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John Donne as a Metaphysical Poet

John Donne as
a Metaphysical
Poet
The term Metaphysical was
first applied by Dr. Johnson
to the literary creations of
Donne and his followers.
Donne was the founding
father and dominant
practitioner of the
Metaphysical school of
poetry. Grierson remarks:
Donnes poetry is
Metaphysical, not only in
the sense of being erudite
and witty, but in the
proper sense of being
reflective and
philosophical.
Donne led the revolt against
the Elizabethans. He disliked
the Petrarchan convention,
the tears of lovers, the
cruelty of mistress, and the
conceits of the Elizabethans.
As a Metaphysical, Donnes
works are divided into two

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broad categories, i.e. love
poetry and religious poetry.
Moreover, he also wrote
satirical poetry. Early phase
of his career consists of his
love poetry. Major
proportion of his poetic
works is contributed by his
religious and satirical poetry
which was produced during
the later period.
Mains aspects of the
Metaphysical poetry can be
summarized as:
1. Passionate Thinking:
There is plenty of passion in
this kind of poetry, but here
in case of Donne, it is
passion combined with
intense intellectual activity.
T.S. Eliot thinks that
passionate thinking is the
chief mark of metaphysical
poetry.
2. The Peculiarities of
Donnes Lyric:
The Metaphysical lyric of
Donne is a blend of passion,
imagination and argument.
According to A.C. Ward:
The Metaphysical style is
a combination of two
elements, the fantastic in
form and style, and the
incongruous in matter and
manner.
3. Conception of the
Universe:
Donne and his followers
gave the philosophical
interpretation of the
universe and ordinary
human experiences.
Metaphysical poetry is
inspired by a philosophical
conception of universe and
the role assigned to the
human spirit in the great

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drama of existence.
The new philosophy called
in all doubt.
(Donne)
4. Source of
Metaphysical Inspiration:
Metaphysical poetry
resolves itself into the two
broad divisions of amorous
and religious verse. Donne
successfully tried his hand at
both love and divine poetry.
He has written many songs,
sonnets, and divine poems.
In The Anniversary, he
says:
Only our love hath no
decay,
This no to-morrow hath,
nor yesterday.
5. Learning in
Metaphysical Poetry:
Metaphysical verse is laden
with the scholarship of
Donne and his followers.
Donne was the man of
learning and high
intellectuality as Johnson
says:
No man could be born a
Metaphysical poet, nor
assume that dignity of a
writer.
6. Obscurity in
Metaphysical Poetry:
The Metaphysicals, like
Donne, combined dissimilar
ideas without attempting to
unite them, and the reader
was left to divine what they
really had in mind. To quote
Eliot:
In the task of trying to
find the verbal equivalent
for states of mind and
feeling, the Metaphysicals
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made themselves difficult
to understand.
7. Unified Sensibility in
Donnes Poetry:
It was T.S. Eliot who made
the phrase unified
sensibility popular as one of
the characteristics of
Donnes Metaphysical
poetry. Donne connects
abstract with the concrete,
the physical with spiritual,
the remote with the near,
and the sublime with the
commonplace. Hayward
regards Donne as a thrilling
poet and remarks about his
poetry:
Oh, to vex me, contraries
meet in one.
8. Metaphysical Conceits
and Images:
A characteristic feature of
Donnes Metaphysical verse
is indulgence in dissimilar
images, the discovery of
occult resemblances in
things apparently unlike.
Here two far-
fetchedheterogeneous ideas
are yoked together by
violence. In his poem,
Garden, Donne wants to
be converted into a fountain
so that he may weep all the
time.
9. Affectation and
Hyperbole in Donnes
Poetry:
Natural grace is often hard
to find in Metaphysical
writing, which abounds in
artificiality of thought and
hyperbolic expression. In
The Rising Sun, Donne
says:
Shes all states, and all
princes, I, Nothing else is.

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 10. Diction and
Versification of Donnes
Poetry:
The Metaphysicals reacted
against the cloying
sweetness and harmony of
the Elizabethan poetry. They
employed very prosaic
words as if they were
scientists or shopkeepers.
Their versification and
diction are usually coarse
and jerky.
11. Excessive
Intellectualism of Donnes
Poetry:
According to Grierson, the
hallmarks of all Metaphysical
poetry are passionate
feeling and paradoxical
ratiocination. The same critic
observes that Metaphysicals:
Exhibited deductive
reasoning carried to a high
pitch.
Conclusion:
Donne was the originator
and the staunch supporter
of the Metaphysical School
of Thought. He was the
original thinker and had an
extraordinary genius and all
the essential qualities to be
called a great Metaphysical
poet. The future of his
Metaphysical poetry is very
bright because it not only
represents the middle way
between the pure physical
and Platonic poetry but
also produces a beautiful
blend of the two

4 Comments

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 Mamun May 17, 2015

Very informative i like it

very much.
REPLY

sila fatima January 21, 2016

i found the in this link in a

very simple wording,which
is so helpful for cler the
concept n for preperation
to exams.
REPLY

Muhammad umar February

3, 2017

Sir g kia ye question

complete h metaphysical
wla
REPLY

Muhammad Ishaq February

5, 2017

Thanks for your interest.

Yes, it is complete. You see,
there are as many as
eleven logical arguments in
favour of John Donne as a
metaphysical poet. Wish
you the best of luck!
REPLY

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