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Metaphysical poetry, Two Metaphysical poets: John Donne and John Milton
Metaphysical poetry
General features
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The Metaphysical poets were a group of writers of the 17 th century, whose y)
leader was John Donne, that reflected the crisis of their age through a new way Ottherrs
of writing. The phrase “Metaphysical poetry”, which identifies the literary
production of this period, was created later and could be misleading: in fact Choose
in all applicable

its literal meaning it concerns with the main problems of nature, universe and
man’s life. Although Metaphysical poetry can’t be considered a real literary
movement, the poets who wrote during this period had some common
features: they were men of “wit”, that was the capacity of dealing with lots of
subjects, such as geography, alchemy, natural science, medicine and so on.
Besides they made a large use of the “conceit”, a particular kind of metaphor
whose language was much more difficult and rich of latinisms and archaic
words. Through the choice of a style so difficult and elevated, the poets tried to
pin down what seemed ungraspable. Dramatic element are one of the most
important characteristic of their poems, basing on different verse- forms.

During the 18th century these poets and their art were obscured by the success
of the Enlightenment. Their importance was revalued only by a modern writer, Scrivere la parola Seleziona una categoria
Thomas Eliot, who understood that their way of writing was deeply influenced
by the crisis of that period.

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CERCA

Two Metaphysical poets:

John Donne and John Milton

John Donne
Life

John Donne was born a few years after Shakespeare. His parents were both Catholic, so the education he received allowed
him to have a perfect knowledge of Latin and Greek. His literary career started with the composition of some love lyrics and
satires, which had a great success among his circle of friends. When an expedition against Spain was organised, he decided
to leave as a volunteer: so he experienced lots of adventures and when came back to England found in front of himself the
prospect of a successful political career. He ruined his bright future by marring a sixteen- years- old, who gave him twelve
children.

From now he lived in poverty and illness and decided to take the holy orders: soon he became Dean of St Paul’s, but above
all one of the most admired preachers of London, whose sermons attracted big crowds of people from every corner of the
town.

Main works

Donne’s sermons became immediately famous, while his literary production was little known outside the circle of his friends:
his importance as a poet was known only after his death.

This production includes:

Songs and Sonnets;

Elegies;

Satires;

Divine
Poems;

Sermons or Meditations.

Unconventional poetry

Donne was an innovator, who sacrificed melody, courtly grace and mythological references in order to create a new way of
writing, based on two things: “wit” and “conceit”. This choice refers to style, imagery, language and form.

He liked to surprise the reader with a vivid speech and to present a man deeply absorbed in the personal experiences of his
own. The tones of the language are vary and often change with an extraordinary rapidity.
Sensual and spiritual imagery
Donne rejected the conventional forms. His imagery is characterised by the struggle between physical and spiritual; his
poems are rich of metaphors, which allude both to religion and to physical love. The main images of Donne’s poetry are
“Death” and “World”, the world of lovers. These images are always joined. His works concern with lots of subjects, like the
“wit” wanted, and every argument is conceived to create strong emotions.

The Metaphysical conceit

Besides to a large use of the conceit, Donne’s poetry is characterised by the “roughness”: it consists of the use of rhyme,
metre, alliteration and other sound effects.

John Milton

Life and main works

John Milton’s literary production reflects the main aspects of his time. His life can be divided into three periods:

The first period includes his education and his first political experiences: he learnt Latin, Greek and Italian and wrote his first
poems, all about religious themes. So he started to travel around Europe and when came back to England decided to side
with Cromwell and Parliament, that admired his great religious tolerance. Later he married the daughter of a Royalist, but
she soon abandoned him because of his intellectual stature, too high for her. This experience brought him to justify divorce in
a series of pamphlets.

The second period includes his main public offices and his prose production. The pamphlets he started to write were based on
his knowledge of Latin and among them we can remember Aeroitica, about the freedom of he press; Of Education, dealing
with the importance of culture; Eikonoklastes; explaining the king’s execution. During this period the poet became Latin
Secretary to the Council of State, but he chose to turn back to poetry because of the loss of his sight. He also continued to
write anti- monarchical pamphlets until the year of Restoration.

The third period was the one of disillusion, during which he was imprisoned because of his political ideas and soon released.
It was the period of his masterpieces: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes.

Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost, whosecentral theme is the fall of Satan in the Hell, is an epic poem: Milton chose this genre because of the
importance of the arguments he wanted to deal with. In fact the epic poem, born before writing as long narrative texts
recited in front of an audience, celebrates the deeds of a hero, and because of the struggle between two opposing religious
forces, Milton’s masterpiece can be called a “religious epic poem”. The events take place in Hell, Heaven and Eden, while the
characters are no longer warriors, but Satan, God, Christ and Man. Milton decided to exchange the traditional themes for
more spiritual and philosophical arguments, reflecting the spirit of the period he lived.

Although the author lived during the scientific revolution, he based his universe on the old Ptolemaic system: in fact he
judged the Copernican universe too wide and found easier to work in a more limited world, like the Ptolemaic universe was.
In Milton’s universe God sits on his throne surrounded by the nine orders of angels; the tenth was turned into a dreadful
reign because of the rebellion of an angel, Satan. This reign was called Hell, out f which God created the Earth, fixing it in the
centre of the universe.

Satan is the hero of the poem: Milton gave him all the characteristics of the traditional heroes: courage, leadership and
ambitions, which turn into the desire of attacking man, a God’s creature, and of escaping from Hell. Satan can be considered
an autobiographical character: his rebellion against God seems to reflect the rebellion of the author against the king and the
Church of England.

The style of the poem is elevated, based on the Latin syntax and rich of latisisms, using a new kind of blank- verse.
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