains chaste. This description indicates that the sexual activity of the couple is important to the poem. With the introduction, the speaker establishes that the poem is about seduction because the focus lies on the couple’s sexual actions.

The speaker first employs his technique of appearing disinterested in sex by not initially revealing his seductive intentions. In the other seduction poems, the speakers immediately reveal their intentions. This directness is not found in “The Extasie.” The speaker, rather, talks about pure love when he says, “This Extasie doth unperplex/(We said) and tell us what we love,/Wee see by this, it was not sexe” (Donne ll. 29-31). Not only does the speaker not press the woman for sex, he calls the act unimportant since it is not a part of pure love. This description deemphasizes sex. The speaker goes on to say what is included in pure love: "But as all severall soules containe Mixture of things, they know not what, Love, these mixt soules, doth mixe againe, And makes both one, each this and that. A single violet transplant, The strength, the colour, and the size, (All which before was poore, and scant, Redoubles still, and multiplies" (Donne ll. 33-40). The speaker describes pure love as the mixing of souls. According to the speaker, when souls mix together, they become greater than when they are separate. This description makes love seem very abstract and far removed from sensual pleasures. Advocating this type of love is the furthest extreme from advocating sex.

This technique of waiting to make advances to the woman can potentially be very effective. By first discussing issues other than sex, the speaker can get the woman to drop her guard and be more receptive to what he has to say. Once the woman is receptive to his message, the speaker can then make his advances. Another way in which this technique has potential is by espousing ideas that are romantic. The theory that love is the mixing of souls is romantic in nature and may prove more seductive to the woman than simply asking for sexual activity. Counterintuitively, waiting to make advances can help the speaker win the woman’s affections. When the speaker finally does ask the woman to have sex, he uses the technique of elevating it beyond sexual pleasures. The speaker first makes his case for sex by saying: "But O alas, so long, so farre Our bodies why doe wee forbeare? They are ours, though they are not wee, Wee are The intelligences, they the spheares. We owe them thankes, because they thus, Did us, to us, at first convay" (Donne ll. 49-54). The speaker promotes sex as a way of rewarding their bodies for bringing them together. He makes sure to distinguish their bodies as separate from themselves, which is consistent with the ethereal definition of pure love he advocated earlier. The couple would not be having sex just for pleasure, but as a way to reward their bodies.

The speaker gives another reason for having sex when he claims, “So must pure lovers soules descend/T’affections, and to faculties,/Which sense may reach and apprehend” (Donne ll. 65-67). The speaker advocates having sex so that their senses can understand pure love. While the mind can understand love in the abstract form of souls mixing, the senses can only understand physical sensations, which is why sex is needed. The speaker advocates that having sex is not about pleasure for pleasure’s sake, but about helping the senses understand pure love.

At the end of the poem, the speaker gives a final reason for having sex. The speaker says: "To’our bodies turne wee then, that so Weake men on love reveal’d may looke; Loves mysteries in soules doe grow, But yet the body is his booke" (Donne ll. 69-72). The speaker advocates having sex as a way of teaching pure love to other people. The ‘weake men” the speaker refers to are those who cannot apprehend the abstract concept of pure love. These people can only understand physical sensations; so, teaching such people about pure love must be done through the physical act of sex.

Most people understand love this way since it is the primary way to express love. By having sex, the couple can benefit other people by teaching them about pure love. None of the reasons given for having sex advocates sensual delights. Each reason has a higher purpose for having sex. This technique is potentially powerful, since sex is often thought of as a weak or evil activity because it represents succumbing to desires. Through the speaker’s reasons, sex becomes a noble act because it is not motivated by desire. The woman does not have to worry that she is doing something wrong by having sex. Advocating motives other than pleasure is also effective, since it does not make the speaker seem trite or shallow, which is how most people sound when they ask for sex. The speaker appears magnanimous while still asking for sex. The technique of not emphasizing pleasurable activities is an effective approach.

Through the technique of appearing disinterested in sex, the speaker does not sound like he is seducing the woman, yet he is doing just that. The speaker earns the woman’s trust by first discussing love philosophically, and then he makes his advance. He creates the impression that he has the purest intentions. His approach is ingeniously sneaky, and the chances of success are high. “The Extasie” is the most sophisticated seduction poem explored thus far.

