Conceit In John Donne's Songs And Sonets

John Donne, one of the most influential figures among Metaphysical poets, has been famous for his special use of conceit. This thesis endeavors to make a brief study on the characteristics of Donne's conceits in Songs and Sonet.Chapter One explores the representative different viewpoints about the conceit as a literary device and the specialties of each theory in the analysis of Donne's conceits. In this chapter, conceit is more attached to Treasure's"Theory of Conceit"connected with its origin, and its uniqueness as a literary device.Chapter Two adopts another aspect of Tesauro's"Theory of Conceit". It exploroes how Donne explores images to express its contradictory feeling. It analyses some typical examples in Donne's Songs and Sonets. It divided the imagery mainly into three aspects: life and death, secular and divine, sicence and theology. Donne's poetry is a mirror of the common feeling of human being which focuses the intellect and emotion in his poetry.Chapter Three is devoted to analysing the two important themes in Donne's Songs and Sonets—women and love. From the analysis of the conceit within the two themes, it contains the unique viewpoints reflected in Donne's conceits, which makes his poetry unique and striking within the Elizabethan literary tradition.