DONNE AS A METAPHYSICAL POET
Dryden
expressed the view that “Donne affects the metaphysics” taking his cue
from this statement, Dr. Johnson described Donne and his followers as
the metaphysical poets. Ben
Johnson followed classical rules and being a classicist, was a champion
of decorum, discipline, symmetry and regularity, so he was not in favor
of the bold liberty taken up by Donne. But he appreciated Donne as well for revolting against Petrarchan Conventions. According to Dr. Johnson, the metaphysical poets
were men of learning; the displayed an abundance of wit, if will be
defined as a combination of dissimilar ideas. They ransacked nature and
art for illustrations, comparisons and allusions. Johnson used the word,
Metaphysical for Donne’s poetry in a rather contemptuous sense, even
though much of what is said applies to Donne’s work. The wit of a
metaphysical poet is more intellectual than that of the Elizabethan poets
in general. his conceits are psychological, his lyrics are
argumentative but the greatest achievement of a metaphysical poet is a
blend of passion and thought. Intense emotional intellectuality is a
leading quality of a metaphysical verse. In brief,
the term, “Metaphysical Poetry” implies the qualities of complexity,
fusion of emotions, outburst of passions and emotional intellectuality
and an embodiment of reflective elements.
Qualities of Donne (‘s poetry) as a poet: Intellect
and wit are the two prime qualities of a metaphysical poet. The poet
interweaves these two elements with its emotional effects. Donne was a
classical representative of this kind of poetry. He was a man whose
instinct compelled him to bring the whole of experience into his verse.
When we speak of Donne as a metaphysical poet, we generally have in mind
the combination of passion and thought which characterize his work. His
conceits are witty, his hyperboles are outrageous and his paradoxes
astonishing. His mixes fact and fancy in an astounding manner. All these
qualities need to be illustrated from his poems. The Good-Marrow is
a poem of passion, but its intellectual quality is less obvious. The
poem proves that the poet and the beloved are passionately in love. Each
one is a world to the other. These lovers can never die
because they love each other with equal intensity. Donne was the first
poet who included thought and idea in poetry side by side as opposed to
the Elizabethans. Originality in diction marks Donne’s poetry. He used
scientific, technical as well as colloquial vocabulary. He rejected the
conventional Petrarchan conceits and coined new images. His vocabulary
is rich and diversified. He is the first poet who has delineated
ecstatic joy of fulfilled love in the Sun Rising. We see originality, novelty and complexity so abundant no where but in Donne’s poetry.
The
main aspects of the Metaphysical poetry are: Passionate thinking,
Philosophical concept of the universe and ordinary experiences,
obscurity and learning, unified sensibility, conceits and images,
Affectation and Hyperbole, Diction and versification and excessive
intellectualism. All these features of metaphysical poetry are abundant
in Donne’s poetry for which he is labeled as a metaphysical poet.
Donne is a metaphysical poet in a literal sense too. He speaks of the soul and of spiritual love. Air and Angles is a metaphysical poem in this sense. In A Valediction and Forbidding Mourning, the
poet speaks of the spiritual love. The love is so refined that the
lovers do not much miss each other’s eyes, lips and hands which lovers
normally seek. In the Relic,
they do not even know the difference of sex. Donne deserves the title,
Metaphysical also because of his obscurity which is sometimes terrible.
His concentration, expanded epigrams, fondness for conceits and striking
and subtle wit, combination of passion and thought, the use of common
language and the profundity of thought and intensity are the qualities
that make Donne a metaphysical poet.
Slected Love Poems :
*The Good-morrow
*The Sun Rising
*The Extasie
* The Relicque
No comments:
Post a Comment