Metaphysical poetry by John Donne

           Name: Vaishali Hareshbhai Jasoliya

           Roll No. : 29

Enrollment no.: PG14101019

Topic: Metaphysical poetry by John Donne

Paper No.: 1

Email-Id: jasoliyavaishali@gmail.com

Submitted to: MAHARAJA KRISHNAKUMARSINHJI            

                                     BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY

                                     DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

                         

Introduction:

                        The metaphysical poets is a term coined by the poet and critic Samual Johnson to describe a loose group of English lyrical poets of the 17^th century, whose work was characterized by the inventive use of conceits, and by speculation about topics such as love or riligion. These poets were not formally affiliated; most of them did not even know each other or read each other’s work. In the chapter on Abraham Cowley in his Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, Samuel Johnson refers to the beginning of the seventeeth century in which there “appeared a race of writers that may be termed the metaphysical poets.” This does not necessarily imply that he intended metaphysical to be used in its true sense, in that he was probably referring to a witticism of John Dryden, who said of John Donne:

“He affects the metaphysics, not only in his satires, but in his amorous verses, where nature only should reign; and perplexes the minds of the fair sex with nice spaculations of philosophy, when he should engage their hearts, and entertain them with the softnesses of love. In this ....Mr. Cowley has copid him to a fault.”

Probably the only writer before Dryden to speak of a certain metaphysical school or group of metaphysical poets is Drummond of Hawthornden (1585-1649), who in one of his letters speaks of “metaphysical ideas and scholastical Quiddities.”

■ John Donne and the Beginning of the ‘Metaphysical’ Poetry:

John Donne

The last decade of the sixteenth century presents also, in the poems of John Donne, a new and very strange style of verse. Donne, born in 1573, possessed one of the keenest and most powerful intellects of the time, but his early manhood was largely wasted in dissipation, though he studied theology and low and seems to have seen military service. It was during this period that he wrote his love poems. Then, while living with his wife and children in uncertain dependence on noble patrons, he turned to religious poetry. At last he entered the church, became famous as one of the most eloquent preachers of the time, and through the favor of king James was rapidly promoted until he was made Dean of st.Paul’s cathedral. He died in 1631 after having furnished a striking instance of the fantastic morbidness of the period (post-Elizabethan) by having his picture painted as he stood wrapped in his shroud on a funeralurn.

The distinguishing general characteristic of Donne’s poetry is the remarkable combination of an aggressive intellectuality with the lyric form and spirit.Whether true poetry or mere intellectual cleverness is the predominant element may reasonably be questioned; but on many readers Donne’s verse exercises a unique attraction. Its definite peculiarities are outstanding:

(A)            John Donne and his followers made a conscious attempt to differ from the poets of the previous age The Elizabethan age.The metaphysicals made a conscious attempt to differ by displaying their learning and scholarship in their poems. They were highly learned and they tried to prove their learning through their poetry.So, it was logical and necessary for, the metaphysical to differ from the previous poets.

(B)             Almost all metaphysical poets made an attempt to display their learning by making use of far-fatched images and conciets; they didn’t depend upon easily available images. They brought their images from various  fields just like, science, engineering, architecture, geography, geometry, agriculture and many other fields.The poems like “Pully”, “The church Porch”, “To His Coy Mistress”, “The Sun rising” are some of the examples of far-fatched images and conciets. They made use of far-fatched images for the expression of faith in god. The use of such images makes their poetry difficult for the readers.

(C)             Dr. Samuel Johnson explains that their poetry stands a trial of their finger but not of the ear.The meaning is, all the metaphysicals are scholars in the writing of their poetry but there is no rhyme and rhythm in the metaphysical poetry they did not care for music so much as they eared for scholarship in the writting of their poems.

(D)            The metaphysical poetry created a new trend of writing poetry but even this trend did not continued for a long time. Robert southwell was the first poet in whose poetry metaphysicals elements were found, John Donne followed it and became the founder of The Metaphysical School, poets like George Herbert, Richard Creshaw, Abraham cowley, Andrew Marvell and others followered the metaphysical style but with the Restoration Charles II- second.

