LITERARY CONTEXT: THE METAPHYSICAL POETS

The Metaphysical Poets

“Metaphysical Poets” is a term coined by poet and critic Samuel Johnson, to describe a loose group of English lyric poets of the 17th century.

Metaphysical poetry was not a proper school of movement in arts and literature. Instead, the “Metaphysical Poets” was a term used to group together certain 17th-century poets, they share common characteristics of wit, inventiveness, and a love of elaborate stylistic manoeuvres.

Names usually associated as Metaphysical Poets include John Donne, the de- facto leader and founder, George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, and Henry Vaughn, though other figures like Abraham Cowley are sometimes included in the list.

Metaphysical poetry was a very different take on poetry from its contemporaries and from the traditional view of how poetry should be written. The poems themselves are very unique, original and investigates the world by rational discussion of its phenomena rather than by intuition or mysticism.

When criticizing John Donne, John Dryden said: “He affects the Metaphysics... in his amorous verses, where nature only should reign; and perplexes the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy, when he should engage their hearts.”

In fact, many critics and fellow poets disapproved of Donne's stylistic excesses, particularly his extravagant conceits (witty comparisons) and his tendency towards hyperboles.

Samuel Johnson then further used the terms and consolidated the argument in The Lives of The Poets, where he said, with reference to the far-fetched use of expression, that 'about the beginning of the seventeenth century appeared a race of writers that may be termed the metaphysical poets'. Johnson criticized the poets’ use of comparisons, especially the use of occult or spiritual imagery. As an example, Johnson condemned the extended comparison of love with astrology by Donne; and of the soul with a drop of dew by Marvell.

Not all critics were against them - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote “The unnatural, that too is natural…”

The metaphysical poets, John Donne chiefly among them, developed a poetic style in which philosophical and spiritual subjects were approached with reason and often concluded in paradox.

Metaphysical poetry, although short, is dense in its imagery and is not intended to be read in a passive way. Its use of paradox, imagery, conceit and wit is meant to awaken the reader.

Metaphysical poetry asks many philosophical questions about religion, faith, spirituality, being and love.

Metaphysical Poetry

Origins and Historical Context

Metaphysical Poetry “began” as a way to break with the formerly artificial style of older poetry, to create a style free from traditional poetic diction or conventions.

Etymology

As has been stated, Metaphysical poetry was not a formal, or far reaching movement in arts, literature and similar fields. Instead, it was a branch of poetry that focused on a few specific poets.

They themselves only ‘adopted’ the use of the word Metaphysical after it was used to describe their poetry, and there is much debate on whether Metaphysical poets should be grouped together with Baroque poets, for ease of classification.

Nevertheless, it is important to understand the etymology of the term ‘Metaphysical’ in this context of literature and poetry.

The word itself can be broken down into its two components - “Meta” and “Physics”. “Meta” means “beyond” and “physics” in this context means “physical nature”. Therefore, the word literally means “going beyond physical nature”. This can have two meanings of its own – from the one point of view, Metaphysical poetry is literature and poetry that goes beyond the physical world and explores the spiritual world. In another sense, Metaphysical poetry goes beyond the mere physical and encompasses a great deal of intellectualization of the subject matter, requiring a great deal of thinking about the works themselves, to make sense of them.

As said, the origin of the use of this word was not the poets themselves. And although John Donne was the de-facto ‘leader and founder’ of the metaphysical school of poetry, it was another non-Metaphysical poet, John Dryden who first used the term to describe Donne’s work, claiming he “affects the metaphysics” with his pieces.

Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry

Dramatic Manner and Direct Tone of Speech

Metaphysical poetry was meant to evoke sharp reactions in its readers and audiences, and it was also a reaction to the poetry that had come before, and so its writing was often dramatic manner and very direct.

As an example, the starting line of the poem “The Canonization” is, for its day, an extremely dramatic start, meant to capture attention immediately:

“For God’s sake hold your tongue, and let me love”.

Use of Conceits

A feature of the metaphysical poetry is the use of metaphysical conceits. It is the unique quality of metaphysical poetry. A conceit, in this context, is a comparison of two dissimilar things, which may have very little in common. The comparison may not make a great deal of sense, but in reading and re-reading the piece, the audience is encouraged to see the connections.

As examples of this, we have Abraham Cowley’s poem “The Mistress” , in which he compares his love for ladies to his habit of travelling in various countries of the world.

John Donne often used many wonderful and fantastical comparisons. One of his most famous is the comparison of a man who travels, and his beloved woman who stays at home, to a pair of compasses.

This occurs in the poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” –

“If they be two, they are two so

As stiff twin compasses are two,

Thy soul fixt foot makes no show

To move, but doth, if th’other do”.

Wit

Another important quality of Metaphysical poetry is the use of Wit.

It was the intention of the writer to often not only provide a great deal of food for thought within the lines of the poem, but to also provide entertainment and joviality. John Donne is called the “Monarch of Wit” in the history of metaphysical poetry.

“Passionate Thinking” and Fusion of Passionate Feelings and Logical Arguments

The term ‘Passionate Thinking’ was first used by T.S. Elliot to describe Metaphysical Poetry. It can defined as a blend of passion and thought. Another way to explain this is to say again say that there is a great deal of intellectualization in metaphysical poetry, and that there is a great deal of intellectual analysis of emotion in the poems.

When an emotional situation is described, the emotion is not merely expressed, but is also analyzed intellectually.

As an example, in Donne’s poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, he ‘proves’ that lovers need not mourn at parting:

“So let us melt, and make no noise,

No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move,

‘Twere profanation of our joys

To tell the laity our love”.

Another example of this fusion of passionate feelings and logical arguments, is in “The Canonization”, where the passion is expressed through beautiful metaphors:

“Call us what you will, we are made such by love;

Call her one, me another fly,

We are tapers too, and at our own cost die,

And we in us, find the eagle and the dove”.

Intellectualization

The Metaphysical poets were men of very high intellect, who had graduated from esteemed colleges such as Oxford University or Cambridge University. This had provided them with a vast knowledge and they used this knowledge, and combined it in fascinating ways in their poems, to present new ideas and stories to the reader.

Mixture of Sensual and Spiritual Experience

This characteristic appears often in Donne’s poetry, where there is a blending of love and spiritual or even supernatural elements.

As a good example, in “The Canonization” and “The Extasie” the great metaphysical question is the relation between the spirit and the senses, and in “The Extasie”, Donne speaks of the souls of the lovers arising out of the bodies to negotiate with one another:

“And whilst our souls negotiate there,

We like sepulchral statues lay;

All day, the same our postures were,

And we said nothing, all the day”.

Satire and Irony

As there is a great amount of intellectualization within the poetry, it makes sense that satire and irony would be there too, and both were often used to great effect.

As an example, in “The Canonization” Donne’s speaks of a subtle irony as he writes about way people pursue their for wealth and favors:

“Take you a course, get you a place,

Observe his honour, or his Grace”.

Colloquial Speech and Ordinary Words

As Metaphysical poetry was in some ways a reaction against the old ways of writing poetry, it often employed colloquial speech. This gives the poetry, especially in its time, an abrupt, dramatic and conversational tone. This was in sharp contrast to the older and more accepted ways of writing poetry. As an example, for its time the following would have been dramatic and quite unique as opening a...