John Donne's Ideas on Love and Salvation

To understand John Donnes ideas on love and salvation the responder must understand the context in which Donne writes. As a 16th century poet Donne lived in a time where everyone believed in god. He lived in a society where there was a constant battle between the protestant and Catholic branches of Christianity. There was no division between church and state and the monarchy were believed to be appointed by god. Donne lived in a time of discovery and exploration. In this context his poetry both religious and secular contains ancient and medieval philosophy ideas about alchemy, astronomy and physical science. One theme Donne repeatedly explored was that of love. He identified two types of love the poem A Valediction Forbidding Mourning explores both of these representations.

The first type of love is that of true love. This is the type of love that the persona of the poem believes he shares with his female partner Donne represents this ...