The Bait Essay

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Analysis of ‘The Bait’ by John Donne ‘The Bait’ by John Donne, is a poem that uses many metaphysical aspects which help Donne get his point across throughout the poem. At the beginning of the poem, Donne implies that a beautiful woman is very much like fish bait as a man to fish, who are hoping to be caught by the woman. This analogy is used throughout the poem and this likeness of fish to love suggests how Donne sees love. The poet begins with enticing language, inviting his love to live with him, he describes how magnificent and beautiful their love would be if this were to happen. Donne then begins to use metaphors to create imagery in the poem, of fish gathered in a river warmed by the woman’s beauty rather than the sun. “Warmed by thy eyes more than the sun.” shows the woman’s beauty that warms all around it. He goes on to say that carious men would be “enamoured” by her beauty such as a fish is intrigued by bait but as the second stanza comes to a close the poem experiences a slight change of mood which is typical of metaphysical poetry as when the fish is allured by the bait, it pursues the bait and betrays one another as well as themselves such as when a fish discovers the bait is actually on a hook. In the third stanza the reader is provided with more vivid imagery of the bait enchanting the fish similar to the way a beautiful woman would enchant a man with her looks. “Gladder to catch thee, than thou him. If thou, to be so seen, beest loath,” this shows that it is obvious that the men obtain a greater pleasure then the woman, as they have won the affection of the woman. This is another typical feature of metaphysical poetry as it shows that love is not always what it seems before showering her with more compliments later on in the poem. The tone of the poet changes dramatically in the fourth stanza as he talks of how the pursuit of this woman
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