The following version of the poem was used to create this guide: Donne, John. “The Canonization.” Poetry Foundation Online, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44097/the-canonization.

Note that all parenthetical citations refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.

John Donne’s "The Canonization" is a 45-line poem metered with varied iambic lines divided into five nine-line stanzas. It was first published posthumously in 1633 in the first collection of Donne's poetry. One of the most notable metaphysical poets of the English Renaissance, Donne circulated "The Canonization" through manuscripts of his poems with friends in literary groups known as coteries. Members of Donne's coteries made their own collections, and eventually, those versions of his poems became the basis for printed additions. Born in 1572, Donne was in the early stages of his poetic career when he wrote "The Canonization." It was also around the time when Donne converted to Protestantism after having been born into a Catholic family. In the poem, Donne raises questions of true Christian practice while exploring both earthly and spiritual love. His tone shifts frequently throughout the poem as he follows traditions of Elizabethan courtly love poetry while simultaneously innovating the genre.

The speaker of the poem is a lover who addresses someone critical of his love, entreating them to turn their attention elsewhere. He then goes on to describe the kind of love he has with his lover. Together, they have found peace and sacrificed their mortal bodies for this ideal love. In their union, they leave their fleshly constraints and are worthy of being canonized as saints. Their eternal love is looked on by others as a model for an ideal union. The poem invites many interpretations because of Donne’s extended use of metaphors and rhetorical questions, and the speaker's tone toward religion balances irony and skepticism with somber reverence.