1. Metaphysical poetry Unknown artist (Ehglish School). Portrait of John Donne, 1631. National Portrait Gallery, London.

2. concerned with the fundamental problems of the nature of the universe and man’s function or place in life 1. Meaning of metaphysical Metaphysical poetry METAPHYSICAL

3. JAMES I of the STUART dynasty was on the throne ( 1603-1625) He loses the the favour of his subjectsThe stability and self- confidence of the Elizabethan age was replaced by uncertainty and mistrust He thought that the king ruled by DIVINE RIGHT, so he ruled without consulting Parliament. He called it only when he needed money He decided to uphold the Anglican Religion, so discontent. Catholics The Gunpowder Plot by Guy Fawkes (5th Nov.) Puritans The Mayflower …Pilgrim Fathers 1620.

4. The Poets who mirrored this sense of anxiety uneasiness were.. THE METAPHYSICAL POETS Their poetry is A combination of intellect and passion

5. The word Metaphysical had a negative connotation It was referred to those poets who: wished originality Priviledged ingenuity Filled their poems with hyperboles and details Used too many metaphors, paradoxes, complex analogies Their thought subtly disguised The versification was irregular and obscure Their verses were “ rugged”

6. Reflected the intellectual and spiritual crisis of the 17 th century 2. Main characteristics John Donne, after a miniature by Isaac Oliver, 1616. Metaphysical poetry The poet was a man of “wit”, displaying his sensitivity, his knowledge and cleverness The leading poet was John Donne

7. JOHN DONNE ( 1572-1631) He was a Catholic He could not take a degree because of his religion He converted to the Church of England He was imprisoned for marrying a minor ( Lord Egerton’s niece, his patron.) He took order and became Dean of St. Paul’s

8. He wrote love and religious poems He wrote against the Platonic idealization of love He seeks to shock and amuse the reader by his sensual and realistic attitudes towards love His petry is very difficult to be understood as he combines medieval and contemporary philosophy, everyday events with popular superstitions and legends. His verses reproduce the natural rhythms of man speaking in a state of deep feeling, so he is deliberatly irregular ( no more the musicality of the lyrics) His poetry became “Dramatic”

9. A particular type of metaphor or simile called conceit 2. Main characteristics Metaphysical poetry 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. (John Donne, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning) The poet compares the souls of lovers to compasses

10. 2. Main characteristics The conceit Illustrates and develops ideas in a detailed and over-complex way, often with an effect of shock or surprise Insists on the relationship between A (the tenor) and B (the vehicle) Metaphysical poetry

11. Unusual images taken from all fields of knowledge: history, geography, astronomy, alchemy, mathematics, etc. Look, and tomorrow late, tell me, Whether both the Indias of spice and mine Be where thou left’st them, or lie here with me. Ask for those kings whom thou saw’st yesterday, And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay. (John Donne, The Sun Rising) 2. Main characteristics Metaphysical poetry

12. Take me to you, imprison me, for I Except you enthral me, never shall be free, Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. (J. Donne, Batter my heart) 2. Main characteristics Paradox: A statement which is apparently contradictory though in some sense true Metaphysical poetry

13. Dramatic quality Most poems begin in medias res Go, and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me, where all past years are (John Donne, Song) 2. Main characteristics Metaphysical poetry