12/04/12

John Donne and metaphysical poetry

Sometimes used in the broad sense of psychological poetry, the term “metaphysic” is used to designate the work of the 17^th century writers. They formed a school in the sense of employing similar methods and of being actuated by a spirit of revolt against the romantic conventionalism of Elizabethan love poetry, in particular the Petrarchan conceit. Their tendency to do psychological analysis of the emotions of love and religion, their interest for the novel and the shocking, their use of metaphysical conceit and the extremes to which they sometimes carried their techniques resulted frequently in obscurity, rough verse and strand imaginary. The characteristics of the best metaphysical poetry are: logical elements in a technique intended to express honestly, if unconventionally, the poet's sense of the complexities and contradictions of life.

The poetry of the metaphysic is:

intellectual

analytical

psychological

disillusioning

bold

absolved in thoughts of death

physical love

religious devotion

The imaginary is drawn from the common place or the remote, actual life or erudite sources. The figure itself often being elaborated with self-conscious ingenuity. The form is frequently that of an Argument with the poet's lover,with God or with himself.