The Metaphysical Poets

A group of 17th-century poets whose works are marked by philosophical exploration, colloquial diction,
ingenious conceits, irony, and metrically flexible lines. John Donne is the foremost figure, along with
George Herbert and Andrew Marvell.

 
Metaphysical Poetry

The term metaphysical was applied to a style of 17th Centurypoetry first by John Dryden and later by Dr.
Samuel Johnson because of the highlyintellectual and often abstruse imagery involved.Chief among the
metaphysical poets are John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw,Andrew Marvell, and Henry
Vaughan. While their poetry is widely varied (themetaphysicals are not a thematic or even a structural
school), there are some commoncharacteristics:1.
 1.Argumentative structure.
 The poem often engages in a debate or persuasivepresentation; the poem is an intellectual exercise
as well as or instead of anemotional effusion.2.
 2.Dramatic and colloquial mode of utterance.
 The poem often describes adramatic event rather than being a reverie, a thought, or contemplation.
Diction is simple and usually direct; inversion is limited. The verse is occasionally rough,like speech,
rather than written in perfect meter, resulting in a dominance ofthought over form.3.
 2.Acute realism.
 The poem often reveals a psychological analysis; images advance the argument rather than being
ornamental. There is a learned style ofthinking and writing; the poetry is often highly intellectual.4
3.. Metaphysical wit.
 The poem contains unexpected, even striking or shockinganalogies, offering elaborate parallels between
apparently dissimilar things. Theanalogies are drawn from widely varied fields of knowledge, not limited
totraditional sources in nature or art. Analogies from science, mechanics,housekeeping, business,
philosophy, astronomy, etc. are common. These"conceits" reveal a play of intellect, often resulting
in puns, paradoxes, andhumorous comparisons. Unlike other poetry where the metaphors usually
remainin the background, here the metaphors sometimes take over the poem and controlit.Metaphysical
poetry represents a revolt against the conventions of Elizabethan lovepoetry and especially the typical
Petrarchan conceits (like rosy cheeks, eyes like stars,etc.

4. Metaphysical Conceit
A striking characteristic of metaphysical poetry is its fondness for conceits. A conceit is' a comparison
whose ingenuity is more striking than its justness. "All comparisons discover likeness in things unlike: a
comparison becomes a conceit when we are made to concede likeness while being strongly conscious of
unlikeness" (Helen Gardner). Elizabethan poetry teems with conceits. They are used not as ornaments.
On the contrary, a metaphysical conceit is used to persuade, or it is used to define, or to prove a point.
In a metaphysical poem "the conceits are instruments of definition in an argument or instruments to
persuade" (Helen Gardner).

5. Concentration

Concentration is one of the major features of metaphysical poetry. A metaphysical poem tends to be
short and is always closely woven and’ so there is some truth when it is said a metaphysical poem is an
expanded epigram. The reader is held to an idea or a line or argument. He is not allowed to pause and
ponder over a passage. Metaphysical poetry demands that we pay attention and read on. The following
examples will show how there is a compression of ideas: 1. 'A bracelet of bright hair about the bone'
("The Relique") ii. The phoenix riddle hath more wit By us: we two being one are it'. ("The
Canonization") The desire for concentration and precision marks also the verse forms of the
metaphysical poets. They invented verse forms which suited them to express the diversity of their poetic
experience. They preferred a line of eight syllables to a line of ten and they employed stanzas of varying
length into which the sense was packed. Helen Gardner has aptly summarized this feature in her
introduction to The Metaphysical Poets thus: "A stanza of Donne or Herbert is not, like rhyme royal or a
Spenserian stanza, an ideal mould into which the words have flowed. It is more like a limiting frame in
which words and thoughts are compressed. The metaphysical poets favoured either very simple verse
forms, octosyllabic couplets, or quatrains, or else stanzas created for the particular poem, in which
length of line and rhyme scheme artfully enforced the sense."

