Ambiguity In John Donne's Poetry

John Donne is the founder and the most original poet of English metaphysical school in the early of 17th century. His intellectual and obscure poetic language, defamiliarized poetic form, intricate poetic theme and contradictory poetic thought contribute to his great artistic achievements, and cause an upsurge of worldwide researches.Donne is adept at using language to express complex emotional world. In his poems, the vagueness and complexity of poetic language and poetic theme are enigmatic, thus coinciding with the prominent theory of"Ambiguity"put forward by William Empson. Based on this theory, this thesis attempts to demonstrate the great power of Donne's poetic language, combing the multiple meanings of poetic themes and thought, and thereby, analyzes the profundity of poetic connotation existed in his poetry.This thesis consists three chapters besides introduction and conclusion.Chapter One makes an analysis on the issue of ambiguity existing in poetic language. Donne's poems are equivocal especially in diction and syntax. The rich connotations and implications of words and sentences provide us with a larger thinking space, and therefore the aesthetic value of the poetry is improved.Chapter Two explores the ambiguous themes in Donne's poems. The three main themes in Donne's poems are love, life and religion. His point of view towards love is complicated combined with realism and idealism. Donne is afraid of death, but he also denounces death bitterly. He is always wandering between death and rebirth. Donne'greatest pain during the whole life is his apostasy, so he suffers in the painful struggle between sin and salvation. And his suspicion drives him at a loss of pursuing true belief.Chapter Three testifies Donne's uncertain attitudes towards women and tradition. He does not only attack and despise women with acid words, but also praise and idolize women with holy words. But his attitude towards tradition is paradoxical with rebellion and inheritance. In addition, this chapter attempts to find out the reasons for the formation of these uncertain attitudes.