The classic controversy between iconodules and iconoclasts.

Is venerating this

idolatry, or an intermediary means directed toward God?

King Henry VIII did not hesitate to use temporal power to impose the schismatic changes to the Church in England which he wanted to bring about. Donne may be questioning his secular motives as well as secular means (many believe that he founded Anglicanism simply because the Pope refused to grant his divorce).

Typical harsh Germanic name, chosen for the typified follower of harsh Germanic Protestantism.

The two major Catholic potentates of the time.

Philip II was king of Spain, Portugal, and formerly England (as Queen Mary’s husband). He was the bête noire of English Protestants of the era.

Pope Gregory XIII had been backed by Philip when a cardinal; like his powerful coreligionist, he devoted a great deal of time and energy to the eradication of Protestantism, and particularly against Elizabeth I.

Thus, these two were notorious as hardline opponents of those who did not share in their faith, and are examples of the opponents of religious freedom whom Donne decries.

Mirreus is Roman Catholic because he knows that they are the OG Christian denomination; Donne wishes to point out that even if they were the right faith to have at one time, the present reality of the church might leave much to be desired, and God might be better worshipped elsewhere.

It’s like wearing old rags because they were once your wedding dress, or, in Donne’s example, preserving a relic of a royal person’s visit (the prince has moved on, even as Donne implies that God has moved his favours away from the Roman Church).

After England’s breach with the Papacy, this guy considers that the true religion is no longer with the newly minted Anglicans, and seeks refuge with the Roman Catholics. Anglicans always emphasize the Romishness of the Catholic Church, since they consider themselves “catholic” and emphasize that they didn’t really change religions so much as free their religion from a foreign overlord. Some even insist that they were C of E all along. A fair rejoinder might point out that the Anglicans did in fact leave Rome in the first place; perhaps the fellow is simply clinging onto something most of his compatriots have (however justifiably) relinquished.

The name “Mirreus” may be a reference to myrrh, notorious as one of the gifts of the magi; it would then hint at the ritualistic and symbolic nature of Roman Catholicism.

Donne reverses the image of fire as courage explored in the previous line; here cold symbolizes brave endurance.

The new threat is from fires, those of Catholic Spain which then warred with Donne’s native England); these are not just metonymic of battle, but stand for the notorious autos-da-fé which the Spanish Inquisition might use against heretics like the English.

The “lembick” is an alembic, a vessel which would presumably be used to direct the metaphorical flames against the body of English troops.

The first reference to salamanders comes from a legend), based on the classical theory of the four elements, which suggested that the cold, moist animal was completely impervious to flames.

The “children in the oven” are the young men who survived the fiery furnace in the Book of Daniel; because this conflict was partly religious, the idea of martyrdom is very relevant.

A carpe diem sentiment in the tradition of such great love poets as Robert Herrick and Andrew Marvell. This is some classic sweet-talkin' right here

This is an interesting line for its (Catholic) theological ramifications. The narrator isn’t denying that he has sinned, or done wrong; but he can protest innocence of certain charges.

Bitterness, disloyalty, and ugly lies are among the most sordid of sins. Their unpleasantness may derive largely from the fact they betray an attitude of despair, which has a

power for working harm in the human soul [which] is fundamentally far greater than other sins inasmuch as it cuts off the way of escape and those who fall under its spell are frequently, as a matter of fact, found to surrender themselves unreservedly to all sorts of sinful indulgence

– just such indulgence as is betrayed by these symptoms.

The cheerful debauchery this song celebrates is far more morally healthy than a Puritanism that might breed bitterness and despair. Thus, the tacit admission of guilt also contains within it a distinct hope for salvation.

The Dutch (-Canadian) farmers from the Parkhill area are honest, hard-working folk, but are not at all like the devil-may-care romantics who make up Miles of Bones.

If this girl wants something more out of life, her choice should be obvious.