Elizabeth Drury

The principal symbol in the poem is Elizabeth herself. She represents everything that is good in the world. In fact, Elizabeth operates more frequently as a symbol in the poem than as the real-life person Donne was commissioned to elegize.

Sickness

Sickness symbolizes spiritual decline. Donne frequently uses the symbol of physical illness, including references to fevers and physicians, to stand in for the spiritual and psychological disease he feels has corrupted the world.

Royalty

Royalty symbolizes earthly power. There are frequent references to specific royal figures, such as princes and queens, throughout the poem. Donne does not speak about any particular royal person, however. Instead, he uses royalty as a general symbol for power on earth – something perhaps desirable, but also imperfect and temporary.

Anatomy

Anatomy symbolizes the attempt to understand something. In early modern England, an anatomy was a detailed description of anything...