“The Flea”

The persuasive techniques Donne includes in his persuasion poems culminate in “The Flea.” In addition to being Donne’s most popular poem, “The Flea” is the ultimate seduction poem. No matter how little success he is having, Donne’s speaker refuses to give up and keeps trying to win over the woman.

Many persuasive techniques are found in “The Flea,” including the use of a common metaphor, vigorously presenting the argument of the speaker, and adapting the argument’s logic to fit the situation. By basing the argument on a flea, Donne’s speaker uses the persuasive technique of employing a common metaphor.

The speaker establishes the metaphor at the beginning of the poem by saying, “Marke but this flea, and marke in this,/How little that which thou deny’st me is” (Donne ll. 1-2). By examining the flea, the speaker intends to show the woman that having sex is not a big deal. The flea is significant because it sucks blood. The speaker says, “It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee,/And in this flea, our two bloods mingled bee” (Donne ll. 3-4). In Donne’s time, sex was thought to involve the mixing of blood, so the flea biting the man and woman is a metaphor for sex. Although this is the reason the flea was chosen as a metaphor, it has other persuasive benefits.

A flea is an ordinary object that is familiar. This familiarity makes it a good choice as a metaphor, since it is able to be understood to the connections that Donne draws. The metaphor is also a good choice because the flea is a natural object. Metaphors drawn from natural occurrences are the most credible. They represent an ideal state because they are free from human intervention. People are more willing to apply the lessons of such metaphors to their own lives. For these reasons, using the flea as a metaphor is a good persuasive strategy.

A second persuasive technique employed by the speaker is to vigorously present the speaker’s argument at the expense of the woman’s. “The Flea” is a dramatic argument in that both sides argue their point of view. The woman’s reactions, however, are not revealed in the lines, but rather take place in the stanza breaks. The reader learns about the woman’s response in the opening lines of the second and third stanzas. In the second stanza, the reader learns that the woman is getting ready to smash the flea when the speaker says, “Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare” (Donne l. 10). In the third stanza, the reader learns that the woman has killed the flea when the speaker says, “Cruell and sodaine, hast thou since/Purpled thy naile, in blood of innocence” (ll. 19- 20). With these lines, the speaker makes the woman seem cruel for taking such harsh actions against the flea. Since these actions represent the woman’s response, this characterization articulates the woman’s argument.

The only reference to the woman’s argument comes near the end of the poem when the speaker says, “Yet thou triumph’st, and saist that thou/Find’st not thy selfe, nor mee the weaker now” (Donne ll. 23-24). The speaker’s prior coloring makes the act seem like needless aggression rather than a triumph. Her claim similarly lacks the argument. The disparity in presenting the two arguments causes the speaker to have the persuasive advantage over the woman.

In “The Flea,” the speaker’s most noteworthy technique is adjusting his arguments in response to the situation. The speaker goes through a variety of logical approaches in attempting to win over the woman. Initially, the speaker tries to argue that having sex is not a big deal. He uses a proof by definition to show that the flea sucking blood from the two of them is the equivalent of sex. If sex consists of the mixing of blood, then the flea biting both of them can be thought of as sex. This approach is persuasive since proofs by definitions are logically sound. Once the speaker establishes that the flea bite resembles sex, the speaker minimizes the enormity of the act by saying, “Thou know’st that this cannot be said/A sinne, nor shame, nor losse of maidenhead” (Donnell. 5-6). The flea bite does not carry all of the negative ramifications associated with sex. The speaker implies that since the acts are equal, then sex similarly should not carry with it all of the negative connotations. Those ramifications are presumably why the woman does not want to have sex with the speaker. The speaker uses the metaphor of a flea to allay the woman’s fears.

Ultimately, this approach does not work; the woman not only denies sex with the speaker, but she also makes a move to smash the flea. When the speaker’s initial approach fails, he adjusts his argument. The second stanza is not as much about getting the woman to have sex as it is stopping her from killing the flea. The speaker attempts to prevent her from killing the flea by giving much greater importance to the flea bite, such as when he says, “where we almost, yea more than married are./This flea is you and I, and this/Our mariage bed, and mariage temple is” (Donne ll. 11-13). Since parts of themselves share such close quarters in the flea, the speaker equates that to marriage. While in the first stanza downplays the significance of the flea bite, the second stanza builds up the importance of the act.

