Reframing romantic consciousness in John Donne and D. H. Lawrence’s perception of the woman in metaphysical and modern poetry

Abstract

This paper examines the place of the woman in Romantic thought with focus on the poetry of John Donne and D. H. Lawrence. Given that Donne and Lawrence are not “Romantic” poets in the real sense of the word but have written Romantic poems, the paper focuses on how their attitude towards the woman is Romantic in nature. Though from the Renaissance and the Modern periods respectively, their poetry articulates the rich quality of human sensibilities with the woman at the centre of this artistic experience. The reframing of Romantic consciousness in Donne and Lawrence’s poetry manifests in the poets’ conceited diction as opposed to the Romanticists’ whose imagination priced the aesthetic experience and the sublimity of untamed nature in all its ramification. Wit, conceit, syllogisms, passionate intensity, and absurd deviances are the poets’ conscious attempt in the search for unity of being. Comparative representations of the woman are drawn from the works of key Romantic figures like William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, and John Keats. The Romantic theory and Ecofeminism guide the analyses, and the discussions reveal their sensibilities towards the woman. It further unfolds how both poets’ quest for ethereal values permit them to advocate peace and spiritual growth in societies where man is regularly disconnected from his/her spiritual essence.