PAPER Topics

Start of Term Paper
In “Love’s Alchemy,” John Donne sets up an analogy between the Platonists, who try, endlessly, to discover spiritual love, and the alchemists, who in Donne’s time, tried to extract gold from baser metals. This analogy al ....

Middle of Term Paper
... experienced more love than he has, and, in having done so, have penetrated “deeper” into “love’s hidden mystery,” that is, they have reached a point beyond sensual love where they have found it’s true “centric” or essential happiness. This would be analogous to alchemists, who, after many attempts, have been able to extract gold from other metals. Due to the diction that Donne uses and the manner in which he expresses himself in these two lines, it is possible to extract their sexual meaning that serves to ridicule the claims and means of the Platonists as well as the alchemists. The words & ...