John Donne’s “The Canonization”

For God’s Sake, Hold your tongue and let me love What is it about? For God’s Sake, Hold your tongue and let me love The speaker refuses to accept his love is wrong Lists the many faults of the poet and world that are of greater concern than unsanctioned love Refers to the love in religious terms, canonizing it

Extract “Alas, alas, who's injured by my love?           What merchant's ships have my sighs drowned?  Who says my tears have overflowed his ground?           When did my colds a forward spring remove?                  When did the heats which my veins fill                  Add one more to the plaguy bill?  Soldiers find wars, and lawyers find out still           Litigious men, which quarrels move,           Though she and I do love.”

Genre and Context While the poem doesn’t have an established form, it follows the traditional mode of Donne’s era with Iambic pentameter and a regular pattern of rhyme. Donne is known for both religious and love poetry and this poem bridges both. Little is known for sure about his personal life besides his upbringing as an (illegal) Catholic and his marriage and children but it is widely assumed that the “I” in his poems refers (at least partly) to him.