Balancing the Earthly with the Holy

The general progression of “The Canonization” features a transition from worldly concerns to a holy hymn. The poem begins with a focus on the earthly and the corporeal, as the speaker encourages his opponent to "chide my palsy, or my gout, / My five gray hairs, or ruined fortune flout" (2-3). Here, the speaker attempts to distract his critic by highlighting his flaws related to health, age, and fortune. Readers may wonder why the speaker offers up so readily criticisms of his body, but as the poem continues, it becomes clear that the speaker is unconcerned with his physical being. Instead, the love that he ardently defends has reoriented his focus toward the afterlife, immortality, and spiritual union. The speaker uses a series of metaphors to describe his love, comparing the lovers to flies, candles, eagles, doves, and ultimately the phoenix that...