Les représentations scientifiques dans la poésie de John Donne : Satire et Imaginaire
This essay focuses on the interactions between sciences and satire in John Donne’s poetry. The emergence of « new science » in the early 17th century entailed the creation of new poetic images. Donne remains sceptical towards those modern ideas, and yet he often borrows scientific images from astron...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institut du Monde Anglophone
2006-10-01
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| Series: | Etudes Epistémè |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/953 |
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| Summary: | This essay focuses on the interactions between sciences and satire in John Donne’s poetry. The emergence of « new science » in the early 17th century entailed the creation of new poetic images. Donne remains sceptical towards those modern ideas, and yet he often borrows scientific images from astronomy, geometry, medicine, or even alchemy. Sciences are ironically denounced, notably in « The Second Anniversary » (1612), or more specifically in his polemical satire, Ignatius His Conclave (1611). The satirical treatment is all the more subtle in the poems as Donne subverts the scientific image and turns it into a satirical tool. Conversely, satire itself can be considered as a mirroring tool in the representational process. The conceit, for instance, is most illustrative as it works as a magnifying glass. The poet explains that it is impossible to know the world by means of reason, imagination being the only way to grasp it. |
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| ISSN: | 1634-0450 |