METAPHYSICAL
POETRY
Dasha Baker |
| Adrian Salazar
Glen Paul Florendo |
THE MOVEMENT
17th Century
• Metaphysical – ‘transcend above or beyond the
physical or concrete,’ representing the nonmaterial and supernatural
• The metaphysical poetry movement sought
greater depth in its verse.
• The metaphysical poets defined and compared
their subjects through nature, philosophy, love,
and musings about the hereafter. They aimed to
minimize their place within the poem so they may
to look beyond the obvious.
POETIC THEMES
• Experience of man
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Life
Love & Romance
Sensual Desires
Man’s relationship with God
Etc.
POETIC TECHNIQUES
• Lyric poems — any short poem that expresses thoughts and
feelings
• Wit — elements designed to make audience laugh or feel
amused
• In metaphysical poetry, wit denotes intelligence and originality,
using paradoxes to make clever and concise expressions
• Irony — actual meaning is expressed in words that carry the
opposite meaning
• Pun — a play on words that are identical in sound but have
different meanings
POETIC TECHNIQUES
• Allusion — A reference/representation to people, places, events,
literary works, works of art, or myths
• Conceits — An extended metaphor with complex logic, expressed
through an analogy to show similarity between two very dissimilar
things
• Imagery — images induced by words
• Rhyme — close similarity of sound between syllables in
corresponding lines
• Meter — the repetition of regular rhythmic unit in a line of
poetry (each unit of meter is known as a foot)
GEORGE HERBERT
Notable Works:
“Easter Wings”
“The Collar”
“Jordan (I)”
“Love (III)”
“The Windows”
• John Donne, the father of
metaphysical poetry, dedicated
his Holy Sonnets to George’s
mother after his father’s death.
• Sent his first two sonnets to his
mother in 1610
• Prefers the subject of God
instead of the love of a woman
• His first verses were published in
1612, which were in Latin and on
the subject of the death of
Prince Henry
• Herbert’s mother died in 1627
and Donne delivered her funeral
sermon
GEORGE HERBERT
Notable Works:
“Easter Wings”
“The Collar”
“Jordan (I)”
“Love (III)”
“The Windows”
• Herbert took holy orders in the
Church of England in 1630 and
spent the rest of his life as a
rector in Bremerton
• Known as the “Holy Mr. Herbert”
around the countryside
• Poems are characterized by
precision of language, a metrical
versatility, and ingenious use of
imagery
• Poems celebrate the ways of
God’s love as Herbert discovered
them within the fluctuations of
his own experience
1
5
10
15
20
Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,
Though foolishly he lost the same,
Decaying more and more,
Till he became
Most poore:
With thee
O let me rise
As larks, harmoniously,
And sing this day thy victories:
Then shall the fall further the flight in me.
My tender age in sorrow did beginner
And still with sicknesses and shame.
Thou didst so punish sinne,
That I became
Most thinne.
With thee
Let me combine,
And feel thy victorie:
For, if I imp my wing on thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me.
EASTER
WINGS
George Herbert
JOHN DONNE
Notable Works:
“A Valediction
Forbidding Mourning”
“The Sun Rising”
“Death Be Not Proud”
“Woman’s Constancy”
“Love’s Alchemy”
• Born to a prosperous Roman Catholic
family (precarious during the time of
Anti-Catholic sentiment in England)
• Father died when he was four, leaving
him and his two other siblings to be
raised by their mother
• His uncle headed an underground
Jesuit mission in England, was caught,
imprisoned, then exiled.
• Brother Henry died of a fever in prison
for being arrested for giving sanctuary
to a proscribed Catholic priest
(questions faith).
• Converts to Anglicanism
JOHN DONNE
Notable Works:
“A Valediction
Forbidding Mourning”
“The Sun Rising”
“Death Be Not Proud”
“Woman’s Constancy”
“Love’s Alchemy”
• Married Ann More, the daughter of Sir
George More, killing his career
• Took holy order to the Church of
England
• Wife died of childbirth
• His intent was not for publication, but
wrote poems to show to friends who
would understand his references.
• Known as the first and greatest of
metaphysical poets
1 Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
5 From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
10 And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
DEATH, BE
NOT PROUD
John Donne
WRITING PROMPTS
I.
Carefully read “Death Be Not Proud” by John
Donne. Then, in well-organized essay, analyze how
the speaker uses syntax, figurative language, and
diction to reveal his attitude about death.
II. Carefully read “Easter Wings” by George Herbert.
Considering such literary elements such as diction,
imagery, stanza structure, etc., write a wellorganized essay that examines the poem’s view of
religion.
