Metaphysical poetry research paper

Much later, in the 20th century, famous poet T.S. Eliot  revived their reputation, stressing out their quality of wit, in the sense of intellectual strenousness rather than smart humour.

The term metaphysical poetry usually refers to the works of these poets, but it can sometimes denote any poetry that discusses metaphysics, that is, the philosophy of knowledge and existence. Metaphysical poets revolted against the romantic conventionalism of Elizabethan love poetry, in particular the Petrarchan conceit.

John Donn was the acknowledged leader of this poetic group. They themselves would not have used the term “metaphysical”, nor have considered themselves to constitute a “school” of poetry. There is no exact list of “metaphysical poets”; Crashaw and Cowley have been called the most “typically” metaphysical; some of them were Protestant religious mystics, like Herbert, Vaughan and Traherne; some Catholic, like Crashaw; one was an American clergyman, Edward Taylor. Even Marvell shares certain affinities with the “metaphysical” poets. Nowdays, “the metaphysicals” are popular with contemporary readers because of their realism, intellectualism, and break with their immediate literary past.

Some characteristics of metaphysical poetry include[1]:

• a tendency to psychological analysis of emotion of love and religion
• a penchant for imagery that is novel, “unpoetical” and sometimes shocking, drawn from the commonplace (actual life) or the remote (erudite sources), including the extended metaphor of the “metaphysical conceit”
• simple diction (compared to Elizabethan poetry) which echoes the cadences of everyday speech
• form: frequently an argument (with the poet’s lover; with God; with oneself)
• meter: often rugged, not “sweet” or smooth like Elizabethan verse. This ruggedness goes naturally with the Metaphysical poets’ attitude and purpose: a belief in the perplexity of life, a spirit of revolt, and the putting of an argument in speech rather than song.
• The best metaphysical poetry is honest, unconventional, and reveals the poet’s sense of the complexities and contradictions of life. It is intellectual, analytical, psychological, and bold; frequently it is absorbed in thoughts of death, physical love, and religious devotion.

Metaphysical poetry, and in relation to

Metaphysical poetry deals with the whole experience of man, and mankind, but the intelligence, learning and seriousness of the poets means that the poetry is focused on the profoound areas of experience,  especially on love, romance and sensuality. Their poems are about man’s relationship with God, or higher power, the eternal perspective.

Metaphysical poems are brief but intense mediations,  characterised by striking use of wit, irony and often, wordplay. Beneath the surface of formal structure of rhyme, metre and stanza, there is the underlying, but  often hardly less formal, structure of the poet’s argument.

Wit and conceit were both aspects of  a mental set, shared by writers losking for analogies and connections between things.

Dryden

Poet Dryden was the first to apply this term to this group of poets when in 1693 he criticized Donne with these words: „He (Donne) affects the Metaphysics……. In his amorous verses, where nature only should reign; and perplexes the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosphy, when he should engage their hearts[2]“. He  disaproved of Donne’s stylistic excesses, particularly his extravagant conceits and witty comparisons, and his tendency towards hyperbolic abstractions.

Origin of the name

Poet and critic Samuel Johnson,

Who gave the school its now-used name

In Life of Cowley (from Samuel Johnson’s 1781 work of biography and criticism Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets), Johnson refers to the beginning of the seventeenth century in which there “appeared a race of writers that may be termed the metaphysical poets”

Before Dryden, there is almost no one who mentioned  this metaphysical school (or group) of metaphysical poets. Perhaps the  only one was Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649), in one of his letters one can find this sentence: “metaphysical Ideas and Scholastical Quiddities.” [3]

Critical opinion of this rebelious group has been varied. Johnson claimed that “they were not successful in representing or moving the affections” and that neither “was the sublime more within their reach.”[4] Generally, Johnson’s criticism of the poets’ style was grounded in his assertion that “Great thoughts are always general,” and that the metaphysical poets were too particular in their search for novelty. He did concede, however, that “they…sometimes stuck out unexpected truth” and that their work is often intellectually, if not emotionally stimulating.[5]

Donne and Herbert

John Donne (1572 – 1631)

John Donne (1572-1631) is the one who established what has become known as the “Metaphysical style of poetry”. This style was taken up by many later poets, we shall mention George Herbert (1593-1633) and Henry Vaughan (1622-95). Some of the major characteristics of Donne’s poetry style are:

• the abrupt opening of a poem with a surprising dramatic line;
• the use of colloquial diction;
• the ideas in the poem being presented as a logical and persuasive argument, the purpose of which is to aid his wooing, whether of a woman or God.

Donne took metaphors from all spheres of life, and we can say he had no respect for works of poets who were recognized and respected for their style. He took his metaphores especially from crafts and the sciences, and made frequent use of the ‘conceit’: a surprising, ingenious, far-fetched turn of ideas. Often a whole poem is an extended ‘conceit’, and frequently a poem ends with a final ‘conceit’ in the last two lines. Donne developed his technique writing love poetry, and later adapted it to the writing of religious poetry[6].

George Herbert

George Herbert’s poetry shows that to a large extent he followed the lead offered by Donne, but he also made contributions which were quite distinct[7]. His distinguishing characteristic is the simplicity of diction and metaphor. He retains the colloquial manner, the logical persuasive presentation of ideas, but he also draws his metaphors from everyday, life experiences, introducing simple pictures of life in contrast to the sophisticated poetry one can find in Donne’s poetry. ‘Conceits’ do not seem to be an important part of his poetry, and his appeal is not as intellectual as Donne’s.

A technique George Herbert introduced was the ending of a poem with two quiet lines which resolve the argument in the poem without answering the specific points raised by it, and this represents quite a dramatic break from Donne. Donne expresses his doubts in intellectual terms, and answers them in the same way. Herbert occasionally explores his doubts in intellectual terms, but answers them with emotion. In this way Herbert conveys the insight that one cannot argue or reason with God; one either feels God’s presence, or loses the feeling. In these respects Herbert can be considered to have broken new ground, into which Henry Vaughan followed later[8].
George Herbert wrote no love poetry. When he began writing poetry at Cambridge, to devote his poetic works to God, and decided that no love is equal, nor can be compared nor called love, unless it includes God. He seems to have had less difficulty in adjusting from court life to a religious life than Donne did. Herbert’s faith seems to have been more secure, deep and profound than that of his colleague.

Izaak Walton reports that Herbert was considered as almost a saint by those that knew him[9]. Herbert’s poetry is also about struggles of a religious kind, but the struggles are neither so desperate nor so personal as Donne’s. Herbert’s poetry appears to be of a more instructive kind, attempting to instruct by example rather than precept. Herbert writes his poems for others, recording his struggles, doubts and fears in order that others may follow his example, and avoid his mistakes. The thought in Herbert’s poems can be seen as a continuation of the thought in his sermons, and it is this purpose behind his poetry which largely determines his style. In the opening stanza of ‘The Church Porch’ he writes,