Metaphysical poetry

 Metaphysical poetry :- 🤓

The word 'meta' means 'after,' so the literal translation of 'metaphysical' is 'after the physical.' Basically, metaphysics deals with questions that can't be explained by science. It questions the nature of reality in a philosophical way.

Here are some common metaphysical questions:🤨

• Does God exist?
• Is there a difference between the way things appear to us and the way they really are? Essentially, what is the difference between reality and perception?
• Is everything that happens already predetermined? If so, then is free choice non-existent?
• Is consciousness limited to the brain?

Metaphysics can cover a broad range of topics from religious to consciousness; however, all the questions about metaphysics ponder the nature of reality. And of course, there is no one correct answer to any of these questions. Metaphysics is about exploration and philosophy, not about science and math.

Characteristics:-🤫

The group of metaphysical poets that we mentioned earlier is obviously not the only poets or philosophers or writers that deal with metaphysical questions. There are other more specific characteristics that prompted Johnson to place the 17th-century poets together.

Perhaps the most common characteristic is that metaphysical poetry contained large doses of wit. In fact, although the poets were examining serious questions about the existence of God or whether a human could possibly perceive the world, the poets were sure to ponder those questions with humor.

Metaphysical poetry also explored a few common themes. They all had a religious sentiment. In addition, many of the poems explored the theme of carpe diem (seize the day) and investigated the humanity of life.

Rk Mandaliya lecture on Metaphysics poetry video :- 👀

Holy sonnets: Death , be not proud :- 😱

John Donne :-

John Donne was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a Catholic family, a remnant of the Catholic Revival, who reluctantly became a cleric in the Church of England. He was Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London. He is considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. 

Death, be not proud :-😲

Theme of the poem Death Be Not Proud, is the atrocities of death and portrays the image of death as very common thing. He makes many understatements in the poem regarding the death. He says that death is nothing but a sleep and it gives us the same pleasure as we derive from the sleep.Theme is the lesson about life or statement about human nature that the poem expresses. To determine theme, start by figuring out the main idea. Then keep looking around the poem for details such as the structure, sounds, word choice, and any poetic devices.

Overall, John Donne's poem 'Death Be Not Proud' is a masterful argument against the power of Death. The theme, or the message, of the poem is that Death is not some all-powerful being that humans should fear. Instead, Death is actually a slave to the human race and has no power over our souls.

This is a view of the craft that takes a metaphor and pushes it to its furthest extent through description and explanation. In this poem, Donne compares Death to two things: "rest and sleep" and a "slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men."

Elements: Poetry. As with narrative, there are "elements" of poetry that we can focus on to enrich our understanding of a particular poem or group of poems. These elements may include, voice, diction, imagery, figures of speech, symbolism and allegory, syntax, sound, rhythm and meter, and structure.

The Flea:-🧐

"The Flea" is an erotic metaphysical poem (first published posthumously in 1633) by John Donne (1572–1631).

 a metaphysical conceit between a simple flea and the complexities of young romance to develop the narrator's argument for a young woman to forfeit her chastity. By giving the flea a dual meaning, Donne manages to tell a story that is both simple and complex.

In this poem the speaker has presented a witty argument to his love through the use of a flea as the metaphor for their relationship.

Donne's attitude toward death can be characterized by two aspects. The first one is the positive attitude that desires death eagerly. And the other is the negative attitude that refuses death persistently. Even though these two attitudes are paradoxical and conflicted, they have something in common.

(1)One of the basic themes of the poem is love in contrast to other poems where he propagated platonic love. This is a rare poem which is erotic in tone. Throughout the poem he compels his beloved for love.

(2)Another underlying theme of the poem is the social restrictions that prohibit the freedom of love. Poet makes a mention of shyness of his beloved and her family that come in the way of him.

(3)The poem is a satire on love. He says to her that by killing the flea she has lost all the honor now there was no point for her to feel shy or feel honorable.

The sun Rising :-😳

The speaker of this poem is classic John Donne.One of Donne's most charming and successful metaphysical love poems, “The Sun Rising” is built around a few hyperbolic assertions—first, that the sun is conscious and has the watchful personality of an old busybody; second, that love, as the speaker puts it, “no season knows, nor clime, / Nor hours, days, months.

The main conceit or metaphor of “The Sun Rising” is the personification of the sun into an old man – a "busy old fool" – whose business it is to get everyone out of bed and on the way to work. The persona adopted by the poet sees fit to argue with the sun, and this creates a comic opening to the poem.

To His coy Mistress:-🤔

Andrew Marvell:-

Andrew Marvell was an English Metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend of John Milton

 

The main theme of To his Coy Mistress is The Transience of Life, expressed through a sense of time pursuing us and propelling us into the grave before we have achieved fulfilment. Marvell's tempo and language become more and more urgent as the poem proceeds.The poem is a dramatic monologue written in iambic tetrameter using rhyming couplets .

Vaster than empires, and more slow; Then, we get one of the poem's most famous lines. The speaker starts telling the mistress about his "vegetable love." ... We think "vegetable love" is "organic love" – love without the pressure of anything but nature, a natural process resulting in something nourishing – vegetables.

"To His Coy Mistress" is a poem by the English poet Andrew Marvell. ... "To His Coy Mistress" is a carpe diem poem: following the example of Roman poets like Horace, it urges a young woman to enjoy the pleasures of life before death claims her.

that had been introduced by Donne and was adopted by poets such as Herbert, Crashaw and Cowley forwarded an exquisite climate of thought. Andrew Marvell is considered as one of the finest poets of the metaphysical verse because of his predilection to wit, interest in argument, allusive style of writing and wonderful usage of metaphysical conceits. “To His Coy Mistress” is his most celebrated poem which showcases some of the most conformed traits of metaphysical poetry.

The Collar :-☹️

George Herbert :-

George Herbert was a Welsh-born poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotional lyricists." He was born into an artistic and wealthy family and largely raised in England.

'The Collar' by George Herbert is a thirty-six line poem about a speaker's struggle for freedom. It was written by Herbert in 1633 while he struggled with his own religious beliefs. The poem does not conform to one particular rhyme scheme but jumps from half or slant rhymes to full end rhymes.The title of the poem, The Collar, is symbolic; it seems to represent the relationship between the man within the poem and God. "Collar" in this poem may refer to a clerical collar, which priests wear as a religious symbol.

The poems classified in this group do share common characteristics: they are all highly intellectualized, use rather strange imagery, use frequent paradox and contain extremely complicated thought. However, metaphysical poetry is not regarded as a genre of poetry.

What are the main features of metaphysical poetry?😉

• Exaggerated often outlandish imagery.
• Use of scientific, literary jargon or imagery.
• Telescoping of images.
• Use of metaphysical conceits.
• Use of paradoxes and puns.
• Diversity of topics - range from romantic (“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell) to religious (“The Church Porch” by George Herbert

Conclusion :- 

Thank you so much Dilip Barad sir for arranging prof .R k Mandaliya sir session , we get to know about Metaphysical poetry in a easy language , we all are missing your style &we are eagerly waiting for your next session .In a short time we are connected with you by heart .How time passed we did not realise but I am sure that  your session  video will helpful in our examination.

 Thank you 🤗,

Dilip Barad sir

Words :-1531🤐