"The Apparition" ~by John Donne

(#8)
The tone this poem creates is vengeful. The poem describes how a man feels after he has been rejected by the woman he loves. "When by thy scorn, O murderess, I am dead." This line does not literally mean the woman killed him; it means she destroyed his heart. The woman left him and is now with another man. Throughout the poem the speaker is comparing himself to her new lover. Although the poem starts out bitter, it turns to bitter satisfaction. At first, the man was hurt and angry about his lover choosing another man over him. However, as the poem progresses, that anger turns to bitter satisfaction. "I'd rather thou shouldst painfully repent, than by my threatenings rest still innocent." The poem ends with the speaker wishing for his lover to suffer; he wants her to feel all the pain she has caused him. Her rejection "killed" him, and now he wants her to think of him when she is with her new lover. He wants her to be haunted by the pain she caused him.