The term metaphysical, as applied to english and continental european poets of the seventeenth century, was used by augustan poets john dryden and samuel johnson to reprove those poets for their unnaturalness. Much of their work calls for a this is a brilliant selection of metaphysical poems, with generous selections of john donne, george herbert, andrew marvell and henry vaughan alongside other. The term metaphysical poetry was not a term used by donne or by his contemporaries when referring to poems by him or other poets of his time. John donne as a father of metaphysical poetry is highly read and referred when it comes to the use of metaphysical characteristics. Metaphysical poetry is often characterised by the freshness and energy of its narrative voices. It means that the poetry is about showing knowledge and thoughts from different areas of experience, especially about love, romantic and sensual. However, through the painstaking labors of enthusiastic critics and scholars, some distinguishing features and characteristics of metaphysical poetry have been. The poem is famous for its enigmatic reference to the poet s vegetable love which has, perhaps inevitably, been interpreted as a sexual innuendo, and gives us a nice example of the metaphysical poets love of unusual metaphors. Genres satire, love poetry, elegy, sermons subjects love, sexuality, religion, death literary movement metaphysical poetry john donne. Characteristics of metaphysical poetry essay sample.
Metaphysical poetry takes an important place in the. It means that the poetry is about showing knowledge and thoughts from. Metaphysical poetry began early in the jacobean age in the last stage of the age of shakespeare. Metaphysical poetry is famous for its abrupt, personal openings in which a man speaks to his mistress, or addresses his god, or sets a sc ene, or calls us to mark this or see that. Here we open in the middle of the action, or in medias res, given. The arrival of the renaissance and the church reformation and the humanism that followed paralleled the advent of the metaphysical period in poetry.
John donne is called the monarch of wit in the history of metaphysical poetry. The word meta means after, so the literal translation of metaphysical is afte. It used literary elements of similes, metaphors, imagery, paradoxes, conceit, and farfetched views of reality. Chief among the metaphysical poets are john donne, george herbert, richard crashaw, andrew marvell, and henry vaughan. Topics of interest often included love, religion, and morality, which the metaphysical poets considered through unusual comparisons, frequently employing unexpected similes and metaphors in displays of wit. There is no one, except john donne and metaphysical poets, who has combined passion and thoughts in his poetry.
Discuss the features of metaphysical poetry in donnes poems. The phrase metaphysical poetry derives from the scornful remarks of some restoration and 18th century critics. This unique blending of passion and reason can be found in every poem of john donne. Pdf elements of metaphysical poetry daniyal wali academia. Writing a metaphysical conceit doesnt seem so hard now. John donne as a metaphysical poet what is metaphysical. See more ideas about metaphysical poetry, poetry and john donne. Metaphysical poetrystatecollapsed to show the template collapsed, i. A striking barrage of interrogatives also features in womans constancy. The term metaphysical is loosely applied to a group of 17th century poets such as john donne, andrew marvell, henry vaughan, george herbert and richard crawhaw. Strictly speaking, metaphysical p oetry d oes not r epresent t o an age rather it is a d istinctive school of thought.
Metaphysical poetry the term metaphysical is used to designate the work of 17thcentury writers who were part of a school of poets using similar methods and who revolted against the romantic conventionalism of elizabethan love poetry, in particular the petrarchan conceit. This book cover almost all the metaphysical poety of that era. A group of poets emerged in the beginning of the seventeenth century, whose poetry come to be known as the metaphysical poetry. He admired them for their high place in the world of literary criticism, their. Metaphysical poetry is selfconsciously difficult, demanding intellectual effort on the part of the. The habit of writing both types of poetry, amorous and religious verses, is derived from donne who wrote love poetry in the first period of his life and the devotional lyrics in the later period, both with same passion. The main features of the metaphysical poetry illustrated. Its been printed in an remarkably basic way and it is just soon after i finished reading this publication in which really changed me, change the way i believe. Con sequently, one might expect any anthology of the worlds best poetry, or a treasure house of english verse to be a compre hensive metaphysical anthology.
Topics of interest often included love, religion, and morality, which the metaphysical poets considered through unusual comparisons, frequently employing unexpected. They metaphysical poets found the world as unified whole. Metaphysical poetry is concerned with the whole experience of man. Questions or interrogatives are devices that donne powerfully uses to achieve these qualities. The main features of the metaphysical poetry illustrated by john donne the term metaphysical poetry is used to describe a certain type of 17th century poetry. See more ideas about poetry, metaphysical poetry and john donne. He is considered the preeminent representative of the. John donne 15721631 and the other metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century. John donne and metaphysical poetry the british library.
