BY JOHN DONNE
Metaphysical Poetry
 John Donne
 Why metaphysical poetry ?
 Analysis of Poem “Death not be proud”
 Literary Devices
 How to use literary work in the
classroom
 References
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 Meta : after, beyond
 Physical : concrete
 Metaphysical : after the physical
 Metaphysics deals with
questions that can't be
explained by science.
 It questions the nature
of reality in a
philosophical way.
 These are questions about the nature of reality in
a philosophical way.
• Does God exist?
• What is the reality and perception?
• Is everything that happens already
predetermined, if so free choice non-existent?
 There is no one correct answer to any of these
questions.
 Metaphysical is about exploration and philosophy,
not about science and math.
 If it were possible to sum up the metaphysical
poetry in one word, it would be “energetic” !
 There is an energy of mind and emotions.
 “Metaphysical poetry” is not regarded as a genre
of poetry.
• It is also described as “Post Renaissance Period “
 It is a term coined by Samuel Johnson.
 Literary critic and poet Samuel Johnson first
coined the term 'metaphysical poetry' in his book.
The name of the book is Lives of the Most Eminent
English Poets (1179-1781).
 Metaphysical poetry has its roots in 17th century
England.
 Metaphysical poems are all highly intellectualized,
they contain large doses of wit.
 Use rather strange imagery,
 Use frequent paradox,
 Contain extremely complicated thoughts.
 Wholeness :
humanbeings = emotion + intellect + body + soul
 Metaphysical poets examined serious questions
about existence of God !
 Metaphysical poetry tried to shock the reader
and wake people from their normal existence in
order to question the existence of God !
 Paradoxes and puns are used in Metaphysical
Poetry. The poetry mixed ordinary speech with
paradoxes and puns.
 Weird comparisons are also used in the poetry.
Poets compared unlikely things. They are called as
“conceits”.
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lovers compared to a compass
 Metaphysical poetry
explored some common
themes. They all had a
religious sentiment.
 Many of the poems
explored the theme
of carpe diem (seize the
day) and investigated the
humanity of life (both
thoughts and feelings).
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Love
Death
Life
Religion & Science
Existence
Body and soul
Emotion
Passion and logic
Sin and redemption
Real and the ideal
Carnal and divine love
Time and eternity
Rational terms
Sexuality
John Donne
George Herbert
Henry Vaughan
Andrew Marvell
Richard Crashaw
 Henry Vaughan (17 April
1621 – 23 April 1695) was a
Welsh author, physician and
metaphysical poet.
 He was greatly effected
by George Herbert.
 He lead to religious poetry.
 George Herbert (3 April
1593 – 1 March 1633) was a
Welsh-born English poet,
orator and Anglican priest.
 Throughout his life, he
wrote religious poems
characterized by a
precision of language.
 Andrew Marvell (31 March
1621 – 16 August 1678) was
an English metaphysical
poet and politician who sat in
the House of Commons.
 Marvell's most celebrated
lyric, "To His Coy Mistress",
combines an old poetic
conceit.
 Richard Crashaw (c. 1613
– 21 August 1649),
was an English poet,
styled "the divine," and
known as one of the
Metaphysical poets.
 His work is said to be marked by a focus toward
"love with the smaller graces of life".
 John Donne is a British
Renaissance poet famous
for his poems of life, death
and religion.
 He is considered as the
founder of metaphysical
poetry and master of the
metaphysical conceit.
 He was born and raised in a Catholic family during
a strong anti-Catholic period in England.
 He lost many relatives to martyrdom - they were
either exiled or executed.
 He entered Oxford University at age 11, later
the university of Cambridge but never received
degrees because of his Catholicism.
 He started his life as Catholic, later he conversed
into a different sect and in 1610 wrote
anti-Catholic “Pseudo-Martyr”.
 In 1615, Donne converted to Anglicanism and was
appointed Royal Chaplain.
