METAPHYSICAL POETRY - REFLECTIVE BLOG

Hello Readers,

         Welcome to My Blog, here I am going to discuss about Metaphysical Poetry, it's charecteriatics and major poets of Metaphysical Poetry.

1). CHARECTERISTICS OF METAPHYSICAL POETRY WITH EXPLANATION OF A FEW METAPHYSICAL POETRY WRITTEN BY JOHN DONNE AS WELL AS ANY OTHER METAPHYSICAL POET.

➡  In the first half of the 17th century, a group of poets emerged whose poetry Is known as the Metaphysical poetry since JOHN DONNE was the pioneer of these group, It is also known as the "SCHOOL OF DONNE" GEORGE HERBERT, RICHARD CRASHAW, ABRAHAM COWLEY, ANDREW MARWELL AND ROBERT SOUTHWELL, this poets tried to followed the style of writing poetry which was initially cultivated by JOHN DONNE. It was SAMUEL JOHNSON who first used the word Metaphysical for the poetry of John Donne and his school. When SAMUEL JOHNSON used the word "METAPHYSICAL", it was in a negative sense. He said that, "their poetry stood trial of their finger but not of their ear"(they remained successful in displaying their scholarship but they failed in giving rhythm and music to their poetry). With the passing of Tim the Sam term became a term of appraisal. Today their poetry is praised as the Metaphysical poetry.

♣ CHARECTERISTICS OF METAPHYSICAL POETRY :

🔷 FAR - FATCHED IMAGES:
            Far - Fatched images is one of the most important features of Metaphysical Poetry. They never tried to use and express their images from those fields which have nothing to do with the theme of their poems, so the are called far - Fatched images. The best examples are, The Church Porch, The Pully.
🔷PLATONIC LOVE :
          Platonic love is another feature of Metaphysical Poetry, it means spiritual love, which is free from elements of physical love. DEATH BE NOT PROUD,  THE SUN RISING are best examples of Platonic Love.

🔷LITERARY DEVICES :
             Metaphysical poets uses metaphors, puns, paradoxes and meteres to create drama and tension. They also uses scientific, medical and phrases to create arguments about the philosophical aspects of life or to express love and tension. For example,
Donne used Flea as the symbol of love in his poem THE FLEA.

🔷UNIQUENESS :
             Metaphysical Poets were men of high intellect. They were all graduated from OXFORD O CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY. With the help of their vast knowledge, they presented new ideas and stories to their readers.
🔷JOHN DONNE :

                    John Donne was an English poet and clerk in the Church of England. He is considered the prominent representative of THE METAPHYSICAL POETS. He is famous for strong, religious poems, Latin translations, Epigrams, Elegies, Songs, Satires and Sermones.

🔷POEMS OF JOHN DONNE :

🍀THE FLEA (BIOLOGICAL IMAGE)
        The Flea is a remarkable example of John Donne's Metaphysical Poetry. In this poem Donne ha taken help of a Biological image Of a FLEA to deal with the theme of love. It is though the image of the Flea - an insect that the lover in the poem expressed his love for his beloved and tries to convince her not to refuse his love for her.

🍀THE ECSTACY (ABSTARCT IMAGE)
             The Ecstacy, it is a poem about abstract experience about oneness in sublime love. The poet explains about the significance of both body and soul in love. It is a poem about spiritual discreption in love.

🍀THE SUN RISING (IMAGES FROME ASTRONOMY, ART AND CHEMISTRY) :
             In this poem Donne has made remarkable use of far - fatched images. Here he uses sun from the field of Astronomy for the theme of love, he also uses one more image which belongs to the field of Chamestry - "Alchamie" for the expression on love. The lover says that wealth is nothing compared to love. He considers wealth nothing but a chemical - a coin made of some liquid metal.  He also use one more far - fatched image "mimic". It is an image belonging to the field of preforming art to expresse the love.

2). WRITE CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF METAPHYSICAL POEMS OF OTHER THAN JOHN DONNE.
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               George Herbert was a Welsh born poet, orator an priest of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Hi poetry is associated with the writings of the Metaphysical Poets and he is recognised as one of the "foremost British devotional lyricists".let's discuss about his famouse poem The Pully in detail.

🍀THE PULLY :

The Pulley

BY GEORGE HERBERT

When God at first made man, 

Having a glass of blessings standing by, 

“Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can. 

Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie, 

Contract into a span.” 

So strength first made a way; 

Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure. 

When almost all was out, God made a stay, 

Perceiving that, alone of all his treasure, 

Rest in the bottom lay. 

“For if I should,” said he, 

“Bestow this jewel also on my creature, 

He would adore my gifts instead of me, 

And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature; 

So both should losers be. 

“Yet let him keep the rest, 

But keep them with repining restlessness; 

Let him be rich and weary, that at least, 

If goodness lead him not, yet weariness 

May toss him to my breast.” 

🍀ANALYSIS OF THE POEM,, "THE PULLY" :

               TH PULLY, is a religious, metaphysical poem which centers on the "PULLY" as a prime conceit in the poem. Herbert wants to unveil the truth that why human beings are so restless and unsatisfying despite of having all the things he wants. After God made his universe, he gathered all the blessings of the world in a glass and distributed them to the human beings one after another. First he gave the strength, therefore human became strong enough to survive. One by one, God gave them beauty, wisdom, honor, pleasure and many other blessings. When almost all was gone, God kep "rest" at the bottom of the glass, thinking that if the rest is given they may forget him, he will lose the love and affection of human beings. God wanted man to discover the "rest" only in him, he alone can truly give the mankind the rest they frantically seek. The poet used Pully as the symbol to discribe God and manking.
       
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