◘ Death be not proud (Holy Sonnet):

Death be not proud is one of Holy Sonnets written by John Donne. The present sonnet expreses Donne’s views upon this ultimate reality called death. Every person is generally afraid of death but Donne has altogather a different approach to death.The poet addreses to death saying that there is no need for death to be proud through some people call it very powerful and dangerous it is neither powerful nor dangerous, death believes that it over through people when they dies. But, in reality those people do not die at all. Death has no capacity to kill the poet Donne.This is how Donne challenges death.The picture of death is nothing but sleep and rest and soul one should derives pleasure out of death.The poet explain that the best of people have gone very soon with death and so there is no need for anyperson to be fear of death.

Death means rest to the bones and soul is delivered to a new body.Death itself is a slave of fate, chance, king and distress in life. When these factors deside death has to go to a person. There are three places where death lives forever.Those places are war, poison and sickness. Death should not believe that only it can cause sleep to a person. Even poppy and charms can caus sleep in a better way then death. Death causes sleep with one stroke where as poppy and charms cause sleep slowly and sweetly Donne concludes his sonnet saying that death need not became proud this life is a sleep in a sense that it is full of illusions, and we wake up forever. Donne belives that, if death is accepted with this spirit, there is no death at all.Death itself would die.

          ◘ Sweetest Love:

                   John Donne’s poem with the title song “Sweetest Love...” deals the theme of enternal love.The poem is addressed by a lover to his beloved in which he wants to convince his beloved that death can not separate him from her.

                   The poem opens with the lover’s confession that now the time has come for him to go-forever-not because he is tired of her or to find out a better person than her. He has to go forever because his death is very near to him. He would like to accept his death as a joke because whether he takes it lightly or seriously, he has to go.

The lover gives the example of the sun to convince her that going away is not forever. The way the sun sets previous evening comes back the next morning. He would like to come back to her.The sun has no sense or desire to comeback and yet it comes back. He has got the sense and desire to comeback and so he would comeback erliear than the sun.The lover assures her that his desire would work as the most powerful wings, and so he is confident to comeback.

                   The lover is aware of human existence and life.Man considers him self all powerful but in reality man is a very weak. It is not possible for man to add even a sigle hour more to his life. If he is passing through state of happiness man can not bring back and relive the part of life which is already lived by him.This reality of human existance can not shock the lover. He invites his badluck with confidence saying that let his bad luck come to him and stay as long as it wants to, but it can not cause pain to him, the reason is he is in the company of his beloved.

                   The lover request he beloved not to sigh and weep, because... when she sigh’s, hissoul comes out and when she weeps, the blood of his life comes out the lover requests her not to waste this life like this, otherwise her claim that she loves him would be wrong.The best part of lover’s self is in beloved and so, she should not waste his life, by weeping and sighing.

                   The lover concluded his address to his beloved saying that destiny will work in its own way.There is no need for the beloved to go very far in her thinking.If destiny fulfills her desire not to live for a long time, after his death, both should accept death as a helper which would allowe both to sleep side by side in their grave.Death has no capacity to separate them.This is how the lover desire solace. When he finds him very near to death.

                   The present song expresses Donne’s faith in love through addess of a lover to his beloved it shows the power of love and a miracle which love can perform.The miracle is those who love never dies.

◘The Dream:

                   John Donne’s Elegy-x, with the title “The Dream” is abuot a lover’s confession on his love for his beloved and the difference between dream and reality. The poem opens with a comparision between the lover’s heart and a coin the poet has used image of a coin for the expression of love. The way a coin is impressed with the image of a king his beloved.The way image of a king assigns value to a coin, her image affers honour and importence to his heart.

