Visions of Ecstasy in John Donne\u27s Songs and Sonnets

Motifs of visuality saturate John Donne’s Songs and Sonnets as the primary action of many poems consists of the speaker looking at his lover or the lovers looking at each other. Often times this act of looking results in ecstasy: the speaker and his lover being removed from their physical bodies. By examining three poems: “The Ecstasy,” “The Good-Morrow,” and “A Valediction: Of My Name in the Window,” this thesis uses the lens of ecstasy to explore themes such as individual vs. collective selfhood, mutuality, and perpetuity. Ultimately this thesis will argue how successful ecstasy is dependent upon mutuality between the lovers, and how Donne uses ecstasy to grant his speakers romantic endurance