". . .but the flame
Of thy brave soul (that shot such heat and light)
As burnt our earth and made our darkness bright,
Committed holy rapes upon our will,
Did through the eye the melting heart distil,
And the deep knowledge of dark truths so teach. . ."
In this passage, Carew describes his experience of Donne's preaching. He believes Donne possessed a unique ability to make someone understand his sermon without their consent. He employed aggression in his rhetoric because the goal was worth accomplishing even if the audience did not understand why. Apparently Donne was a rather solemn man, whose sermons often emphasized the horrific mysteries of life, which deserve consideration but which few will face head on.
"The Muses' garden, with pedantic weeds
O'erspread, was purg'd by thee; the lazy seeds
Of servile imitation thrown away. . ."
Perhaps the greatest compliment one poet can give another, Carew credits Donne with being original. He apparently did not fall into the trap of derivation. Carew depicts Donne as a stern judge who would allow no shortcuts, like borrowing language or ideas from other poets, in his art.
"Our stubborn language bends, made only fit
With her tough thick-ribb'd hoops to gird about
Thy giant fancy, which had prov'd too stout
For their soft melting phrases. . ."
Carew commemorates Donne's poetry as definitive for the English language. While neither poet shared an affinity for English, Carew credits Donne for employing the language of the common people. Donne ferried the people into a new understanding of the capacity of their language, simply by converting his ideas -- which were vast enough to transform the language itself -- into the medium.
"Here lies a king, that rul'd as he thought fit
The universal monarchy of wit;
Here lie two flamens, and both those, the best,
Apollo's first, at last, the true God's priest."
On the end of his ode to Donne, Carew adds this epitaph. He claims that Donne's contributions of mind were so great that he earned for himself a reputation equal to kings. Donne was a servant both of truth -- Apollo -- and righteousness -- God's priest.
