I find it interesting that a demon appears at the end of the poem blocking the path to heaven. Through the poem it doesn't seem that there are any instances of sin or evildoing, only isolation. The narrator seems equally confused as earlier he says "The mystery which blinds me still". I wonder why the narrator suspects he is going to hell, or at least, sees apparitions of evil.

I was actually rather confused here, especially by the contrast in the Angels and the fearful portrayal of them. I really don't know what to make of it at all. At first I thought it was trying to convey the holiness of angels, but all of the frightful word choice makes me second that.

Warning, wall of text incoming. You have been warned.

There's a lot of things here in this poem and I think lots of people will see this poem differently. At a surface level the poem is about the two parts of one's being; I am assuming the existence of a soul for the purpose of this conversation. The soul and the body do not see eye to eye, they do not understand each other and wish to part. They believe they have it harder than the other having to endure the consequences the presence of other generates. As Elise noted, the body feels the pulls of the soul's emotion, and the soul feels controlled by the body, afflicted by it's humanly diseases. Thinking deeper though, it seems the both want the same thing: death. Not only do these two elements want to part, but they wish for the death of themselves. Here, the body, questionably, suggests that without the presence of the soul, it would be able to peacefully die. The body states that it doesn't want to live in the first place. Later down where I highlighted the lines "only to endure... the cure", the soul echoes this desire, stating that the pain from being afflicted by disease is no comparison to the pain of knowing it must go on living, as the body produces a cure. Why can't these two get along and mutually kill themselves? If they hate it so much, why not end it as they very blatantly want to do. Slight tangent to this, the body asserts that without the soul it would die, saying the soul "MADE me live". Assuming that the soul is the source of emotion as asserted in the last stanza, the body contradicts itself slightly, as it says without the soul's emotion, it would never exist. I personally believe it is possible to live without feeling emotion, and might even be better, so it surprises me that the body claims it's existence is only relevant because of the soul's presence. Maybe the intent all along was to question the notion of existence in the first place, and the inherent contradictions that accompany it.

But then again... that's all speculation.

See my other comment on the lines "Has made me live to... it posessed."

I find it odd that the narrator is asking about the songs of spring then reassures himself in the next line. It sounds as if the narrator is having an internal conversation? To be honest I have absolutely no idea what to make of this. The narrator adresses whomever he is speaking to in both the 4th line of the 2nd stanza, and its seems here as if he is a human figure, and again here, where it sounds as if the narrator is speaking to the Autumn. Anyone else have thoughts about this?

I know I commented about this in class, but I had (wrongfully) assumed that we were reading more poetry for today and would annotate those poems. I feel the argument holds water that the rhyme scheme is representative of the freedom of the bird, and it's free form stanzas, and the caged bird, and it's stanzas with AA BB type rhyme scheme, breaking on the last line to show a longing for freedom. I am confused, however, here, where the free bird has a rhyming couplet before breaking a rhyme, similar to that rhyme of the caged bird stanzas. I don't really know what to make of this. Perhaps that even "free birds" are caged to an extent?

I find it interesting that Donne decides to end the poem with questions. To me, as I read through this, these lines feel as if the narrator is saying "that wasn't so bad, now was it?" The subject of the narrator's poem "yield'st to me" despite his or her clear intentions of "deniest [the narrator]". Maybe this is a cocky move from the narrator to ask such a question, but on the other hand he or she could be genuinely looking for gratification and acceptance for their actions.