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  • Essay / The concepts of love and faith in canonization

    For some, an act of faith is easy. Believing in a God comes naturally to some, but to others it is something that seems logically improbable. What separates the two groups is that one is willing to use faith as a tool to justify their beliefs, while the other denies faith as a valid justification. However, for those who believe in their religion, their faith is truth because they choose to trust in that faith. This is the key aspect of making religion relevant: belief makes the concept true to the individual, whether objectively true or not. In “The Canonization” by John Donne, the speaker expresses great love for his beloved. But this love would not be possible if he did not believe in it so deeply, because believing in an idea is what makes it truth for an individual. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Throughout the poem, Donne uses the word “love” at the beginning and end of each stanza. This tactic serves to highlight the belief that love is the beginning and end of everything the speaker believes, giving the reader insight into what fills the speaker's mind. Furthermore, the word “love” is always used in relation to “my” or “our”. It’s never a floating idea; it is always based on a conceptualization of how it exists. Although love is a concept, the poem wants to talk about it in the context of how it exists in the world rather than interpreting it as a nebulous ideal. Thus, the speaker also indicates that the love in question is more special than the type of love usually discussed. By constantly referring to love in relation to “my” or “our”, Donne gives love a unique meaning specific to what he feels. Apparently, Donne expects readers to understand and conceptualize the poem through the lens of this specific love. If one does not see how love is perceived in this poem, the resulting interpretation might be different from how Donne envisions it to be. Besides the placement of words, Donne focuses on creating irony in the poem. For example, the title of the poem is “The Canonization,” but the first line of the first stanza is “For the love of God, be silent and let me love” (1). The definition of a canonization is a declaration by the Church that a deceased person has achieved sainthood, so that the public can expect to read something deeply religious. However, the first line contradicts what readers expect. The speaker uses God's name in vain, which is contrary to the Ten Commandments set forth in the Bible. Additionally, the entire poem can also be seen as ironic in relation to the title. The poem is based on the speaker describing his immense love as something that can be desired from all the earth: "Countries, cities, courts: pray from above/A model of your love!" » (45). This sequence also creates a sense of irony, as the first love should not be for an earthly figure, but rather for God; The Bible maintains that the strongest love should be for the Heavenly Father. The title is only contextualized when the reader realizes that the speaker and his beloved are canonized not for purposes of sainthood, but rather because their love is so strong: "Anyone by these hymns , all will approve/We are canonized for love” (16). . This statement brings everything back to the idea of ​​faith: love rises almost to the rank of religion only because the speaker believes in it with all his heart. He is so confident that he declares: “We will build in sonnets pretty rooms;/As well an urn..