A Research On The Themes Of John Donne's Poetry From The Perspective Of Figure And Ground In Cognitive Poetics

In Donne's poems,there are many unconventional ways to attract or guide the readers' attention.The cognitive poetics concentrates on and traces Donne's literary innovation and creative expression which are the embodiment of the theory of figure and ground in cognitive poetics.This theory provides another kind of interpretation to appreciate his poems.The thesis is unfolded by the themes with the feature of dualism,respectively the theme of love,religion,and death.So the thesis is presented as follows.Chapter One focuses on Donne's poems related to the theme of love from the perspective of the cognitive poetics.By analyzing the figure and the ground,Donne's deep and inner feeling can be traced.The train of thought can be followed by the readers from the figures in the line.In addition,Donne's view on love is not singular or unchanging.He believes faithful love between man and lover,whereas at the same time,he distrusts the pure existence of love in the real world so that he also holds the view that no woman can be true or keep true to her beloved man.Chapter Two tries to look into the twofold view on religion in Donne's poems,which can be divided into two opinions.One is pious to God,the other one is the profane attitude towards his religion.Through the interpretation of the figures and grounds in the poems with such theme,readers can feel the gradual changes inside Donne's mind.Chapter Three concentrates on Donne's poems related to the theme of death.His poems demonstrate his complex and entangled feeling upon death in different situations.He may fear to die or sometimes despise the death in his lines.With the analysis of this theory,readers can follow his real state and change deeply in certain situation.The conclusion summarizes the thesis.The three themes demonstrate Donne's contradictory views upon love,religion and death.It also finds a way to understand and appreciate Donne's poems by the approach of the theory of figure and ground incognitive poetics.All the usage of the figures and grounds displays Donne's attention and leads readers into the world of his mind.Donne's special and unique literary innovation and creative expression should be noticed so as to be utilized in the poetry or other kind of literary form.