Since the first approach failed, the speaker attempts a different strategy. This argument is not as strong as the first. Comparing the meaning of their blood in the flea to marriage is a stretch, but the situation meets some of the requirements that define marriage. The speaker additionally tries to convince the woman not to kill the flea by raising moral issues. The speaker says, “Though use make you apt to kill mee,/Let not to that, selfe murder added bee,/And sacrilege, three sins in killing three” (Donne ll. 16-18). The three sins the woman would commit if she killed the flea would be murdering the speaker, suicide, and committing sacrilege against their marriage temple. Appealing to the woman’s morality is a good tactic because she is concerned with sin, since that is one of her fears regarding sex. This line of reasoning is another example of the speaker fitting his argument to the situation.

The speaker’s persuasive techniques once again fail as, despite his efforts, the woman kills the flea. This occurs in the break between stanzas two and three. Killing the flea is the woman’s way of refuting the notion that the flea has the importance that the speaker gives it in stanza two. By killing the flea, the woman also communicates that the speaker’s plan to use the metaphor of the flea to persuade her into having sex will not work. The speaker responds to the woman by once again changing his argument. First, he calls the woman cruel for killing the flea. Claiming that the violence is unnecessary, he says, “Wherein could this flea guilty bee,/Except in that drop which it suckt from thee?” (Donne ll. 21-22). The speaker tries to get the woman to recognize that she was wrong in her actions and, by extension, in her argument. The speaker then tries to minimize the significance of her killing the flea and uses it to convince her to have sex with him. The speaker says, “Tis true, then learne how false, feares bee;/Just so much honor, when thou yeeld’st to mee,/Will wast, as this flea’s death tooke life from thee” (Donnell. 25-27). The speaker reverses the argument he made in stanza two to once again downplay the importance of the flea. He argues that as much honor will be lost in having sex as life was lost by being bitten by the flea. This is the weakest argument in the poem, since the connection between blood loss and honor does not make much sense.

With this argument, the speaker is making one last attempt at seducing the woman. The speaker adapts his argument a great deal in “The Flea.” When his initial plan of minimizing the flea to subsequently downplay the magnitude of sex fails, he completely reverses his approach to elevating the importance of the flea. His attention also shifts from trying to get the woman to sleep with him to trying to stop her from killing the flea. When the woman kills the flea, the speaker shifts his argument again. He downplays the significance of the flea to minimize the woman’s response. He also returns his focus to trying to get the woman to sleep with him. Ultimately the speaker’s seduction efforts probably fail. His logic gets progressively weaker as the poem progresses. Since the woman rejects his initial arguments, it is unlikely that she will be swayed by the inferior arguments he makes later. Although the speaker fails to seduce the woman, his effort is admirable. His techniques of basing his argument on a common, natural object and vigorously presenting his own arguments give him a persuasive advantage. He then shows great skill and persistence in molding his arguments throughout the poem. The speaker’s failure cannot be blamed on his approach or his amount of effort.

Conclusion

In examining these poems, it is clear that more than any other factor, the persuasive techniques that Donne’s speakers employ make the arguments in his poems convincing. Donne uses a variety of techniques to help his speakers either win an argument or seduce a woman. The techniques found most often in Donne’s persuasion poems are 1) vigorously presenting the speaker’s point of view, 2) systematically proving each claim, 3) employing vivid metaphors and similes to ground the arguments in a pleasing and convincing fashion, 4) using a bold and direct manner of expression, and 5) rapidly adjusting strategies in the midst of the argument. There are also numerous techniques specific to individual poems that aid in convincing an audience. These persuasive techniques are not exclusive to Donne’s poems, and can be found in many pieces of writing or oration in which the speaker attempts to persuade his audience. Not a day goes by when we do not have to be persuasive. We regularly convince someone to take some course of action be it the mundane request for someone to “hold on” or trying to influence whom a person votes for. Studying a master of rhetoric like Donne provides persuasive skills that can be used in everyday life.

Works Cited

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Mitchell, Charles.  “Donne's 'The Extasie': Love's Sublime Knot.”  Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 8:1 (1968): 91. Periodicals Archive Online. 12 Apr. 2006 <http://pao.chadwyck.comezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/home.do>.

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Perrine, Laurence: "Explicating Donne: 'The Apparition' and 'The Flea'"College Literature 17:1 (1990): 3. Periodicals Archive Online. 12 Apr. 2006. o.chadwyck.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/home