25. The Metaphysical Poets Flashcards
(41-45)
What’s one of the key difference between theatre and poetry?
Theatre is public while poetry is private and published only for a limited circle of readers.
What can you say about metaphysical poets’ works and publications of them?
They were published only after their deaths.
Who are the known metaphysical poets?
John Donne and George Herbert.
What can you say about Samuel Johnson? What did he think of metaphysical poets?
He’s a critic of the 18th century. He used the word “metaphysical” to describe their work. He attacked them for the lack of feelings, learning, etc.
When did metaphysical poets get highly regarded and influential? Why?
Only after three centuries of disdain and neglect. They grew in importance for British poetry and criticism in 20th cen. They were intellectually complex and reflected poets’ experiences.
What was John Donne’s opinion on death?
He constantly challenges it with love; later challenges it with spiritual salvation as in his sonnet “Death be not proud”.
What had John Donne written?
Songs, sonnets, elegies, epigrams, satires, verse letters, divine poems.
John Donne’s (1)___ before God.
(1)spiritually humble
Who’s Herbert’s interlocutor? What attitudes does he move from?
It’s God. He moves from faith to doubt.
What’s Herbert’s one of the best known works? What is it about?
“The Collar”, which is about his defiance towards God’s will before closing to humble acceptance.
What can you say about T.S. Elliot?
He’s a 20th century critic who recovered Donne’s and Herbert’s works to critical acceptance since they’re just different from other poets.
What’s Elliot’s and Donne’s attitudes to “thought” as a concept?
Elliot thinks it’s a separate feeling.
Donne thinks it’s an experience that modified his sensibility.
What kind of writers were Donne and Herbert? What did they reflect? Why did they not get accepted back then (before 20th cen.)?
They were experimenters in poetic form, subject matter and linguistically. They reflected the spiritual and intellectual challenges of an age, but the mood further changes to stability, so they get criticized till 20th cen.
What does Henry Vaughan describe himself as?
As a “convert” to Herbert.
How is Henry Vaughan differ from Herbert?
He talks less about anguish struggles and negotiation than Herbert.
What does Henry Vaughan represent?
A world of innocence, bordering on mystical, and anticipates the concerns of the Romantic poets. He also depicts the original childhood experience.
What’s the important work of Henry Vaughan?
“Silex Scintillans” - first major volume of his poems which gets the second enlarged edition.
With whom did Henry Vaughan collaborate when publishing a certain volume of poems?
With his twin brother Thomas who is an important writer in the field of alchemy, magic and Rosicrucianism of his time.
Who is possibly the most baroque writer and why?
Richard Crashaw. Because his style and expression is exaggerated.
What kind of poetry does Richard Crashaw have? What are his views?
Religious, which view of is highly personalized.
What does Richard Crashaw use in his works?
Vivid imagery.
What can you say about Swinsburne?
At the end of the 19th cen. celebrates the bliss of suffering.
Who celebrates the bliss of suffering and when?
Swinsburne, at the end of the 19th cen.
Who is the known metaphysical writer of the 17th century?
Andrew Marvel.
Of what century is Andrew Marvel?
Of the 17th cen.
Who does Andrew Marvel praise?
Oliver Cromwell.
What’s Andrew Marvel’s important work?
A seductive address “To His Coy Mistress”, where he brings the topic of love and transience together. Those topics were favoured during the Renaissance period.
What are the favourite topics of the Renaissance period?
Love and transience.
