A Study Of Alchemical Motif In John Donne’s Writings

John Donne, one of the most important representatives among the17th century metaphysical poets, has been renowned for his peculiar metaphors and fabulous images. He has rich sentiment, acute thought and overflowing talent. Among these peculiar images the alchemical image standouts most as it has run through his entire writing career. The alchemical imagery has become a handy and powerful weapon for him to express his feelings and ideas. Some images in his writings come directly from the practice of alchemy or the ideas related to alchemy while the alchemical knowledge permeates his other works which have even no mention of alchemy at all. The alchemy in his works is neither a way to procure immortality nor the despicable pseudo-science but an indispensable and appropriate medium to communicate his feelings and ideas. In this sense, what his alchemy has achieved is the eternity of his works rather than the immortality of life. This thesis based on close reading of the text has made a detailed analysis of the alchemical imagery in Donne’s writings and points out that the imagery centers on certain alchemical subjects. And most important of all there is a detailed and logical analysis of the alchemical process threaded by seven poems and one sermon so as to analyze how Donne employs the alchemical imagery to communicate his feelings and ideas and realize his poetic purpose. The previous study of this topic is incomplete as it either is limited to one poem or just focuses on one particular aspect of the alchemy. The author of this thesis endeavors to present a relatively complete analysis of this image so as to offer a novel and unique perspective for the study of Donne’s writings.This thesis consists of six chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to this thesis including a brief introduction to John Donne, a literature review, the focus of this thesis, and the structure of this thesis, which shall present an overview of the background of this topic. The second chapter means to review the alchemical tradition in western world. In addition, this chapter shall focus on such an alchemical tradition’s influence on John Donne and especially on his writings and Donne’s attitude towards alchemy. The third chapter shall make a detailed analysis of the alchemical imagery in Donne’s writings. The fourth chapter mainly focuses on the alchemical subjects in Donne’s writings. The fifth chapter goes deeper to delve into the alchemical process in Donne’s writings. And this chapter can be divided into two parts. The first part tries to show how love as the alchemist forges the lover so as to achieve a spiritual union of body and soul by analyzing Donne’s five poems and the second part endeavors to show how God the alchemist help Donne realize his eventual salvation and prepare for his welcome death through the analysis of two holy poems and one sermon. The last chapter is a conclusion. In this chapter the author concludes that Donne has been influenced by the knowledge throughout his writing career as this imagery scatters all over his two distinct phases of writing. Whether it is the earthly love he pursues or the ardent belief in God and search for spiritual resurrection the alchemical imagery serves as a poetic means. In this sense he might be called an alchemist-poet who can transform his writings into a kind of elixir and make them immortal.