Metaphysical Poetry
John Donne
Outline of the lecture
 1.Definition of Metaphysical poetry
 2.Close reading: go and catch the falling star
 3.Appreciation: Flea and A Valediction: Forbidden
Mourning
 4.Summary of Donne’s poetry
 5.Formation of Metaphysical poetry
 6.Assignment for next lecture
John Donne and other Metaphysical poets
I Definition of Metaphysical Poetry
Time:
the early 17th century
Main features:
mysticism in content and fantasticality in form;
peculiar conceit, unique way of reasoning and
comparison
Representatives:
John Donne, Andrew Marvell and George Herbert
Significance:
greatly influenced the modernists of the 20th
century
Metaphysical poetry, a peculiar Phenomenon ?
Question? ? ?
Why was Metaphysical poetry kept being
criticized for nearly 300 years since its
appearance but re-estimated and reelevated by modernist poets in the 20th
century?
II Appreciation of the poem
Go and Catch the Falling Star
Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the Devil's foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy's stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
If thou be'st born to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
Till age snow white hairs on thee;
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And swear
No where
Lives a woman true, and fair.
If thou find'st one, let me know,
Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we might meet:
Though she were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two or three.
Q: What’s similarity in these 7 images?
Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the Devil's foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy's stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
Q: What’s the poet’s aim to list so many
impossibilities?
If thou be'st born to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
Till age snow white hairs on thee;
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And swear
No where
Lives a woman true, and fair.
Q: Have you realized the aim of the
poet till the end of the 18th line?
Q: If he has stated his intension clearly,
what the next lines for then?
Q: What the last nine lines for?
for further confirmation: true love is
unattainable.
Q: How do you get the implied meaning
of the poem, or the attitude of the poet?
If thou find'st one, let me know,
Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we might meet:
Though she were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two or three.
further Questions
Q: What’s the theme of the poem?
True love is unattainable.
Q: How does the poet express this attitude
towards love?
in a indirect way
by reasoning as a way to argue
Analysis of the artistic features
Structure
How many parts can the poem be divided into?
Language
colloquial language
Poetic form
irregular in line length
3 nine-line stanza rhymed in ababccddd
III Two more examples
1) Donne’s The Flea
It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.
From the utilization of the image flea,
what features can be perceived?
peculiar conceit
reasoning in argument
enjoy the moment
Donne’s A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning
(excerpt)
 If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two
Thy soul the fixed foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if th’other do.
 And though it in the center sit,
Yet when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.
 Such wilt thou be to me, who must
Like th’other foot, obliquely run;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end, where I begun.
A Chinese Example of Conceit in Love
你侬我侬
元 管道昇
你侬我侬，忒煞情多；
情 多 处 ， 热如 火 ；
把一块泥，捻一個你，塑一个我，
将咱两个一齐打破，
用 水 调 和 ； 再 捻 一 个 你 ， 再 塑 一 个我 。
我泥中有你，你泥中有我。
我与你生同一个衾，死同一个槨。
你侬我侬- Explanation and Analysis (1)
 This poem was written by a woman named管道昇 in Yuan
Dynasty. She wrote this poem in order to stop her husband
趙梦频 from marrying a concubine.
 The first two sentences, the writer describes how deep they
love each other and what a great passion between them. 侬
is a pronoun. It represent “You” or “I “, thus, 你 侬 我 侬
means “I am you and you are me. We love each other very
much so that we do not have to distinguish who we are,
because we are together, our hearts and minds unitize
together.
你侬我侬- Explanation and Analysis(2)
 She compares their passionate love to fire. She
uses fire to create a vivid image. Then, the writer
uses soil to give a more vivid image to confirm
their everlasting love. From the third sentence,
use soil to knead a you and knead an I. Then,
break us up together and mix up with water. Re
kneads a you and re kneads an I. In this way, I
have you and you could have me. In the last
sentence, the writer confirms their permanent
love that no matter live or die, they will be
together for all eternity.
IV Summary
In theme, or outlook, Metaphysical
poetry is characterized by its negative
attitude towards life, advocating
enjoying the present time.
In art, metaphysical poets prefer
colloquial language, irregular lines to
sonnet or blank verse to show their
unconventional spirit.
good at reasoning and famous for
peculiar conceit
V Formation of Metaphysical poetry
 social turmoil during the late Queen Elizabeth’s
days and days of James I and Charles I
1) During the late Elizabeth’s days: the issue
of the successor to the crown: betrayal of
Wessex; and James VI of Scotland came
to be the king of England as king
2) In the days of James I (1603-25)
clashes between the King and
Parliament
3) In the days of Charles I: (1625-40)
Charles I dissolved the parliament in
1629, the English society experienced a
history of 11 years without Parliament.
From 1595-1625, a time of upheavals
 Anti-Catholic discourse and perplexity in
religion since Religious Reformation
1) In 1524, Henry VIII---Religious Reformation--Church of England and Protestantism
2) Queen Mary: persecution to Protestants
3) Queen Elizabeth: restored the Church of
England; religious comprising policy;
4) James I: Scottish Presbyterian; Puritans;
Catholics against James I
 New Advancement in Navigation,
Astronomy and Science
1) After Columbus discovered the New World,
the navigation developed quickly on the
sea.
2) The invention of many scientific
instruments was another great progress.
The microscope was invented in 1590.
The telescope was invented in 1608 by a
Dutchman
Questions for next lecture
How do you comment the image of Satan in
Paradise Lost? How does the image of Satan
change compared with Satan in biblical story?
How to evaluate the image of God?
What is epic? Please list Milton’s three great
epics.
What is blank verse?
Questions for next lecture
 Read Milton’s “On His Blindness”
 When did Milton get blinded? What kind of
attitude does the poet convey from this sonnet?
 Is Milton a Catholic, or Protestant or a Puritan?
How do you know? Can you find any hint from
the sonnet?
 What’s the connotation of the word “talent”?
 Is the sonnet an Italian form or Shakespearian
form? State the main differences between them.