About the Poet

The English writer and Anglican cleric John Donne is considered now to be the preeminent metaphysical poet of his time. He was born in 1572 to Roman Catholic parents when practising that religion was illegal in England.

His work is distinguished by its emotional and sonic intensity and its capacity to plumb the paradoxes of faith, human and divine love, and the possibility of salvation.

The history of Donne’s reputation is the most remarkable of any major writer in English. For some 30 years after his death successive editions of his verse stamped his powerful influence upon English poets.

During the Restoration his writing went out of fashion and remained so for several centuries. Throughout the 18th century, and for much of the 19th century, he was little read and scarcely appreciated. It was not until the end of the 1800s that Donne’s poetry was eagerly taken up by a growing band of avant-garde readers and writers. His prose remained largely unnoticed until 1919.

Donne describes our earthly existence as constantly changing, but we can still make the most of it.

About the Poem

The Anniversary by John Donne is a dramatic lyric in which the poet celebrates his love which is now one year old. The poet is the speaker and his beloved is the listener. The central theme of The Anniversary is the immortality of true love which transcends death itself. The opposites of immortality and death are here juxtaposed and reconciled.

As regards the language of the lyric, The Anniversary is simple, much simpler than that of other poems of Donne. There are no difficult allusions and references. He writes in a simple and direct manner.

‘The Anniversary’ celebrates love’s immortality, transcending time and death, marking a defiant stand against life’s ephemeral nature.

Poem

All Kings, and all their favourites,

All glory of honours, beauties, wits,

The sun itself, which makes times, as they pass,

Is elder by a year now than it was

When thou and I first one another saw:

All other things to their destruction draw,

Only our love hath no decay;

This no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday,

Running it never runs from us away,

But truly keeps his first, last, everlasting day.

Two graves must hide thine and my corse;

If one might, death were no divorce.

Alas, as well as other Princes, we

(Who Prince enough in one another be)

Must leave at last in death these eyes and ears,

Oft fed with true oaths, and with sweet salt tears;

But souls where nothing dwells but love

(All other thoughts being inmates) then shall prove

This, or a love increasèd there above,

When bodies to their graves, souls from their graves remove.

And then we shall be throughly blessed;

But we no more than all the rest.

Here upon earth we’re Kings, and none but we

Can be such Kings, nor of such subjects be;

Who is so safe as we? where none can do

Treason to us, except one of us two.

True and false fears let us refrain,

Let us love nobly, and live, and add again

Years and years unto years, till we attain

To write threescore: this is the second of our reign.

stanza 1

Since the poet and his beloved first met each other, kings and all their favorites have aged, the glory of honor, beauty, and wit has passed away, and the sun itself, which measures time, as it passes, is older by a year. All other things are hastening to their decay; their love alone knows no decay. Neither tomorrow nor yesterday does affect their love: while it runs in its course, it never runs away from them. Their love never changes; it is the same as it was in the beginning and will continue to be the same till the end. Their love is eternal.

stanza 2

The graves must hide their corpses. If one grave might cover the two corpses, death would not separate them. Alas! As it is the fate of other princes, they, each being as good as a prince in enjoying the love of the other, also must, at last, let their eyes and ears be closed in death. Their ears which were nourished with genuine oaths, and their eyes, which were nourished with sweet-bitter tears. But their souls, possessed entirely by love, and admitting other thoughts only temporarily, shall then prove the constancy of their love. Their love will increase still more in heaven when after death their bodies sink into the grave and the souls ascend to heaven.

stanza 3

And in heaven they shall be thoroughly blest; they shall be as much blest as other spirits. Here on earth, they are kings in their love; none else is so crowned with love. As they are kings in their love, none else but they can be subjects of such kings – they are both kings and subjects in their love. None can do treachery to them unless one of them turns faithless. Let them refrain from fears, either real or groundless. Let them love nobly and live to add year to year until they are sixty. Then they will celebrate their golden jubilee; it is only the second year of their love.

Critical Appreciation

Donne’s attitude toward love is realistic. Even when he talks of love in the Platonic strain, he does not forget the body. In his philosophy, love, however spiritual and exalted it may be, love has its basis in physical experience. Love on this earth, even physical love, is not to be looked down upon. True lovers are kings of the kingdom of love, and their happiness and security are far greater than that of other kings. For, they need not fear any treachery or any deception from any quarter. But Donne is realistic enough to realize that lovers can be false to each other. The only danger is that fear comes from themselves.

However, they should not allow their present happiness to be spoiled by any doubts and fears, whether genuine or baseless. They should go on loving nobly and truly, year after year, till their love is sixty years old. Then they would celebrate its golden jubilee. At present, it is only the second year of their love. Thus, in the lyrics, the poet has reconciled death and the eternity of love. He has an exalted conception of love and true love transcends death itself.

The Anniversary is a typical metaphysical love poem. The metaphysical treatment of love is different from what is found in conventional, romantic Elizabethan lyrics. The approach here is intellectual, not emotional. Love is idealized, but not impulsively adored, and rather intellectually analyzed. Donne’s intellectual assessment of love is clear all through the poem. He states how all things grow old, as time rolls on, and hasten to their end. His purpose is to assert the constant, perpetual character of true love-

The notes do not belong to me, I have taken them from various websites and have used chatgpt to simplify them and form a constructed answer, I have collected them to study for my exams and thought this compilation may help other students too.