.-r// rt aphysi cal Poetry
Leavingthe
Elizabethans
Behind
Experiments
with
Language
'$7hen
If you found the intricacies
you first read metaphysical
of the sonnet form and the
poetry, the ideas expressedin it may
musical language of Elizabethan
seemconfusing. The metaphysical
love poetry artificial, you aren't
poets experimentedwith languagein
alone. During the L7th century,
imaginative ways. One devicethey
a number of poets rejectedthe
used was the metaphysicalconceiLan
highly ornamentedstyle of lateextendedmetaphor that makes a
Elizabethan lyric poetry. They
surprising connection betweentwo
wrote what becameknown as
quite dissimilarthings. An example
metaphysicalpoetry.
is Donne'sdescriptionin "A
Metaphysical poetry was
Valediction:Forbidding Mourning" of
Portrait of John Donne as a young man
written in the manner of
how two lovers' souls are connected.
(artist unknown)
everyday speech-the everyday
despitetheir physical distance:
speech,that is, of someonedeeply introspective
and slightly irreverent. (Metaphysicalin this
If they be two, they are two so
i
usagerefers to abstract or theoretical reasonirg.)
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As stifftwin compassesare twol
Such a personality is evident throughout the
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Thy soul, the ftxed foot, makes no show
works of John Donne, who is consideredthe
To move,but doth, if th'other do.
movement'scentral figure. His down-to-earth yet
-John Donne, "A Valediction:Forbidding Mourning"
philosophical approach also characterizesthe
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works of the other metaphysicalpoets, including
Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Richard
The speakerlikens the lovers' soulsto the legsof a
Crashaw,and Henry Vaughan.
compassused for drawing circles. One lover is the
"fixed foot" that remains home, while the other is
a,the foot that journeys away-but always in a
circle. The conceit suggeststhat, though the lovers
YOURTURNTryto figureout thesecomparisons
are not together,their souls are so joined that they
fromDonne(answers
appearbelow):
will always be in sympathy with each other. The
metaphysicalpoets' use of such fanciful and
Thatswimmingcollege,andfreehospitall
extendedconceitsled the writer and critic Samuel
Of all mankind;that cageandvivary
Johnsonto complain about their "violent yoking
Of fowls,and beasts. . .
togetherof heterogeneous
ideas."
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Another characteristicof metaphysicalpoetry is
In whichas in a gallerythismouse
paradox-a statementthat seemscontradictory but
WalKd,and surueyed
the roomsof thisvasthouse,
nevertheless
suggestsa truth. In his poem "A
Andto the brain,the soulsbedchamber,
went,
Feverr" Donne ties together the contradictory
And gnau/dthe life cordsthere.
conceptsof love and hate in a startling way:
fr
ftddles from Donne
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METAPHYSICAL PoETRY
M9
Oh do not die, for I shall hate
All women so when thou art gone,
That thee I shall not celebrate
When I remember, thou wast one.
-John Donne, "A Fevef"
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The speaker'sfeelingsreveal a paradox: he loves
a woman so much that he will not praise her if
she dies.
YOURTURNWitha partner,comeup with a paradoxor
a conceitof yourown usingobjectsfrom everyday
life.
Another characteristicof Donne's poetry is his
disruption of poetic meter (the regular pattern of
stressedand unstressedsyllables).Violating the
poetic meter occurs frequently in poetrg but in the
eyesof many critics, Donne used this poetic technique too often. Poet Ben Jonson once declared
that "Donne, for not keeping of accent,deserved
hanging." However,Jonson had to admit that he
greatly admired Donne as a poet.
TheCriticsRespond
As Jonson'scomment reveals,metaphysicalpoetry
did have its detractors.In fact, the label "metaphysicalpoetry" was originally meant as a
criticism. In the late 1700s,SamuelJohnson
named the group metaphysicalpoets becausehe
thought that they used their poetry merely to show
off their knowledge. Earlier, the writer John
Dryden had made a similar criticism of Donne's
poetry. Donne, Dryden wrote, "affects the
metaphysics. . . [even]in his amorous verses,
where nature only should reign."
The metaphysicalpoets experienceda revival in
the early 20th century, thanks in part to poet and
critic T. S. Eliot. In a famous essay,Eliot praised
the metaphysicalpoets' ability to unify
experience-in particular, to "feel their thought as
immediatelyas the odor of a rose."
Elements
of Metaphysical
Poetry
Although every metaphysicalpoet had a unique
style, their poetry sharesseveraltraits:
. simple,conversational
diction
. complexsentencepatterns
. themesthat areoftenphilosophical
. metaphysical
conceits,
or extendedmetaphors
comparing
verydissimilar
things
. paradoxes,
or statements
that seemto contradict
themselves
. disruptions
of poeticmeter
. witty and imaginative
playson words
Strategiesfor Reading:Metaphysicat
Poetry
l. Usethe notesthat accompany
the poemsto help
you betterunderstand
poets'
the metaphysical
useof language.
2. Studyeachmetaphysical
conceitand identifythe
thingsbeingcompared.
5. Lookfor paradoxes
and try to determinewhat
deepermeaningsthey convey.
4. ldentifythe subjectand verbof any problematic
450
UNIT TWO
PART 3: FACING LIFE'S LIMITATIONS
clause,and then try to determinethe functionsof
surrounding
wordsor phrases.
5. Paraphrase
anydensepassages.
6. Monitol your readingstrategies
and modify
them when your understanding
breaksdown.
Remember
to useyour Strategies
for Active
predicLvisualize,connect,question,
Reading:
clatity,and evaluate.