 He is often dubbed as metaphysical poetry due to
his complex relationship with God and Romantic
themes.
 His writing was charismatic and inventive. His
compelling examination of the mortal paradox
influenced English poets for generations.
 As John Donne’s health continued to fail him, he
became obsessed with death. Before he died, he
delivered a pre-funeral sermon “death’s duel’’ !
 Pseudo-Martry
 Death Not Be Proud
 The Broken Heart
 The Flea
 A Valediction: Forbidding
Mourning
 Hymn to God, my God, in my
Sickness
 Holy Sonnets
 The Sun Rising
religious motifs & Donne has a life
controversy with religion,
He has contradictions about God’s exist, but as a priest
he worked.
Death & fear of death is the most applied topics but
poets behave as if they were not afraid of death.
Sexuality & he is playgoing and visiting with ladies ??
oThis sonnet is one of many sonnets that are
parts of collection called the Holy Sonnets.
oThis collection is comprised of nineteen sonnets
with themes that pertain to Christian philosophy.
Death, be not proud, Some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so
 Donne declares against death to “avoid being proud”
Everybody treats death like a king , people think that
death has power to do terrible things
In contrast, Donne sees the death as
something weak and irrelevant.
For those whom thou think'st thou dost
overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
Death thinks that he has the power to kill people but he
actually does not
Overthrow = overcome ( the battle of life & death )
Saying “poor death” , he diminishes Death’s formidability
The aim of these lines are humiliating/negating.
 Donne uses the idea of Christian eternity to argue that
death is something that people pass through on their way to a
eternal life.
From rest and sleep, which but thy
pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much
more must flow,
 using logic, Donne is stating that since death appears
outwardly to be merely a sleep and sleep being a pleasurable
thing, death must be even more pleasurable (contradiction)
He compares death to "rest" and "sleep,“two things giving
us "pleasure.“
 He claims that rest and sleep are only "pictures" of death.
(because you're not moving, your eyes are closed as you were dead.)
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
 God takes good people because he needs them ,thus
they stop suffering and they will be rest in peace.
They are the hardest-working and bravest people in
society, so they (whom we love ) get to kick their feet
back and enjoy eternal rest before everyone else.
Delivery = freedom
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings,
and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war,
and sickness dwell,
With the metaphor of the slave, he suggests that
Death doesn’t act on his own free will, and it is controlled
or manipulated by other things like "fate, chance, kings,
and desperate men.“
slave: death is only a servant of events that end life:
bad luck, accidents, royal decrees, murder, war, and
illnesses
Death : angel of death , no internal power but
external – from God , So, Death doesn’t decide
when people will die; he just carries out orders from Fate
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
poppy or charms: drugs made from poppy seeds can
also induce sleep–and do it better than death can
We have the power of kill ourselves too , what makes death even
more irrelevant
 The "poppy" is a flower used to make opium, an old-fashioned drug
that makes people really happy, but also turns their skin yellow.
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
 Charms : magic spells
(that all kinds of people can do)
In fact, drugs and magic charms work even "better" than
Death at bringing on sleep.
And, "stroke" is another interesting word.
It could refer to "stroking" someone,
like one might stroke a child’s head to put him to sleep.
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
 pertaining to the
Christian concept of eternal life.
In Christianity, it is thought that, when people die, it is like
they are asleep until the end of the world or Judgment Day.
Then they will have a life everlasting in Heaven. There is no
“death” there.
Death will be dead anyway.
Donne, and the Metaphysical Poets in general, are masters
of the surprise ending, and this one is no exception.
It’s a classic Metaphysical Poet move to end a poem on a
line that seems to contradict itself.
It cites the Christian hope of eternal life as the
ultimate escape from death
It passionately argues against formidability of death.
