Metaphysical poetry

The phrase "Metaphysical poetry" is derived from the scornful remarks of some Restoration or 18th-century critics. Strictly speaking, "metaphysical" means concerned with the fundamental problems of the nature of the universe, and man's function or place in life, but this literal sense is misleading. The Metaphysical poets, who wrote during the first three-quarters of the 17^th  century, were led, both chronologically and from the point of view of influence and importance, by John Donne. Though they cannot considered as a real movement displaying common features and adhering to the same principles, they reflected the intellectual and spiritual crisis of their age, the difficult transition from the Renaissance to the modern age.

The poet was expected to be a man of "wit", displaying not only his sensitivity, but also his knowledge and cleverness; and the frequency of references in Metaphysical poetry to religious debate, astrology, alchemy, sea-discovery and philosophy illustrates the intellectual excitement of the age. In those days wit was the ability to make up unusual metaphors and images and arrange them in an unexpected way so as to surprise the reader.

The distinguishing feature of Metaphysical poetry is the repeated combination of these "metaphysical elements" with that particular type of metaphor or simile called a "conceit".

"Paradox" and "epigrammatic conciseness" are another strength of Metaphysical poetry just as much as the element of drama. Donne in particular uses the words and the rhythms which common people were using; most of his poems are dramatic monologues. The dramatic quality in these poets is most immediately apparent in the opening lines: most poems begin in medias res introducing the reader right in the middle of the poet's argument.

The "diction" of the Metaphysical poets was rich and varied. Latinisms and words of Anglo-Saxon origin were both used: the Anglo-Saxon, mostly monosyllabic words, for simplicity and vigour; latinisms in order to try to pin down the virtually ungraspable, or to achieve precision.

The Metaphysical poets wrote in several different verse-form; there was not a favourite convention, not were they innovators, except in Herbert's suiting of stanza-form to meaning.

The Metaphysical poets were largely forgotten during the 18^th century when a taste for clarity prevailed. Their reputation was revived by the essays of the modern poet T.S. Eliot (1888-l965) who understood the seriousness of their art, their spirit of revolt, their intellectualism and their affinities with modern interests.