6. ) Unconventional Openings

Donns age saw an immense development of the drama and Donne himself was a great frequenter to
plays. Like him his followers also possessed strong dramatic imagination. Many of the poems of the met
physicals open in an abrupt manner, thereby arresting the attention of the reader from the very outset.
Examples for unconventional and abrupt openings are found in: i. For God sake hold your tongue, and
let me love. ("The Canonization")

7.Their style was characterized by wit and metaphysical conceits—far-fetched or unusual similes or
metaphors, such as in Andrew Marvell’s comparison of the soul with a drop of dew; in an expanded
epigram format, with the use of simple verse forms, octosyllabic couplets, quatrains or stanzas in which
length of line and rhyme scheme enforce the sense. [5] The specific definition of wit which Johnson
applied to the school was: "...a kind of discordia concors; a combination of dissimilar images, or
discovery of occult resemblances in things apparently unlike." [6] Their poetry diverged from the style of
their times, containing neither images of nature nor allusions to classical mythology, as were common.
[7] Several metaphysical poets, especially John Donne, were influenced by Neo-Platonism. One of the
primary Platonic concepts found in metaphysical poetry is the idea that the perfection of beauty in the
beloved acted as a remembrance of perfect beauty in the eternal realm. Their work relies on images
and references to the contemporary scientific or geographical discoveries. These were used to examine
religious and moral questions, often employing an element of casuistry (i.e. theoretical reasoning used
to resolve moral problems, often evasive or arcane) to define their understanding or personal
relationship with God.[8]

8.It is intellectual, analytical, psychological, and bold; frequently it is absorbed in thoughts of death,
physical love, and religious devotion.

9.Colloquialism:
A vital feature as they reacted against the traditional diction of earlier years. They
employed their own diction, preferring informal language instead of formal, dignified and
sublime language such as in Milton’s work. Look at Donne’s ‘The Canonization’ which
uses very simple diction:
FOR God’s sake hold your tongue, and let me love;Or chide my palsy, or my gout;My five
gray hairs, or ruin’d fortune flout;With wealth your state, your mind with arts improve.

10.Originality:
Original and unique in their thoughts and ideas and did not follow the styles of their
contemporaries. They stood in rebellion against them and chose to SHOCK their
readership by presenting unique and unheard ideas. They intended to differentiate
themselves from the canon of past poets.

Major poets • John Donne (1572–1631) • George Herbert (1593–1633) • Andrew Marvell (1621–1678)
• Abraham Cowley (1618–1667) • Saint Robert Southwell (c. 1561–1595) • Richard Crashaw (c. 1613–
1649) • Thomas Traherne (1636 or 1637 – 1674) • Henry Vaughan (1622–1695)

The Chain of Being: Tillyard in a Nutshell

The scholars E. M. W. Tillyard and A. O. Lovejoy argued that the medieval and Renaissance world inherited a
special worldview, the idea of a hierarchical universe ordained by God. "The Chain of Being" describes this
medieval and Renaissance structure as an interconnected web of greater and lesser links. Each link in the Chain was
an individual species of being, creature, or object. Those links higher on the Chain possessed greater intellect,
mobility, and capability than those lower on the Chain. Accordingly, the higher links had more authority over the
lower. For instance, plants only had authority and ability to rule over minerals. Being superior in quality to inert
rock and soil, the plants had divine sanction to draw sustenance from them, and grow upon them, while the minerals
and soil supported them. Animals--higher on the Chain of Being--were thought to have natural authority over both
inanimate plants and minerals. For instance, horses could trample the rocks and earth; they could also eat plants.
Humans in turn were thought to possess greater attributes than other animals, and could rule over the rest of the
natural world, uprooting weeds and planting gardens, digging up metals and shaping them into tools, and so on.
Likewise, spiritual beings like angels and God had greater ability than man, and could rule over and control
humanity as well as the rest of the animals and the inanimate world.
The unifying principle holding the Chain together was either (1) rational order, as suggested in earlier classical
literature like passages in Ovid's  Metamorphoses, and (2) divine love, as evidenced in later Enlightenment writings
like Alexander Pope's An Essay on Man. Every being in creation was thought to have its place within this Chain,
which entailed a certain degree of authority and a certain degree of responsibility to the rest of the Chain. As long as
each being knew its place and did its destined duty for the rest of the Chain, all would be well.

Basic Chart of Ranks At a Glance:

The Chain as a whole:
o God
o Angels
o Humans
o Animals
o Vegetables
o Minerals