THE LEGACY BY JOHN DONNE Sara Sanchez Caroline

THE LEGACY BY JOHN DONNE Sara Sanchez Caroline Oviedo Mrs. Aleman Period 5

THE LEGACY When last I died, and, dear, I die As often as from thee I go, Though it be but an hour ago – And lovers’ hours be full eternity – I can remember yet, that I Something did say, and something did bestow; Though I be dead, which sent me, I might be Mine own executor, and legacy. I heard me say, “Tell her anon, That myself, ” that is you, not I, “ Did kill me, ” and when I felt me die, I bid me send my heart, when I was gone; But I alas ! could there find none; When I had ripped, and searched where hearts should lie, It killed me again, that I who still was true In life, in my last will should cozen you. Yet I found something like a heart, But colours it, and corners had; It was not good, it was not bad, It was entire to none, and few had part; As good as could be made by art It seemed, and therefore for our loss be sad. I meant to send that heart instead of mine, But O! No man could hold it, for ’twas thine.

TEXTUAL EVIDENCE When last I died, and, dear, I die As often as from thee I go, Though it be but an hour ago – And lovers’ hours be full eternity – I can remember yet, that I Something did say, and something did bestow; Though I be dead, which sent me, I might be Mine own executor, and legacy. } } Metaphor; when he leaves the woman he loves, it’s almost as if he has died. The time that has passed can feel like an eternity, because an hour does that to lovers. Hyperbole; not his physical death, as he has left the woman.

TEXTUAL EVIDENCE (CONT. ) I heard me say, “Tell her anon, That myself, ” that is you, not I, “ Did kill me, ” and when I felt me die, I bid me send my heart, when I was gone; But I alas ! could there find none; When I had ripped, and searched where hearts should lie, It killed me again, that I who still was true In life, in my last will should cozen you. } } Speaker wants to clarify that it was the woman who was to blame for his metaphorical “death. ” Speaker “died” once more after realizing that even though he had been faithful to her, he should've never let his heart become so vulnerable. Cozen: to cheat

TEXTUAL EVIDENCE (CONT. ) Yet I found something like a heart, But colours it, and corners had; It was not good, it was not bad, It was entire to none, and few had part; As good as could be made by art It seemed, and therefore for our loss be sad. I meant to send that heart instead of mine, But O! No man could hold it, for ’twas thine. Speaker writes that even though he has found a heart, it is an artificial one. He meant to send her this heart instead of his real heart. except this was impossible, as it did not belong solely to him.

EXPLANATION Donne’s poem explains how he had a love affair with a woman who had left him. His affair has gone wrong, therefore it wasn’t the fist time it went wrong. He feels bad but her tells the woman that he is not her victim, he chose his own “legacy. ” His own legacy is suffering, because he chose to give away his own heart instead of giving out his artificial one, which left him more vulnerable.

LITERARY TERMS Imagery: Donne uses imagery to display the conflicting themes of love and death. Metaphor: Every time he leaves the woman he loves, he dies inside. “When I died last, and, Dear, I die As often as from thee I go, ” Hyperbole: Not the speaker’s physical death, more like his symbolic death, as he has left the woman. “ Though I be dead, which sent me, I might be Mine own executor…”

SOUND Sound: He uses Enjambment (the technique of running one line into another) too add to the emotional effect of the poem. “Though it be but an hour go -And lovers’ hours be full eternity – I can remember yet, that I” Alliteration: “When last I died, and dear I die”

SOUND (CONT. ) Rhyme: The poem does not have rhyming scheme until the last stanza “Yet I found something like a heart A But colours it, and corners it had B It was not good, it was not bad B It was not entire to none, and few had part A As good as could be made by art A It seemed, and therefore for our loss be sad B I meant to send that heart instead of mine C But O! No man could hold it, for ‘twas thine. ” C ABBCDEFG HDAIIAJK LMMLLMNN

THEME STATEMENT The poem The Legacy by John Donne is about the love the speaker has for the woman in his life and reveals the dependency that people develop with the ones they love.

SUMMARY STATEMENT In the first stanza the speaker is saying that he loves this woman so much that every time he leaves her, it's like he die. It does not matter how long its been because for lovers, hours separated from each other seem like an eternity. He then says that he left something: it was his legacy—I believe that he intended for it to be his heart. In second stanza the speaker says: tell her that I did not kill myself, but that she is responsible—she killed me. It seems that it was not his wish to be separated from her, in that he suffers so much being separated from her. . . so he may be inferring that she signaled that their time together was over for that day. The speaker goes on to say that he then tried to send her is heart, but when he went to the spot where his heart would be kept, he could not find it.

SUMMARY STATEMENT (CONT. ) In the third stanza the speaker mention the exchange of hearts between lovers, whereby each lover possesses the heart of, and therefore effectively is, the other person. He implies that her heart, and her love, is more un-committed and partial than his own, and that no one man can possess.