concept of love in donnes poem

The Concept of Love in John Donne's "Ecstasy" In John Donne's "Ecstasy", love between man and woman is a blend of the physical and spiritual in equal measure. In fact, one might say that a slight edge is given to the physical, because true love begins and ends there. In lines 1 through 12, Donne describes the subtle beginnings. The best physical attraction progresses slowly. The passion that sweeps lovers "off their feet" soon burns out or …

…imprison him, so that faltering from temptation will not jeopardize his soul: "Take me to you, imprison me, for I / Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, / Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me." Ironically, to become truly free and chaste, the speaker asks to be imprisoned and seized by God. Donne uses this contradiction to emphasize the relatibnship man has with himself and God: we cannot will salvation through self-action, but through surrender.