Literary Analysis Of The Apparition By John Donne

In John Donne’s “The Apparition” the poet tells a story of a woman whom he lusted after. She rejected his desire and he developed an immense anger towards her for this. He takes this rejection and turns it into revenge and hatred, and now instead of loving her, he wants to cause her suffering:

When by thy scorn, O murd'ress, I am dead

And that thou think'st thee free

From all solicitation from me,

Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,

And thee, feign'd vestal, in worse arms shall see;

Then thy sick taper will begin to wink,

And he, whose thou art then, being tir'd before,

Will, if thou stir, or pinch to wake him, think

Thou call'st for more,

And in false sleep will from thee shrink;

And then, poor aspen wretch, neglected thou

Bath'd in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lie

A verier ghost than I.

What I will say, I will not tell thee now,

Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,

I'had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,

Than by my threat'nings rest still innocent.

Donne first reveals his hatred for this woman by alluding to her as a “murderess”. By referencing her as a murderess, it shows the impact her actions have over him, and how his emotions rely on what she thinks about him. He says “I am dead” because she rejected his sexual desire for her. By not fulfilling this desire, he believes he will die. Therefore, he compares her to a murderess. He furthers this anger towards her by saying even when he dies from this rejection, she will not be free from his “solicitation” or his seeking to obtain by earnest request; entreaty, petition, diligent or importunate asking (OED). Donne uses these first lines to grab the girl’s attention. Saying she will kill him by not returning his affection is a light compliment to her. Now that she is paying attention, his threat in line four will have a larger impact. “Then shall my ghost come to thy bed” (4). The poet compliments her and waits to make his first threat in order have a larger impact, playing into to his goal of revenge against this woman.

Donne uses imagery throughout, painting a picture of when she might see his ghost, and how she will be filled with fear. By creating his own scenarios where he can haunt her, Donne is showing her examples of how he can cause her as much suffering as possible. He again is expressing what he can do to get revenge as he is irritated. Donne starts by saying, “in worse arms shall see”. He is stating that his ghost will discover her in the arms of another man, who is worse than him. Earlier in the line he also makes the insult, “feign'd vestal”, which refers someone who intentionally tells someone they are a virgin, or they are saving their virginity in order to reject them. This is how she rejected the poet. Donne is saying that her vow to her virginity will be proven wrong when she is laying another man. He develops this imagery later in the stanza by saying, “thy sick taper” or wax candle (OED) will begin to wink” or flicker. This shows that a ghost is nearby, because the ghost makes the candlelight flicker. This is another threat, saying that he will be at her bedside when she is with another man, haunting her. Donne creates this scenario to make it more personal, thus heightening the effect it has. This in turn, will cause more feelings of fear within her.

The poet also makes comparisons, he aspires to show how fearful she can become because of him. He wishes to show what can potentially happen to her, creating more feelings of horror. This element adds to Donne’s purpose of revenge upon this woman. He first does this by referencing an “aspen wretch”. He is referring to the leaves of an aspen tree, which are so thin, that they shake even without wind. He is claiming that she will be so fearful of his ghost, that she will be shaking like this leaf does. By comparing this leaf to a person, Donne is trying to show how scary his wrath can be, and the actual effects she can feel. He advances his comparisons by saying, “Bath'd in a cold quicksilver sweat”. He is essentially saying she will be so scared; she will be bathing in sweat. He then claims she will look like more of a ghost than him because of this. Both comparisons are ways that the author claims he can physically or emotionally affect her. By saying how she will be deeply affected by this, makes the words more personal and even more real. She will care much more now that she knows it can hurt her exclusively. She will be much more scared now that she knows she can experience internal, authentic reactions to Donne.

Donne uses specific diction to instill a feeling of nervousness and anticipation in the woman by stating, “What I will say, I will not tell thee now”. The poet is saying he would tell her something now, but he will not say anything. He does this to leave feelings of despair within her. He believes knowing the secret in advance would minimize the distress and injury. By saying he will not tell her exaggerates the feelings of suffering he wishes upon her, adding to the overall motive of displaying his rage and revenge against her.

Donne shows throughout the poem, a theme of hatred and revenge towards his “love”. His tone is of vengeance and selfish anger. He cannot have her and so he wishes to cause as much suffering and pain to her as possible. He threatens her by claiming he will haunt her. This displays his irritation with her, and why he wishes to seek revenge. The poem is a release of Donne’s feelings, saying how he wants to haunt her. It plays into largening his ego, he believes he is above everyone else and he can harm anyone who disagrees with him. By believing he is beyond death, people will not be free from him ever. It further shows his internal and immense hatred of this woman by claiming revenge against her.