John Donne/Christ OTP! OTP!

[felis_ultharus]

Finishing Henry IV, part 1 is a little disappointing. It was the first time I'd read a Shakespeare play without stumbling across one of the famous quotations or sayings -- no "Romeo, Romeo," no "All the world's a stage," no "To be or not to be."

After a brief stop at Shakespeare's sonnets, I moved on to John Donne. I'm still a little surprised -- given how censored my high school experience was -- that we studied "Batter my heart three-personed God" in high school.

I mean, it ends with Donne asking God to rape him -- "Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me." I'm surprised the guardians of morality that pared sex education to the bone (as it were) at my school didn't have a heart attack over this one.

Now I'm done (Donne?) with the Renaissance, so I'm on to John Milton -- the only truly great poet of puritan England.

Meanwhile, for those who are keeping track, my dentist says that my problem is inflamed gums -- nothing serious, just painful. It's relatively easy to fix, and she told me it's the kind of thing I can wait for, so I'm waiting until my insurance kicks in.

In the meantime, the pain is coming and going in waves.

Comments

[link2lando.livejournal.com]

I need my wisdom teeth pulled out, so I could imagine what the pain must feel. I'm dreading making an appointment, dentists scare me.

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

Getting wisdom teeth pulled is the easiest operation in the world -- even my really, really bad ex-dentist (Dr. Khoury at the Faubourg) managed to do it painlessly.

The nasty part is the healing up afterward -- there's a lot of blood, and you have to keep your mouth clamped down on a cloth awhile until the bleeding stops. You also have to take antibiotics for a little while, to make sure it doesn't get infected.

[jenjoou.livejournal.com]

It'S really not that bad. I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled at once. You really don't feel anything painful, only a bit of pulling. There was a bit of blood, yeah but one day of taking painkillers and lounging around the house and I was as good as new. So no need to worry about it.

[jenjoou.livejournal.com]

I love Donne, he was always so much fun to read. ^_^

Glad there's nothing seriously wrong with your teeth, still pain is no fun. Hope your insurance kicks in soon. I really should go to the dentist soo too. I have insurance again and I always have a mouthful of cavities...

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

My insurance kicks in in two weeks ^_^

Donne is interesting, partly because he has two periods -- the one where he writes about having sex with women, and the ones where he writes about having sex with God.

I don't know if that means he was bi or gay -- he may not have been able to imagine a close, personal relationship to anyone -- even deity -- that didn't involve screwing. I've known guys like that.

[scottevil.livejournal.com]

Nic had a field day with "Batter my heart..."

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

I was going to say "Well, it is right up his alley."

But then I realized that could be misconstrued.

Donne's Holy Sonnets have been thoroughly deconstructed long before that word was coined. Catholic and Protestant critics have been picking apart every word of those sonnets for ages to try and determine if Donne had really converted to Protestantism in his heart, or whether he still held Catholic beliefs.

(Donne was descended from England's most important Catholic martyr, and his family were pretty much Catholic royalty. He went from the road to priesthood to becoming a Protestant minister, but many people feel he never fully converted.)