Metaphysical poetry metaphysical poetry, a term coined by samuel johnson, has its roots in 17thcentury england. Metaphysical poetry is a term applied to many poets who wrote in a rather difficult and abstract style during the 1600s. It also tries to identify what eliot perceived in the metaphysical poetry of donne and how he made a tremendous contribution in reviving and further. The main features of the metaphysical poetry illustrated by. Metaphysical poetry eludes all attempts at definition, and the critics have. Sep 14, 2017 john donne as a father of metaphysical poetry is highly read and referred when it comes to the use of metaphysical characteristics. John donne, indeed, is a metaphysical poet but many critics doubt it. For a good anthology of the metaphysical poets, we recommend metaphysical poetry penguin classics. Moreover, it focuses on love, as the union of soul. Metaphysical poetry is selfconsciously difficult, demanding intellectual effort on the part of the reader.
Then i ask them to choose a comparison they really like and to make a tchart comparing and contrasting their ideas. The use of metaphysical elements and conceits in andrew. Metaphysical poets a group of 17thcentury poets whose works are marked by philosophical exploration, colloquial diction, ingenious conceits, irony, and metrically flexible lines. Metaphysical poetry resolved itself into two broad divisions. Metaphysical poetry, a well known genre of poetry that started in 16th century england, has greatly influenced contemporary poets and those who practice metaphysics everywhere. Chapter iii ts eliot and metaphysical poetry shodhganga. Metaphysical poetry is a vast topic to discuss, but to put in a nutshell, the type of poetry, which is about the correlation between the physical realm and spiritual realm, soul and being, real and conceptual, along with the forms of reality and insight, using the methodologies of philosophy. Use of ordinary speech mixed with puns, paradoxes and conceits a paradoxical metaphor causing a shock to the reader by the strangeness of the objects compared. John donne and andrew marvell are probably the best known of these poets. A key anthology for students of english literature, metaphysical poetry is a collection whose unique philosophical insights are some of the crowning achievements of renaissance verse, edited with an introduction and notes by colin burrow in penguin classics. The metaphysical poets, especially john donne, were a great influence on t.
Spanning the elizabethan age to the restoration and beyond, metaphysical poetry sought to describe a time of. Metaphysical poetry of the 17th century is intriguing to me because it is characterized by wit and the use of complex stylistic maneuvers, as well as concerned with approaching philosophy and spirituality with reason and analyzing, not just feeling, emotion. Metaphysical poets 1 metaphysical poets john donne, one of the most famous metaphysical poets. Metaphysical combines thought or metaphysical speculation with feeling. Others include henry vaughan, andrew marvell, john cleveland, and abraham cowley as. I know, and one revelatory of the most fundamental features of both i natures. As goethe wrote, however, the unnatural, that too is natural, and the metaphysical poets continue to be studied and revered for their. Metaphysical poetry is concerned with the whole experience of man, but the intelligence, learning and seriousness of the poets means that the poetry is about the profound areas of experience especially about love, romantic and sensual. Kq494hhzjexy \ kindle metaphysical poetry metaphysical poetry filesize. The influence of the metaphysical poets on the poetry of t. Concentration is one of the major features of metaphysical poetry.
Metaphysical wit is also a noteworthy feature of metaphysical poetry. Metaphysical poetry is often mentioned as poetry inspired by a philosophical concept of the universe and the role assigned to the human spirit in the great drama of existence. The metaphysical poets are said to be witty and intellectual because of the typicalities present in their writings. Metaphysical poetry definitions, notes and objective. Metaphysical poetry definition of metaphysical poetry by. Metaphysical poetry has been one of the most unique genres in english literature owing to a number of aspects. It is deeply religious but is also sure to be ironic and cynical. Metaphysical poetry definition what is metaphysical. The metaphysical poems have been written following some chief characteristics. Characteristics of metaphysical poetry in english literature. Metaphysical poetry, a term generally applied to the works of a group of english poets of the seventeenth century, is among the most read and studied verse in english literature, having proved enduringly popular and major influence on many twentiethcentury poets. Eliots poetry changed as he grew older, just as the poets who influenced him changed. Metaphysical poetry the phrase metaphysical poetry is derived from the scornful remarks of some restoration or 18thcentury critics.
Metaphysical poetrystateexpanded to show the template expanded, i. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets. This period also coincided with the death of elizabeth i and the subsequent weakening of the strong monarchy of the tudors. Obviously a more restrictive definition must be found. Meta means beyond and physics means physical nature.
