NOTES 24.02.2011        METAPHISICAL POETS

The term METAPHYSICAL was first used by John Dryden, a poet of the 17th century. In his essay on satire, Dryden meant it as a negative definition of a poetry that seemed too difficult and with little formal charm: in two words too philosophical.

The man who gave the term popularity was Samuel Johnson, better known as doctor Johnson, in his “Life is Cowley” one of the metaphysical poets. Doctor Johnson’s remarks were critical yet appreciative of the metaphysical poet, but they were ignored for the remainder of the 18th and 19th century.

At the beginning of the 17th century, a new principle had come to be the most important element in their art for a certain group of poets: wit. Wit, which originally meant intelligence, was now interpreted as a particular kind of skill with words, the ability to create unusual, unexpected images.

This tendency could be seen all over Europe, for example in Spain in the poetry of Luis De Gongora (1561-1627), and in Italy in that of Gianbattista Marino (1569-1625) and the literary movement known as “Marinismo” or “Concettismo”.

The poets use a curious blend of irony, serious reflection, philosophising, unusual images and a combination of colloquialism with highly intellectual vocabulary.

They added an element of surprise by the use of unexpected metaphors from different sources: geography, geology, astronomy, obscure philosophical and religious ideas, magic and alchemy.

THE NOVELTY OF METAPHYSICAL POETRY

The elaborate style was not totally new. We can find it, in Shakespeare’s sonnets and early plays, especially in the comedies. Unusual images were already characteristic of Euphuism or of Sidney’s rich literary language: in “Arcadia” a wounded knight’s armour “blushed”, that is it was red with blood – because it had not be able to better defend its owner.

The metaphysical school differs in two ways from previous movements:

• The unusual. In other poets such devices are used occasionally; in the metaphysicals they are the bases of poetry.

• The intellectualism of the poets’ work. The conceit (Def. an elaborate metaphor in which two dissimilar objects are compared, very often with the intent of surprising or shocking the reader), introduced into English poetry with the Petrarchan sonnet, was perfected by the metaphysical poets.

T. S. ELLIOT’S PRASE

The modern re-evaluation of metaphysical poetry was largely due to a serious influential essay (published in 1921). Elliot found in those poets precisely what he believed modern poetry was lacking: in also an intellectual strength combined with a deep passion (in Elliot’s words <<sensual thought>>).