Point of View

“The Canonization” is a poem written from the first-person point of view of a speaker attempting to defend his relationship. However, Donne adjusts the speaker's perspective to show the process of the lovers' canonization. The speaker at first begs a critic to allow him to love, arguing that there are a multitude of other flaws for which he could be criticized. He continues by saying that his love has very little influence in the world, arguing that life goes on as usual despite the existence of his relationship. The first two stanzas are dedicated to thwarting the speaker's opponent using numerous elements of distraction.

In the third stanza, however, the speaker shifts to using a first-person plural perspective. The speaker's shift from using "she" "I" in the second stanza to "we" and "us" in the third stanza mirrors the lovers' union that the speaker praises...