Pdf on sep 17, 20, sibaprasad dutta and others published. Metaphysical poet, any of the poets in 17thcentury england who inclined to the personal and intellectual complexity and concentration that is displayed in the poetry of john donne, the chief of the metaphysicals. Strictly speaking, metaphysical means concerned with the fundamental problems of the nature of the universe, and mans function or place in life, but this literal sense is misleading. The term metaphysical or metaphysics in poetry is the fruit of renaissance tree, becoming over ripe and approaching pure science.
By itself, metaphysical means dealing with the relationship between spirit to matter or the ultimate nature of. The good morrow demonstrates the richness of questioning in donnes work. Johnsons assessment of metaphysical poetry was not at all flattering. A metaphysical poem tends to be short and is always closely woven and so there is some truth. That metaphysical poetry can be an expression of religious faith. The best examples of metaphysical poetry in english literature. Metaphysical poetry was a product of the popularisation of the study of mental phenomena.
Oct, 2016 metaphysical poetry the phrase metaphysical poetry is derived from the scornful remarks of some restoration or 18thcentury critics. Metaphysical poetry as an expression of religious experience and. Here, the act of asking serves a very different purpose. Metaphysical poets made use of everyday speech, intellectual analysis, and unique imagery. The metaphysical poets have been a huge influence on 20th century english poetry, and it seems amazing that for a long time they were largely neglected. Metaphysical poetry is involved with the whole experience of man, but the intelligence, learning and seriousness of the poets. Twelfth grade lesson writing a metaphysical conceit. He admired them for their high place in the world of literary criticism, their combination of intellect and emotion and wit. This is a very broad term, but it joins together a number of 17 th century poets, most notable among them john donne, george herbert, richard crashaw, andrew marvell, henry vaughn and abraham cowley. The creator of metaphysical poetry john donne along with his followers is successful not only in that period but also in the modern age. The term metaphysical poetry is used to describe a certain type of 17th century poetry. Metaphysical poetry means poetry that goes beyond the physical world of the senses and explores the spiritual world.
Eliot 1993 indeed, it would not be possible to give a comprehensive definition of metaphysical poetry or determine the exact number of poets who practice it or belong to this school of poetry. Metaphysical poetrymid16th century mid17th century 2. The metaphysical poets, who wrote during the first three quarters of the 17th. Forbidding mourning, he convinces his wife not to mourn at their temporary separation as they are just like the legs. Metaphysical poetry, a term coined by samuel johnson, has its roots in 17thcentury england.
Metaphysical poetry definition what is metaphysical poetry. This type of poetry is witty, ingenious, and highly philosophical. Ethics having been eclipsed by psychology, we accept the belief that any state of mind is extremely complex, and chiefly composed of odds and ends in constant flux manipulated by desire and fear. It will not do to call great poetry and metaphysical poetry synonymous. The poems classified in this group do share common characteristics. Aug 07, 2019 the term metaphysical is loosely applied to a group of 17th century poets such as john donne, andrew marvell, henry vaughan, george herbert and richard crawhaw. Metaphysical poetry definitions, notes and objective questions. Known for both the common themes, and the shared literary functions and styles, metaphysical poetry started in england and spread across europe during the 16th and 17th. I rated this 3 star because i ordered a new book and when i opened the package i found ball pen ink mark on front cover. The poetry is greatly challenging to understand at the first reading. The metaphysical poets is a term coined by the poet and critic samuel johnson to describe a loose group of british lyric poets of the 17th century, whose work was characterized by the inventive use of. Its major features, major representatives in addition to some.
The main features of the metaphysical poetry illustrated by john donne essay. He reinforces that metaphysical poets are descendants of elizabethan dramatists and have unified sensibility. The main features of the metaphysical poetry illustrated by john donne the term metaphysical poetry is used to describe a. All the major features of this kind of poetry were so unique that even some terms have been derived to point exclusively towards these aspects. Mar 31, 2017 metaphysical poetry is often characterised by the freshness and energy of its narrative voices. And the new version is simply awesome it comes with notes. Metaphysical poetry for english hons metaphysical poetry for ma english metaphysical poets metaphysical poetry characteristics metaphysical poetry for net ugc by rahul sharma. He is considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. It is definitely basic but shocks in the 50 percent in the pdf. It is because donnes poetry is limited to emotions, whereas in conventional terms, metaphysical poems are long and poetry of metaphysics is about the philosophical system of the universe.
557 1651 1537 800 1094 980 394 1088 686 453 426 1243 729 121 1398 1562 1552 110 112 550 1180 860 362 1190 117 843 1131 1130 1140 1438 721 327 301 1078 631 935 1298 286 7