QUIZ
QUIZ
1) In plain English, the title “Valediction:
Forbidding Mourning” means—
a. a graduation speech commending the senior class
b. a greeting to a person who had been thought
missing
c. a vow never to fall in love again
d. a farewell urging the listener not to be sad
QUIZ
1) In plain English, the title “Valediction:
Forbidding Mourning” means—
a. a graduation speech commending the senior class
b. a greeting to a person who had been thought
missing
c. a vow never to fall in love again
d. a farewell urging the listener not to be sad
QUIZ
2) The scene described in the first stanza
is—
a. a childbirth
b. a wedding
c. a birthday
d. a deathbed
QUIZ
2) The scene described in the first stanza
is—
a. a childbirth
b. a wedding
c. a birthday
d. a deathbed
QUIZ
3) Lines 7–8, “’Twere profanation of our joys
/ To tell the laity our love,” mean—
a. our love is profane but confessing it would
absolve us
b. we are the only happy people in a society of
miserable souls
c. our love is so sacred that we should not speak of
it to others
d. mere physical love is very different from true
spiritual love
QUIZ
3) Lines 7–8, “’Twere profanation of our joys
/ To tell the laity our love,” mean—
a. our love is profane but confessing it would
absolve us
b. we are the only happy people in a society of
miserable souls
c. our love is so sacred that we should not speak of
it to others
d. mere physical love is very different from true
spiritual love
QUIZ
4) What phrase does the speaker use to
describe the opposite of his and his wife’s
love?
a. “Dull sublunary lovers’ love . . .”
b. “a love, so much refined . . .”
c. “Our two souls therefore, which are one . . .”
d. “Care less eyes, lips, and hands to miss.”
QUIZ
4) What phrase does the speaker use to
describe the opposite of his and his wife’s
love?
a. “Dull sublunary lovers’ love . . .”
b. “a love, so much refined . . .”
c. “Our two souls therefore, which are one . . .”
d. “Care less eyes, lips, and hands to miss.”
QUIZ
5) In a simile in line 24, the lovers’ souls are
said to resemble gold in that they—
a. are rare and precious
b. are the envy of the world
c. are beautiful
d. can be drawn thin without being broken
QUIZ
5) In a simile in line 24, the lovers’ souls are
said to resemble gold in that they—
a. are rare and precious
b. are the envy of the world
c. are beautiful
d. can be drawn thin without being broken
QUIZ
6) According to the speaker, absence from a
lover is easiest to bear when the—
a. couple have not known each other very long
b. attraction is only on the surface
c. two people are extremely close
d. pair have been separated for a long time
QUIZ
6) According to the speaker, absence from a
lover is easiest to bear when the—
a. couple have not known each other very long
b. attraction is only on the surface
c. two people are extremely close
d. pair have been separated for a long time
QUIZ
7) The device that the speaker compares his
and his wife’s love to is for—
a. finding true north
b. drawing circles
c. measuring angles
d. measuring distances
QUIZ
7) The device that the speaker compares his
and his wife’s love to is for—
a. finding true north
b. drawing circles
c. measuring angles
d. measuring distances
QUIZ
8) In line 27, “Thy soul, the fixed foot”
means that the—
a. speaker is the moving needle on the compass
b. speaker’s wife has had successful surgery on her
foot
c. speaker’s wife likes to make puns about the
words soul and sole
d. speaker’s wife is the prong of the compass that
remains still in the center
QUIZ
8) In line 27, “Thy soul, the fixed foot”
means that the—
a. speaker is the moving needle on the compass
b. speaker’s wife has had successful surgery on her
foot
c. speaker’s wife likes to make puns about the
words soul and sole
d. speaker’s wife is the prong of the compass that
remains still in the center
QUIZ
9) In the poem, the speaker tells his loved
one that a public display of emotion will
a. serve as a model for others
b. heighten their mutual regard
c. diminish a spiritual relationship
d. make onlookers envious of their relationship
QUIZ
9) In the poem, the speaker tells his loved
one that a public display of emotion will
a. serve as a model for others
b. heighten their mutual regard
c. diminish a spiritual relationship
d. make onlookers envious of their relationship
QUIZ
10) The compass conceit in “A Valediction:
Forbidding Mourning” can be seen in lines—
a. 1–8
b. 13–16
c. 21–24
d. 25–36
QUIZ
10) The compass conceit in “A Valediction:
Forbidding Mourning” can be seen in lines—
a. 1–8
b. 13–16
c. 21–24
d. 25–36
Resources
http://www.poetryfoundation.org
http://www.luminarium.org
http://www.poets.org