Poetry Slam!: "The Canonization," by John Donne

In this poem, the speaker argues that others should not criticize his romance, which harms no one — and which might one day be considered a model for other relationships.

Here are links to our lists for other poems by John Donne: "The Flea", "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning", "Song: Go and catch a falling star", "Death, be not proud", "The Sun Rising"
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love,
    Or chide my palsy, or my gout
  2. palsy
    a medical condition marked by uncontrollable tremor
    For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love,
    Or chide my palsy, or my gout
  3. gout
    a painful inflammation of the big toe and foot caused by defects in uric acid metabolism resulting in deposits of the acid and its salts in the blood and joints
    For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love,
    Or chide my palsy, or my gout
  4. flout
    treat with contemptuous disregard
    My five gray hairs, or ruined fortune flout
  5. contemplate
    reflect deeply on a subject
    With wealth your state, your mind with arts improve,
    Take you a course, get you a place,
    Observe his Honor, or his Grace,
    Or the king's real, or his stampèd face
    Contemplate
  6. merchant
    a businessperson engaged in retail trade
    What merchant's ships have my sighs drowned?
  7. forward
    moving ahead
    When did my colds a forward spring remove?
  8. plague
    a serious infection of rodents transmitted to humans
    When did the heats which my veins fill
    Add one more to the plaguy bill?
  9. litigious
    inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree
    Soldiers find wars, and lawyers find out still
    Litigious men, which quarrels move,
    Though she and I do love.
  10. quarrel
    an angry dispute
    Soldiers find wars, and lawyers find out still
    Litigious men, which quarrels move,
    Though she and I do love.
  11. taper
    stick of wax with a wick in the middle
    Call us what you will, we are made such by love;
    Call her one, me another fly,
    We're tapers too, and at our own cost die,
    And we in us find the eagle and the dove.
  12. phoenix
    a legendary bird that burned to death and emerged reborn
    The phoenix riddle hath more wit
    By us; we two being one, are it.
  13. wit
    verbal skill that has the power to evoke laughter
    The phoenix riddle hath more wit
    By us; we two being one, are it.
  14. neutral
    possessing no distinctive quality or characteristics
    So, to one neutral thing both sexes fit.
  15. tomb
    a place for the burial of a corpse
    We can die by it, if not live by love,
    And if unfit for tombs and hearse
    Our legend be, it will be fit for verse
  16. hearse
    a vehicle for carrying a coffin to a church or a cemetery
    We can die by it, if not live by love,
    And if unfit for tombs and hearse
    Our legend be, it will be fit for verse
  17. legend
    a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events
    We can die by it, if not live by love,
    And if unfit for tombs and hearse
    Our legend be, it will be fit for verse
  18. verse
    literature in metrical form
    We can die by it, if not live by love,
    And if unfit for tombs and hearse
    Our legend be, it will be fit for verse
  19. chronicle
    a record or narrative description of past events
    And if no piece of chronicle we prove,
    We'll build in sonnets pretty rooms
  20. sonnet
    a verse form of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme
    And if no piece of chronicle we prove,
    We'll build in sonnets pretty rooms
  21. urn
    a large vase that usually has a pedestal or feet
    As well a well-wrought urn becomes
    The greatest ashes, as half-acre tombs,
    And by these hymns, all shall approve
    Us canonized for Love.
  22. become
    enhance the appearance of
    As well a well-wrought urn becomes
    The greatest ashes, as half-acre tombs,
    And by these hymns, all shall approve
    Us canonized for Love.
  23. hymn
    a song of praise, especially a religious song
    As well a well-wrought urn becomes
    The greatest ashes, as half-acre tombs,
    And by these hymns, all shall approve
    Us canonized for Love.
  24. canonize
    declare (a dead person) to be a saint
    As well a well-wrought urn becomes
    The greatest ashes, as half-acre tombs,
    And by these hymns, all shall approve
    Us canonized for Love.
  25. invoke
    request earnestly; ask for aid or protection
    And thus invoke us: "You, whom reverend love
    Made one another's hermitage;
    You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage;
    Who did the whole world's soul contract, and drove
    Into the glasses of your eyes
    (So made such mirrors, and such spies,
    That they did all to you epitomize)
    Countries, towns, courts: beg from above
    A pattern of your love!"
  26. reverend
    worthy of adoration or respect
    And thus invoke us: "You, whom reverend love
    Made one another's hermitage;
    You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage;
    Who did the whole world's soul contract, and drove
    Into the glasses of your eyes
    (So made such mirrors, and such spies,
    That they did all to you epitomize)
    Countries, towns, courts: beg from above
    A pattern of your love!"
  27. hermitage
    the abode of a recluse
    And thus invoke us: "You, whom reverend love
    Made one another's hermitage;
    You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage;
    Who did the whole world's soul contract, and drove
    Into the glasses of your eyes
    (So made such mirrors, and such spies,
    That they did all to you epitomize)
    Countries, towns, courts: beg from above
    A pattern of your love!"
  28. contract
    compress or concentrate
    And thus invoke us: "You, whom reverend love
    Made one another's hermitage;
    You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage;
    Who did the whole world's soul contract, and drove
    Into the glasses of your eyes
    (So made such mirrors, and such spies,
    That they did all to you epitomize)
    Countries, towns, courts: beg from above
    A pattern of your love!"
  29. epitomize
    embody the essential characteristics of
    And thus invoke us: "You, whom reverend love
    Made one another's hermitage;
    You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage;
    Who did the whole world's soul contract, and drove
    Into the glasses of your eyes
    (So made such mirrors, and such spies,
    That they did all to you epitomize)
    Countries, towns, courts: beg from above
    A pattern of your love!"
  30. pattern
    a model considered worthy of imitation
    And thus invoke us: "You, whom reverend love
    Made one another's hermitage;
    You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage;
    Who did the whole world's soul contract, and drove
    Into the glasses of your eyes
    (So made such mirrors, and such spies,
    That they did all to you epitomize)
    Countries, towns, courts: beg from above
    A pattern of your love!"
Created on Mon Aug 07 17:43:24 EDT 2017 (updated Wed Nov 29 10:25:22 EST 2017)

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