                   The lover says that only those who are weak in their spirit bother for honour because he believes that her image has givan honour to him.The lover going ahead in his confession mentions that when she goes away, his reasioning ends, and there begins the empire of Fantacy lover is of the opinion that fantacy can not give him the joy of that hight which her real presence can give the reason is joy given by fantacy is convenient and proportional her real arrival has the capacity of giving the joy of shokes also. If the lover dream, he would like to have the dream about her real presence and not just dreaming about her.The lover considers sleep a great escape from pain because sleep lokes the proccess of thinking. When the lover gets up after his sleep he wont’s repent for the end of dream. He woud like to write sonnets on his beloved instead of passing time in weeping for his beloved. He considers himself grown with her love he would like to be called made in her love rather than an idiot without love for anyone.

◘The Flea:

                   The killing of Flea has not damaged her life in the same manner her honour will not be decreas if she response positively to love of that lover. The lover wants to say that all her fears are false or groundless, both have already became one and yet it is not a sin & manner of shame or even the loss of mainhood. The same way if both meet and marry, there will not be sin, or shame or lost of mainhood.The lover wants to his beloved that to learn a lesson from that flea. By accepting his love her honour will intact.

                   We can say that, she kills the poor, innocent flea. She thinks this disproves the earlier claim that killing the flea would kill them both.But Donne, as always,  has a comeback ready the fact that she hasn’t suffered from the death of the flea in which their bloods were mixed means that “swapping fluids” isn’t so dangerous to her honour as she thinks. In straightforword terms, his points are: “You have nothing to fear from having sex with me.”

◘The Ecstacy:

                   The poem The Ecstacy is one of John Donne’s most popular poems, which expresses his unique and unconventional ideas about love. It expounds the theme that pure, spiritual or real love can exist only in the bond of souls established by the bodies. For Donne criticized the platonic lover who excludes the body and emphasizes the soul.The pair of lover and his beloved which we find in this poem has reached such a hight of love that both experience ecstacy of love.The poem is addressed by the lover who describes in detail the experience of ecstacy in love.

                   Both the lover and his beloved set for whole day on the bank of a river in the same manner as a bed is always in the company of a pillow. These two images in the very opening of the poem quality the present poem as a metaphysical poem, their hands are comented they have sat on the bank of a river hand in a hand though no words exchange between the two.Their four eyes become one and get tied up with an invisible thread. Both realise that there is an exchange of words between their sould though body doesn’t speak. The soul of both speak the same and listen the same and so, the lovers find it difficult to realise a what exactaly is exchanged, between the two.Both get the knowledge that it is not love of body for a body,it is love between two souls.

                   The state of ecstacy which the lover and his beloved experience here reflex John Donne’s knowledge about Indian philosophy and perticularly the Geeta. Donne, might be familiar with the philosophy of the Geeta.The Geeta explains in the very opening that “soul remains unaffected and nothing can harm soul fire can’t burn it, water can’t wet is and wind can’t dry it. It is eternal and inmortal Even the lover in this poem mentions that his soul would always remain unaffected and since it is the love between two souls, nothing would harm their love. seeing their love even those people who are weak would realise that love can have a hight where love becomes a devine experience both have come to a state when they became aware of the truththat body has no significance in love it is through soul that love is so to be expressed and not through body.

                   Their Ecstacy makes them aware of the truth that body is theirs but they are not body.It is here that the meeting paint takes place between the Geeta and spiritual love of the lovers.The lover considers such a devine experience as a favour of heaven tobe, God to be, he finds/ feels all forces, counter forces have surrender and so, divine experience of love is possible, The lover believes that there cannot be anything greater and higher in love to be achieved. It is this experience of ecstacy which lover accepts as the bliss of God almighty.

◙ Conclusion:

                   We can say that, now that you have explored and created your very own Metaphysical Poem, you can appreciate the powerful imagery that Metaphysics allows you to convey in your poetic masterpieces!

                   Metaphysical Poets created a new trend in history of English literature. These poems have been created in such a way that one must have enough knowledge to get the actual meaning. Metaphysical poets made use of everyday speech, intellectual analysis, and unique imagery.The creator of Metaphysical poetry John Donne along with his followers is successful not only in that period but also in the mordern age.