Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
So all were lost, which in the ship were found,
They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd.
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A dismal scene, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Donne has used great a tragic scene here, and used a report style to bring it to the reader. With a little touch of poetics and the piece still works acutely today as ever.
Andrew -
A report to the royalty perhaps.
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It is so strange that I should find this poem by John Donne as I wrote a poem called Sinking Ship and I know nothing about war but entered my poem in a war poem contest with winningwriters. Histor surely walks side by side with the present. It makes me wonder if we know who we are.
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love the irony in this. But I agree with Earlbecke- it's hard to imagine he's just saying that dying is inevidable. Hmm...
Jen -
While I love the powerful images in the poem, and the irony of it all, I can't help but wonder what message Donne is trying to impart. Having read other work by him, I can't imagine he is trying to say that trying to live life the best that you can is meaningless, or that attempting to assert free will is pointless. Though he was intensely religious, that just doesn't seem his style.
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beautiful
john donne is a great metaphysical poet.the last toee lines of the poem magnify the concept of luck & chance to show the mighty hand of god.beautiful! -
Sounds like out of the frying pan, into the fire. LOL.
The grounded imagery makes poem a good write.
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