John Donne as a

Metaphysical
Poet
 1572–1631

John Donne
Father of Metaphysical
poetry
All conversations
about metaphysical poetry must
start with John Donne. He is
considered the founder
of metaphysical poetry and
master of
the metaphysical conceit. Donne
was not only a poet but a lawyer,
priest and satirist.

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WHAT IS METAPHYSICAL
POETRY: The term metaphysics means
something supernatural and transcendental. Its
sense is 'what is beyond physical'.

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These subjects are:
 nature of universe;
 movements of stars and
planets and;
 the whole relationship of
man to God.

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MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
 Novel thought and
expressions
 Conceit
 Wit
 Obscurity
 learning

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AS A METAPHYSICAL POET: His poetry is
metaphysical because of his individualism and
his quest for learning. His poetry is full of wit. It
is obscure and it indulges in farfetched conceits.
It fuses thought and emotion. It is logical,
analytical and mystical.

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LEARNING: The Metaphysical
poets were men of learning. Their
poetry reveals their scholarship.
From this point of view, John
Donne is a great metaphysical
poet. To show his learning is his
chief object. In his poetry he has
twisted his vast learning.

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In his fine sonnet 'Death Be Not Proud' he
hates death and says:

One short sleep past, Wee wake

eternally,
And death shall be no more, Death
thou shalt die.

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NEW THOUGHTS AND EXPRESSIONS:
Donne's poetry is purely intellectual
and it makes an appeal to the
intellectuals.
In ' The Canonization' 'The Flea' and
‘Death Be Not Proud' one can easily
find Donne's new thoughts and
expressions.

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OBSCURITY: In his poetry we find
obscurity and vagueness of subject.
This is linked with sensibility of
literary wit and philosophical
conceptions.

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WIT: This important feature can
be found everywhere in Donne's
poetry. It fashions his feeling and
thought. Passion sentiment and
sensuality are subordinated to
wit.

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CONCEIT: Conceit is an important feature of
Metaphysical poetry. Donne makes an abundant use of
conceits. It is an instrument to reveal wit. The conceit is
a comparison between two unlike objects or things.

In his popular poem 'The Flea' the flea becomes a

marriage bed. It is because it bites the beloved after
biting the poet:
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.

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As a poet of love, too, Donne is a Metaphysical
poet. For him love is not physical but
spiritual. Thus it can be said that Donne
plunged deep in Metaphysical pursuits. His
selection of subject matter, his treatment, his
diction and style prove him to be a true and
great metaphysical poet.

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"The Flea" is an erotic
metaphysical poem by
John Donne.

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The Flea
BY JOHN DONNE

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,

How little that which thou deniest me is;
It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
Thou know’st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead,
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pampered swells with one blood made of two,
And this, alas, is more than we would do.
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Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, nay more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;
Though parents grudge, and you, w'are met,
And cloistered in these living walls of jet.
Though use make you apt to kill me,
Let not to that, self-murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

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Cruel and sudden, hast thou since
Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?
Wherein could this flea guilty be,
Except in that drop which it sucked from thee?
Yet thou triumph’st, and say'st that thou
Find’st not thy self, nor me the weaker now;
’Tis true; then learn how false, fears be:
Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me,
Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.

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