John Donne was the leading enthusiast of a style of poetry known as metaphysical poetry, which flourished in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This specific type of poetry features elaborate conceits and surprising symbols, wrapped up in original, challenging language structures, with learned themes that draw heavily on eccentric chains of reasoning. His jarring, unusual meters; his often eccentric metaphors and his process of oblique reasoning are all characteristics of the metaphysicals. Firstly, …showed first 75 words of 1715 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1715 total…poem ends in a paradox, as Donne concludes: "and death shall be no more, Death thou shalt die.” As with most themes in Donne’s work he often changes his opinion and writes about the extremes, leaving a perplexed reader to attempt to find his real belief on the subject. It is for this reason, I believe his poetry is highly paradoxical but nethertheless is a quality that only adds to its richness and appeal.