Firstly, however, I am going to look at the form that Donne chose to adopt which at times deviated from the traditional Petrarchan structure; a form that is often viewed by contemporary audiences as an extreme variation from the tradition. In the 1590s, at the time when John Donne produced his Songs and Sonnets, the Petrarchan tradition had already had several centuries of undeniable rule over romantic poetry and literature in general. However, Donne chose to develop his own style and adapt the rhyme scheme in much of his poetry, often employing emjambment, the technique of running one line into another, contributing to the emotional effect of the poem. His poetry is often described as 'rough' for this reason, however, Don

This inconsistent nature attributed to females is hardly complimentary, but it is certainly an extreme change from the cold indifference of Petrarch's idyllic mistress.

Though I must not go, endure not yet

I can love her, and her, and you , and you,

Lives a woman true, and fair.

The metaphors of earthquakes, "Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears" and celestial spheres, "But trepidation of the spheres" also add to the reader's understanding of the lovers' relationship by adding specific details about the magnitude of the love. Donne uses these to explain how two different and gigantic events can either bring 'harms and fears', or 'innocence' adding to the theme of silent mixing.

Another one of his poems, The Undertaking also presents his relationship with a woman based on the "virtue" in her heart- and then the hiding of that relationship to avoid scorn. He presents the woman very nearly as an equal, which is a strange concept when contrasted with more of Donne's verse. In the rest of the poem, he states that the exercise of relating with a woman based on her virtue is useless, as it is almost impossible to find such a woman with virtuous heart. In the phrase "forget the He and She," Donne presents a visionary equality through the shedding of gender roles. However, this is viewed as a major extreme to the tradition as Petrarchan sonneteers did not appear to consider the possibility of relationship rooted in equality. This would be utterly shattering to the framework in which those poets wrote but Donne 'undertakes' to break down this cemented tradition, and further, to hide it. He understands that his view of equality is disruptive to commonly held beliefs so the alternative to their contempt is secrecy. Donne describes a world in which women cannot be viewed as equals without the risk of disrupting social norms. However, he still attempts to work against the grain of this doctrine.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Mourning Donne, Sonnets Petrarchan, Unreachable Donne's, Death Proud, John Donne, separation body soul, soul 'fixed root', soul body, period death, woman based virtue, courtly love, soul 'fixed, women viewed, body soul, 'fixed root', separation body, woman based, based virtue,
Approximate Word count = 1697
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)