Views on Colonialism in Donnes Elegy XIX and Wroths Sonnet 22 Essay

Views on Colonialism in Donnes Elegy XIX and Wroths Sonnet 22IntroductionIn the midst of Lady bloody shame Wroths sonnet cycle, a sudden reference to the colonialist discoveries of dark skinned natives appears. Bringing to mind her participation in Jonsons Masque of Blackness, she depicts dark-skinned Indians worshipping the sun as their god. In the midst of her ruminations on love and her preoccupations with her unfaithful lover, Amphilanthus, this sonnet touches on issues close to her personal life as well as both(prenominal) of the preoccupations of her era on the nature of colonialism. In particular the role of religion in Englands colonialist efforts was of prime importance. An examination of lav Donnes Elegy XIX, To His Mistris Going to Bed may give some insight into how Wroths Sonnet 22, Like to the Indians Scorched with the Sun deals with the controversies surrounding imperialism.Historical ConcernsBoth authors had close personal ties to Englands colonialist efforts in the New World. Lady Mary Wroths uncle, Sir Philip Sydney, was an investor in Raleighs attempted colony at Roanoke. This venture ultimately failed, however, and would later be followed under King James with the Virginia Company.John Donne was closely tied with the efforts following Raleighs failed attempt. In 1608, after two failed attempts at securing a secretarial post, first in London and then in Ireland, the report circulated that he sought to be make secretary of the colony, a position given instead to his friend William Strachey (Johnson 127). If he had been awarded the position, he would have sailed with the new governor, Sir Thomas Gates. This was the ship that was shipwrecked in Bermuda and that winter the Jamestown colon... ...onne, John. A Sermon vpon the VIII. Verse of the I. Chapter of the Acts of the ApostlesGreene, Thomas M. The Poetics of Discovery A Reading of Donnes Elegy 19.Yale Journal of Criticism. 2 (2) (1989) 129-143.Hester, M. Thomas. Donnes (Re)Annunc iation of the Virgin(ia Colony) in Elegy XIX. South Central Review 49-63.Johnson, Stanley. John Donne and the Virginia Company. ELH. 14 (2) (1947) 127-138.Raman, Shankar. Cant Buy Me Love Money Gender, and Colonialism in Donnes Erotic Verse. Criticism. 43 (2) (2001) 135-168.Roberts, Jospephine A. The Poems of Mary Wroth. Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press, 1983.Young, R. V. O my America, my new-found-land Pornography and Imperial administration in Donnes Elegies. Souch Central Review 35-48.Warnke, Frank J. John Donne Poetry and Prose. New York Random House, 1967.