The metaphysical poets

Who were the metaphysical poets? What is metaphysical in this context?

The metaphysical poets were a group of 17th-century English poets who are characterized by their
intellectual, often intellectually challenging poetry that often made use of unusual and extended
metaphors called “conceits”. The term "metaphysical poets" was coined by the poet and critic
Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of poets whose work was characterized by the use of
elaborate and intricate conceits, and a focus on themes of love, desire, and the relationship between
the soul and the body. Some of the most famous metaphysical poets include John Donne, Andrew
Marvell, George Herbert, and Henry Vaughan.

John Donne (1572-1631)

John Donne was an English poet, preacher, and a major representative of the metaphysical poets of the
period. He is known for his complex and highly intellectual poetry that deals with themes of love,
spirituality, and mortality. Donne's work is notable for its use of paradox, wit, and elaborate conceits.
He is also known for his love poetry, which is often characterized by its sensual and erotic language.

Some of John Donne's most important and well-known poems include:

● "The Flea" (published in the 1630s, probably written in the 1590s)
○ Basic content: This erotic poem uses the conceit of a flea sucking the blood of both the
speaker and his lover as a metaphor for sexual intimacy. The speaker argues that having
(premarital) sex is no different or no more dishonorable than being bitten by the same
flea.
○ Structure and content: The poem is written in three stanzas, with the first stanza
introducing the flea as the central conceit. In the second stanza, the speaker expands
upon the metaphor, arguing that the flea has "brought together" the two lovers by
sucking their blood and that they are therefore "linked by nature." The final stanza
presents a counterargument to the speaker's lover, who is trying to resist his advances.
The speaker says that the fact that they have already been "linked" by the flea means
that there is no harm in giving in to their desires and consummating their relationship.
○ Other ideas:
■ Despite the obvious erotic nature of the poem, Donne succeeds in covering his
true intentions with the conceit.
■ The poem can also be seen as a carpe diem poem in which the speaker urges the
lady to “seize the moment” and become intimate with him.

“The Flea”
But this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
Thou know’st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead,
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pampered swells with one blood made of two,
And this, alas, is more than we would do.

Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,

Where we almost, nay more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;
Though parents grudge, and you, w'are met,
And cloistered in these living walls of jet.
Though use make you apt to kill me,
Let not to that, self-murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since

Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?
Wherein could this flea guilty be,
Except in that drop which it sucked from thee?
Yet thou triumph’st, and say'st that thou
Find’st not thy self, nor me the weaker now;
’Tis true; then learn how false, fears be:
Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me,
Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.
● "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" - This poem is a farewell to a loved one and employs the
conceit of a compass to describe the separation of two lovers.
● "Death, Be Not Proud" - This poem is a meditation on the nature of death and uses the conceit
of death as a person to argue that it is not something to be feared.
● "The Good-Morrow" - This poem celebrates the start of a new day and the beginning of a new
love, using the conceit of two lovers as newly discovered worlds.
● “The Ecstasy” - A longer and more complex seduction poem that explores the theme of
spiritual and physical union through the conceit (metaphor) of two souls becoming one.
○ Basic content: The title “Ecstasy” comes from the Greek, ekstasis, meaning literally
‘outside standing’: in the poem, the souls of the man and the woman leave their body to
unite during physical intimacy, but at the end of the poem, the souls return to their
respective bodies. The poem is probably the best representation of Donne’s conception
of love.
○ Structure: The poem comprises 19 four-lined stanzas (or quatrains). Through the poem,
there’s a gradual change from a peaceful, pure and pastoral understanding of love
towards clear seduction.
○ Other ideas: The poem is the first in John Donne’s poetry to clearly include the word
“sex”.
This ecstasy doth unperplex,
We said, and tell us what we love;
We see by this it was not sex,
We see we saw not what did move;

● “To His Mistress Going to Bed” - Another erotic poem by John Donne that celebrates the act
of physical intimacy between the speaker and his mistress.
○ Basic content: The poem is written as a seduction, with the speaker attempting to
persuade his mistress to give in to his advances and go to bed with him. In the poem, the
speaker uses a series of elaborate conceits to describe the various stages of sexual
intimacy.
■ The conceit of the map and travelling: he compares his mistress's body to a map
of a new land that he will explore and the journey as the intercourse with the
woman
● O my America! my new-found-land,
My kingdom, safeliest when with one man mann’d,
My Mine of precious stones, My Empirie,
How blest am I in this discovering thee!
To enter in these bonds, is to be free;
Then where my hand is set, my seal shall be.

● This conceit can be understood as an allusion to the discovery of

America during the late Elizabethan/early Jacobite era
■ The poem ends with a famous double entendre (a phrase with two
interpretations, one is often sexual) where he says that now that he is naked, the
woman does not need to be “covered” by anything else than a man.
● “To teach thee, I am naked first; why then,
What needst thou have more covering than a man?”
○ Structure: The poem comprises one long stanza, in rhyming couplets. The metrical
rhythm is iambic pentameter.
○ Other ideas:
■ Originally, it was titled Elegy XIX.
■ The poem was rejected for publishing in the 1630s, and was only printed in an
anthology in the 1650s.
Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) and “To His Coy Mistress”
Andrew Marvell was an English poet, satirist, and politician who was a major figure in the metaphysical
poetry movement of the seventeenth century. He is known for his complex and intellectually challenging
poetry, which often deals with themes of love, politics, and the natural world. Marvell's poetry is
notable for its use of wit, irony, and paradox to explore complex ideas and themes. Marvell is perhaps
best known for his metaphysical poem "To His Coy Mistress”.

● The meaning of the word “coy”: pretending to be shy and modest as a way of being alluring or
seductive
● Basic ideas: "To His Coy Mistress” is a seduction poem that uses the conceit of the passage of
time to argue for the urgency of physical intimacy. The poem is one of the most famous carpe
diem poems in English literature as the speaker urges his mistress to seize the moment and
give in to their desires.
● Structure and content: The poem is written in three stanzas, with each stanza representing a
different stage in the passage of time. The poem is made up of 23 rhyming couplets: the first
stanza is made up of 10, the second of 7, and the third of 6.
○ In the first stanza (“Had we but …”), the speaker imagines a scenario in which they have
an eternity to be together, and he would take the time to praise and adore every part of
her body.
Had we but World enough, and Time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime. [...]
And you should if you please refuse
Till the Conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable Love should grow
Vaster than Empires, and more slow.
○ In the second stanza (“But …”), the speaker acknowledges that this scenario is not
possible and that they must deal with the reality of their limited time together. The
speaker argues that when they are dead, they do not have the opportunity to enjoy each
other (“The Grave's a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace.”)
My ecchoing Song: then Worms shall try
That long preserv'd Virginity:
And your quaint Honour turn to dust;
And into ashes all my Lust.
○ In the final stanza (“Now therefore …”), the speaker urges his mistress to "make use" of
their remaining time and give in to their desires, arguing that the only way to truly
possess and enjoy each other's bodies is through physical intimacy.
Rather at once our Time devour,
Than languish in his slow-chapt pow'r.
Let us roll all our Strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one Ball: