Metaphysical poets

J. Donne (priest), G. Hebert (priest), T. Carew, A. Cowley.

Love & religion

Were united in a group years later by scholars.

Cavalier poetry: much shorter, simpler, the aim was to evoke pleasure.

R. Herrick, J. Suckling, R. Lovelace, A. Marvell (both).

Were familiar with each other’s works, created a group.

Conceit

Connection between things

‘’Life is a candle’’

A metaphor with a hyperbole.

Ingegno (fantasy) - leading to - maraviglia (wonder)

J. Dryden (poet, 1st English critic), S. Johnson, T.S. Eliot

Dryden criticized Donne’s poetry for eroticism and no philosophy.

Johnson also didn’t think mush about metaphysical poetry, ‘’only showing off their erudition’’.

Metaphysical poets was oblivion thanks to critics in 19 th century.

Then they was rediscovered.

J. Donne was born catholic, but converted to Anglicanism (because of the historical times), became a
priest and made a good religious career.

When he was 29 he felt in love with a niece of his patron and decided to elope (run away to get
married). So he lost his financial support.

‘’John Donne. Ann Donne. Undone.’’ = ruined.

Poet of contradictions.

God vs. worldly pleasures, desires.

Sonnets – usually about love. Petrarka invented sonnets about his love to Laura.

Collab of sonnet and religion was odd.

‘’ravish’’ – rape

Meaning: enslaved by God = claim liberty and freedom.

‘’The Flea’’ – persuading a woman to have sex with him.

A seduction poem.

The flea that’ve bitten them both ‘’connects them more than marriage’’, their blood is mixed.
The woman doesn’t want to sleep with him and although he asked not to kill the flea she did it, but
he adjusts again and asks her to sleep with him again to honour it’s death and not to be wasted.

Valediction = farewell

Congé d’amour (a leave of love)

This poem was written before Donn leaves to Continental Europe and he and his wife were afraid to
separate because they had a feeling that something bad will happen and it did happen. His wife gave
birth to a dead child while he was away.

Asking not to cry, to mourn, to not show emotions to people.

‘’so let us melt’’ the idea of chemical wedding (chemical process of making gold).

‘’sublunary’’ = earthly

Describing that others have love of senses: touch, hear, see…) and they not. Importance of spiritual
connection not physical.

Their love will expand in distance. As they have one soul it will stretch along all this distance.

Stiff twin compasses – tool to draw circles.

They are two legs of this compass so they will always be together.

Her ‘’firmness makes his circle just’’ = perfect. As she as a needle from compass can’t move for this
circle to be perfect.

This is asking for a favor, not a threat.

G. Herbert

Studied at Cambridge. Also a priest, donated money for his church. Died at 40 because of
tuberculosis.

Anglican church doesn’t have saints, but he’ll probable declared as one if it’s not for the rules.

‘’The Altar’’ wrote in the shape of altar.

‘’Concreate poem’’

Collar is an instrument of control.

‘’The Collar’’ – caller, calling for God.

Choler.

Life of speaker is helpless, no luck.

He is ‘’tight’’ now and he wants to be free, ‘’like road’’.

He wonders if he still can change his life now or he must be ‘’still in suit’’.

He misses ‘’wine’’ aka normal life.

Spiritual crisis.

He wants happiness.
He is done wasting time worrying about what is holy, proper, or good. These things will no longer
interest him. It is his goal to leave behind his cage and “rope of sand.” 

God is a Father, who cares about his children. ‘’Child’’

Self-destructive.

If you were to live a life devoted to God, you’ll have to reject a lot of things.

Rebellion – submission.

The speech ends with a set of lines that utilize the rhyme scheme of abab. They are used to bring the
speaker back to his known reality. He describes how his “rav[ing]” came to its climax and rather than
building him up, it just brought on the voice of God. The speaker heard “Child!” And replied, “My
Lord.”  Like a child, he was chastised and brought back into the religious fold. 

Richard Crashaw

Became catholic, although he was in Anglican church.

‘’Luke 11’’

Jesus and The Virgin Mary.

Describing that as Mary feeds Jesus, he feeds us all with his blood/wine and body/bread.

The feeling that God is always near us, inside.

Andrew Marvell's “To His Coy Mistress”

Seduction poem.

Impossible to reach hypothetical goal.

Using death as a reason to have sex before it comes.

Changes his mind fast from ‘’I can wait for 1000 years’’ to ‘’worms will eat your virginity in your
grave’’.

In conclusion still asking to enjoy their lives ‘’while we may’’.

‘’we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run’’. – we can’t stop the time, but we
can use it.

Coy – shy in a contest of sexuality.