LITERARY DEVICES
THEMES
METAPHORS
METONYMY
PERSONIFICATION
ALLITERATION
RHYME
PARADOX
IRONY
THEMES
Immortality & Death
The poem takes an
assertive stand against mortality. It makes the
paradoxical statement that mortality is itself mortal. In
other words, death doesn’t exist in the long run. But, the
speaker wouldn’t make this argument if he didn’t fear
that maybe death is the end.
Dreams,hopes & plans
The big dream and
hope in the poem is to defeat Death and go to Heaven.
Courage
Throughout the entire
length of the poem, the speaker never
once drops his guard.
Religion
Judgement Day
METAPHORS
A resemblance of two contradictory or different objects is
made based on a single or some common characteristics.
Death=Slave
death is only a servant of events that end life: bad
luck, accidents, royal decrees, murder, war, and illness
Short sleep
Sleep and rest
the moment of death
waiting for the Judgement Day
the picture of death
METONYMY
It is a figure of speech that replaces the name of a
thing with the name of something else with which it is
closely associated.
‘Poppy and charms‘
o Refers to the use of opium and magic to produce sleep,
or, ambiguously, to produce a gentle death. Technically
‘poppy' is a metonymy rather than a metaphor: it is what
is derived from the poppy that is the opiate, not literally
the flower itself. Charms and drugs are made from poppy
seeds can. Charms could be done by people.
‘Our best men’
o Christian people
PERSONIFICATION and APOSTROPHE
 Apostrophe used in literature is an arrangement of words addressing a
non-existent person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present
and capable of understanding feelings.
 A writer or a speaker, using an apostrophe, detaches himself from the
reality and addresses an imaginary character in his speech.
Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an
idea or an animal is given human attributes.
The non-human objects are portrayed in such a way that
we feel they have the ability to act like human beings.
Donne declares the “death” as you as if the
death is a “person” and by saying ‘Death, be
not proud ’ and ‘poor Death’ , he uses
apostrophe.
PARADOX & IRONY
Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way
that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of
the words. It may also be a situation that may end up in quite a
different way than what is generally anticipated. In simple words, it is
a difference between the appearance and the reality.
Paradox is from the Greek word “paradoxon” that means contrary
to expectations, existing belief or perceived opinion. It is a statement
that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent
truth. It is. also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to
accepted traditional ideas. A paradox is often used to make a reader
think over an idea in innovative way
 Donne ends the poem with paradox and irony:
Death, thou shalt die.
ALLITERATION
 Repetition of the consonant sounds in the same line at the
beginning of the word.
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
***One begins with a w sound; thus, it alliterates
with we and wake
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die
Referring to
Shakespearean
sonnets
RHYME
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.
A
B
B
A
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
A
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, B
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
B
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
A
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, C
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
D
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
D
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
C
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
A
A
How to use literary work in the classroom ?
Getting in the mood
Teacher makes students inhabit the death
scene in their mind (for advanced class )
Creating a sketch of the author
By showing different pictures of poet in
different times , students are asked to
analyse the character of John Donne
Jungle Poem / Acrostic
Teacher makes students write a poem.
The first letters of each line spell a
name, ex. death.
You have the conch
D……………
E……………
A……………
T……………
H……………
Students are asked to speak about Metaphysical
poetry in a limited time.They have a conch.
Whoever has the conch he/she is asked to share
his/her knowledge
Doodle and Listen
Students are listened the poem and are asked to
make small drawings without purpose
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Herbert
 http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-
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etexts/rfletcher/bl-rfletcher-history-5donne.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Crashaw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Vaughan
http://crossref-it.info/textguide/metaphysicalpoets-selected-poems/4/845
http://poemshape.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/jo
hn-donne-the-meter-of-death-be-not-proud/
http://www.adnax.com/biogs/jd.htm
 http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide
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metaphysical-poets
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/john-donne
http://www.biography.com/people/john-donne9277090#synopsis
http://www.gradesaver.com/donne-poems/studyguide/summary-holy-sonnet-10-death-be-notproud
http://literarydevices.net/paradox/