Deconstructing the Life-Death Binary in the Poetry of John Donne and Robert Herrick: A Derridean Reading

Abstract

The poetry of the metaphysical and Cavalier poets has been a source of controversy and interest over the past three centuries due to the imagery, language, and themes it presents, such as death and life, that differ from those of previous and subsequent poems. Thus, researchers, interested parties, and experts in literary critical studies must approach it within the limits that accord it its due research and academic merit. It is necessary to employ Jacques Derrida’s theory to deconstruct the texts they wrote, although it (deconstruction) is closer to linguistic studies than to literary studies. However, reading their poems forces the reader and literary critic to analyze them from a purely literary-critical perspective. Therefore, this study argues that the binary oppositions of death and life in the poetry of John Donne and Robert Herrick yield numerous interpretations, meanings, and themes through an exploration of différance, trace, absence, and presence in a deconstructive framework, applicable to the analysis of poetry. It aims to examine and deconstruct the binary of life-death in selected poems by the metaphysical poets and Cavalier poets. The study analyzes two poems by the metaphysical poet John Donne and two poems by Robert Herrick, a Cavalier poet, who represent different approaches to presenting themes in their work. It serves as a research sample for a deconstructive analysis of the binary oppositions of life and death, focusing on the binary oppositions and interpretive distinctions within the texts. The study concluded that the contrasting and deferential hermeneutical interpretation (différance) of the binary of death and life in the poems of John Donne and Robert Herrick cannot be limited to the meanings, interpretations, and readings presented in this article, but will continue to deconstruct indefinitely.