The Troubadour Podcast

Metaphysical Mondays #7 The Canonization by John Donne

September 30, 2019 Kirk j Barbera
The Troubadour Podcast
Metaphysical Mondays #7 The Canonization by John Donne
Show Notes

Do you know that annoying couple that is always so lovey dovey? You know the type, they wear matching clothes and finish each other's sentences? Well get prepared to meet a man who believes he is so in love that he believes they should be canonized forever.

In "Canonization" John Donne makes a bizarre argument. Why can't two ideal lovers become canonized (made into saints by the Catholic Church?)

This is bizarre because by ideal lovers, he does not mean platonic lovers. These are lovers in sex and romance. These are the K I S S I N G type of lovers, but probably without a baby in a crib. 

The only people to be canonized are those who are selfless and often ascetic (abscond from the pleasures of the body) and yet Donne argues for the exact opposite. 

If you are in love or ever have been, you need to read The Canonization by John Donne.