What is a defining element of metaphysical poetry?

Answer 1

The metaphysical poets were a small group of English lyric poets of the 17th century who had similar styles and concerns. Their fresh and sophisticated approach to the writing of lyrics was marked by an intellectual quality and an inventive and subtle style, with the use of the metaphysical conceit (a figure of speech that employs unusual and paradoxical images). Of this group of poets the work of only two will be covered in this short course: John Donne (1572-1631) and Andrew Marvell (1621-1628). Some of the others were Crashaw, Cleveland, Cowley and Vaughan. The term "metaphysical poets" was first used by Samuel Johnson (1744), who said that "the metaphysical poets were men of learning, and to show learning was their whole endeavour." He also said of their poetry that "the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions…." Donne, regarded as one of the chief poetic innovators among the metaphysical poets, was reacting against the 16th century (Elizabethan) love lyrics, which embodied courtly-love conventions which idealized women. Donne did not use the sonnet form for his love lyrics - a significant break with the tradition found in earlier poets such as Sidney and Spenser. He used colloquial language, he abandoned (and sometimes satirized) the courtly mode and focused on individual experience in a way that offered a less static notion of love than many previous poets. However, his view is often a somewhat egotistical view, with the stress on male ownership of women, defining "maleness" against "femaleness" and suggesting the primacy of the man rather than an equal partnership in love. In a sense, the achievement of Donne was to resituate the love poem outside the boundaries of the palace, as it were - that is, outside the courtly tradition. Sanders speaks of Donne's poetry in terms of "the self-exploratory role-playing and the swaggering behind a defensive mask; the perfection of art bordering upon human nullity; the treacherous manipulation of irony and the spectacle of the ironist betrayed" (50). For centuries Catholicism had dictated both secular and religious values throughout Europe, but the Reformation had offered a different, Protestant, view of the world, and the metaphysical poets were helping to establish this view. Seventeenth-century metaphysical lyricists wrote as though they were turning new ground, and their individual style developed partly in response to the task of situating the English lyric more firmly within the relatively new tradition of Protestantism. The emphasis on individual experience mentioned above in relation to love poetry was also an important element of Protestant religious experience. The religious controversies in England (and elsewhere) revolved around matters of the individual conscience in religious matters, as opposed to the supremacy of the Church's authority. In the work of a key metaphysical poet such as Donne religious poetry and love poetry were not mutually exclusive, and each might contain elements of the other. According to the twentieth-century poet TS Eliot, this reflected the more flexible cultural pattern of Donne's time. Eliot calls this new fragmented sense of life "the dissociation of sensibility", when "the integration of thought and feeling began to disappear from literature" as well. As Eliot says, thought to Donne was an experience: it modified his sensibility... the ordinary man [today]... falls in love, or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with each other, or with the noise of the typewriter or the smell of cooking; in the mind of the poet these experiences are always forming new wholes. (The Metaphysical Poets, 287) Not surprisingly, the themes of rebellion and instability are prominent in 17th century English poetry. Many of the metaphysical poets wrote against the backdrop of revolutionary political developments: continuous internal conflict, the impeachment and beheading (1649) of King Charles I, and the Civil War which followed this and produced, for a while, a radically changed form of government which excluded kingship (1642-1660). Andrew Marvell (1621-1678), another of the Metaphysical poets, in 1657 was appointed as an assistant to the blind Latin secretary for the Commonwealth, John Milton (who wrote Paradise Lost, which you will be reading during your English 278 course). Milton supported the beheading of the King and the establishment of the Commonwealth under Cromwell. After the restoration of kingship in 1660, Marvell helped to save Milton from jail. Most of Marvell's poetry was published after his death, by a woman who was probably his housekeeper. " Playful, casual, and witty in tone, always light on its metrical feet and exact in its diction, Marvell's verse displays depth and intellectual hardness in unexpected places; its texture is extraordinarily rich" (M.H. Abrams, "Andrew Marvell", p. 1415) The 17th century was a fruitful period for the lyric, both secular and religious. During this time, the lyric developed into a highly polished, formalized, self-conscious, self -questioning form which subverted and played with the courtly conventions (remember, the court had, for a while, disappeared), while also providing fertile soil for innovative poetic exploration. Note: Critics often make a distinction between the poet and the persona/ speaker in a poem, since we cannot usually assume that the persona's thoughts and experience are those of the poet. However, this distinction becomes a difficult one to make when dealing with some lyric poetry. Sources: Abrams, M.H., "Andrew Marvell", The Norton Anthology of English Literature (New York: Norton, 1993). Eliot, T.S., "The Metaphysical Poets", Selected Essays, London: Faber, 1951. Parfitt, George. English Poetry of the Seventeenth Century. London: Longman, 1992. Sanders, Wilbur. John Donne's Poetry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.

Answer 2

Metaphysical poets were noted for their intricate and original pieces. Their elaborate metaphors made comparisons to things that are not things. Miltonâ??s Christian themed masterpiece, â??Paradise Lostâ?? is considered a metaphysical work with comparisons that made even the Devil appear to be a romantic figure.

Answer 3

Metaphysical poetry is known for its use of wit, complex metaphors, and intellectual exploration of philosophical and spiritual themes. It often blends the physical and spiritual realms to create a heightened sense of reality.

Answer 4

C. Often depicts struggle between opposites

D. May feature short, aggressive meters

Answer 5

Focused and Intense