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Metaphysical Poetry
Metaphysical Poetry
Metaphysical Poetry
INGENUITY, INTELLECTUALITY,
OBSCURITY
subject matter [the relationship of spirit to matter or the
ultimate nature of reality]
expression [putting forward a particular philosophical
world view] - ornate language, strange syntax, farfetched images, intellectual sophistication, artificial (as
opposed to naturalistic) qualities
2.
John
Dryden
(Discourse
concerning the Original and Progress
of Satire, 1693):
Donne affects the metaphysics not only
in his satires but in his amorous verses,
where nature only should reign, and
perplexes the minds of the fair sex with nice
speculations of philosophy
Characteristics
Herbert Grierson Introduction to Metaphysical Lyrics
and Poems of the Seventeenth Century :
lays stress on the right thingsthe survival, one might say the
reaccentuation, of the metaphysical strain, the concetti
metafisici ed ideali as Testi calls them in contrast to the simpler
imagery of classical poetry, of mediaeval Italian poetry; the
more intellectual, less verbal, character of their wit compared
with the conceits of the Elizabethans; the finer psychology of
which their conceits are often the expression; their learned
imagery; the argumentative, subtle evolution of their lyrics;
above all the peculiar blend of passion and thought, feeling and
ratiocination which is their greatest achievement. Passionate
thinking is always apt to become metaphysical, probing and
investigating the experience from which it takes its rise
sensuous
apprehension
of
4. learned imagery
startling imagery
incongruous objects
that
associates
6. direct, unconventional,
colloquial speech
7.
IRONY & PARADOX
Helen Gardner: the Metaphysical
Poem = an expanded epigram
8. Themes
baroque world view
I. LOVE: Original attitudes toward sexual love:
hedonistic, epicuristic perspective.
new sexual realism, together with introspective
psychological analysis
CARPE DIEM, DEATH
mystical
five satires,
twenty elegies &
the Songs and Sonnets
occasional poems
religious poems
sermons
19 Holy Sonnets: combine passion and argument (Batter my Heart,
Death be not proud): man searches the right relationship with
divinity
use of contemporary imagery for profane love to make concrete and
shockingly personal the impact of divine love
excruciating trials undergone by a believer in search of faith.
Sources
Eliot, T. S. (1932) The Metaphysical Poets in Selected Essays
London: Faber & Faber Limited
Grierson, HJ (1921) Introduction to Metaphysical Lyrics and
Poems of the Seventeenth Century Hammondsworth: Penguin
Books
Holloway, John (1960) The Charted Mirror: Literary and
Critical Essays London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Kermode, Frank (1973) Renaissance Essays Collins Fontana
Books
Nelson, Lowry (1966) Baroque Lyric Poetry, New Haven: Yale
University Press
Warnke, Frank (1978) Versions of the Baroque, New Haven:
Yale University Press