Genre Studies- Unit-II Metaphysical Poetry

 Metaphysical Poetry

▪The term "Metaphysical Poetry" is used in

Literature where poets portray the

things/ideas that are beyond the depiction

of physical existence.

▪ Etymologically, there is a combination of

two words 'meta' and 'physical' in the word

"metaphysical".

▪The first word 'Meta' means beyond and

the second word 'Physical' means the

physical world.

▪The meanings are clear here that it deals

with the objects and ideas that are beyond

the existence of this physical world.

▪The term Metaphysical Poets is to define

a loose group of the poets of 17th century.

This group's most prominent poets

include:

- John Donne

- Richard Crashaw

-Abraham Cowley

-Andrew Marvell

-George Herbert

-Henry Vaughan

-Thomas Traherne

-Richard Leigh

-John Cleveland

-Edward Benlowes

John Donne

▪He was a highly educated and intelligent

poet.

▪He is known as the "Monarch of Wit".

▪John Donne was present in the

Elizabethan age and in Jacobean age

▪Most of his works were published in the

Late Renaissance Period after his death.

In the book, "Lives of the Most

Eminent English Poets (1779-1781)", the

18th century author Samuel Johnson made

the first use of the word Metaphysical

Poetry.

▪"Lives of the Most Eminent English Poet"

was written in Late 18th century in whichSamuel described the biographies of 52

Poets.

▪In the chapter of Abraham Cowley, Samuel

made the first use of the term

Metaphysical.

▪He noted in his writing that all of these

Poets had the same style of wit in their

poetry.

▪These poets had the same style of conceit

in their poetry.

▪A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning ends

with one of Donne's most famous

metaphysical Conceits, in which he argues

for the lovers' closeness by comparing

their two souls to the feet of a geometry

compass.

They used Simile and Metaphor in their

poetry.

▪The Metaphysical Poets used to ask

questions like:

Does God Exist?

Can souls time travel?

▪The thing that is obvious here is that none

of these questions has a definite answer in

science.

▪ Metaphysical Poetry talks about deep

things. It talks about soul, love, religion,

spirituality etc.

▪Metaphysical Poetry prompts the readers

to question their reality and existence.

▪It takes one beyond the physical world and

gives a new perspective through its

imagery.

▪Even though it talks about serious stuff, it

talks about it in a humorous way.

▪The tone is sometimes light. It can be

harsh sometimes too.

▪The purpose is to present a new idea and

make the reader think.

▪Another characteristic of such poetry is

that it is unclear because it provides

complicated themes.

▪It is different for every person.

▪Metaphysical poetry is also short.

▪It uses brief words and conveys a lot of

ideas in just a small number of words.

▪In the 20th century, TS Eliot described the

importance of Metaphysical Poetry.

▪Eliot wrote an Essay "The Metaphysical

Poets" (1921)