Mystical Alchemy in the Poetry of Donne and Milton

Abstract

Alchemy, according to Jung, is not simply the physical process of transmuting metals into gold or finding the elixir of life; it is also a psychological process of transformation putting the alchemist through the process of individuation. Alchemy was employed by seventeenth-century writers to symbolize psychological, physical, cosmological, and spiritual concepts, connecting these notions with humans and divinity, and producing a way to deal with the spiritual and religious issues dominating the era. Highlighting the alchemical allusions in the poetry of John Donne and John Milton, this article explains their meaning and significance in the light of the seventeenth century's dominant religious and spiritual discourses through the lens of Jungian psychology.

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