Assignment: Paper 101(Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods)

Assignment Writing: Paper-101( Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods)

This blog is Assignment writing on paper no-101( Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods) assigned by Professor Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.

Name: Nidhi Dave

Paper: Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods

Roll no: 16

Enrollment no: 4069206420210005

Email ID: davenidhi05@gmail.com

Batch: 2021-23 (MA Semester - 1)

Submitted to: S. B. Gardi Department of English,Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

👉John Donne as metaphysical poet

“In ornament we can say that he is the man who established his poetic style and that’s why he is called a ‘metaphysical poet’.”

Actually the growth and power, loosely it has  such meaning as these difficult, obscure, philosophical, ethereal, involved supercilious, ingenious, fantastic and incongruous.

In metaphysical poetry, if someone’s name is alive even today then it is of John Donne. Everyone knows that John Donne is a metaphysical poet because every element of metaphysical poetry exists in his poems. Every critic appreciated the contribution of John Donne in metaphysical poetry. He was the one who created a new kind of poetry in those days when everyone was following the tradition. Donne’s poetry is remarkable but only metaphysics does not make it remarkable. There are certainly other elements, which are there in his poetry and make John Donne famous among other metaphysical poets of his era. Ben Jonson also belonged to the metaphysical school of poetry yet his name comes after John Donne.

👉Introduction:

             John Donne is the leader and founder of the Metaphysical school of poetry. His poetry is a revolt against the popular current. First of all Dryden used the term ' Metaphysical' for Donne's poetry. He said,' Donne affects metaphysics'. Later on Dr. Johnson called Donne and his followers 'The metaphysical poets'. Since then the word metaphysical has been used for Donne and his followers.

👉John Donne: An English Poet:

John Donne was an English poet, a soldier, and a scholar. He was born on January 22, 1572, in London. His family was recusant Roman Catholic, and at that time, that religion was illegal in the UK. His father’s name was the same as his. Donne received his early education privately. He joined Hertford College, Oxford at 11. He couldn’t get a degree from these institutions because of his religion.Donne began questioning his faith after the death of his brother in prison due to protecting a Catholic priest.He became secretary of Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, but lost his post when he married his niece of Sir Thomas Egerton secretly.

He had twelve children of which five died. His life circumstances were bad and he considered suicide but wrote Biathanatos, in his defence of not committing suicide. His wife died in 1617 after giving birth to a stillborn child. He wrote about loss of his love in his 17th Holy Sonnet.Cambridge University gave Donne an honorary doctorate in divinity in 1615. In 1623, he faced an almost fatal illness and wrote many meditations and prayers for health and sickness. He delivered his famous sermon Death’s Duel before King Charles I, at the Palace of Whitehall in February 1631. John Donne died on March 31, 1631 and was buried at St Paul’s Cathedral in London where he was a dean. John Donne was the most prominent of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century. 

👉 What is Metaphysical Poetry?

It is also in our knowledge that “meta” means beyond and “physics” means physical nature. In simple words, metaphysical poetry is that in which a poet remains away from the description of physical intimacy. We hardly see any poem by John Donne, in which he talks about the physical beauty of any woman. In his “Love Poems”, he demonstrates his feelings and emotion by using precise and exact words yet he has never praised any woman’s physical beauty. Moreover, this kind of poetry is away from imagination. Like John Keats, he does not create a world of his own in his mind; instead, he puts reality in front of his readers; nevertheless, his metaphors are far-fetched and complex in nature. Furthermore, there are some elements of metaphysical poetry, which are frequent in every poem of Donne. Following are some attributes, which make John Donne a good metaphysical poet. 

The term in the metaphysical or metaphysics in the poetry is the fruit of the renaissance tree, becoming over ripe and approaching pure science. The term metaphysical can be interpreted as; beyond=Meta, physical nature=physical. The word metaphysical has been defined by various writers. R.S. Hillyer writes,

“Literally it has to do with the conception of existence

With the living universe and man’s place therein.”

Actually the growth and power, loosely it has taken such meaning as these difficult, obscure, philosophical, ethereal, involved supercilious, ingenious, fantastic and incongruous.

👉John Donne as Metaphysical Poet:

John Donne, indeed, is a metaphysical poet but many critics doubt it. It is because Donne’s poetry is limited to emotions, whereas in conventional terms, metaphysical poems are long and poetry of metaphysics is about the philosophical system of the universe. Donne’s poetry is personal in nature; there is no philosophy in it; if it has any philosophy then it is only of love. On the other hand, many critics defended John Donne. For instance, Grierson points out:-

“Donne is metaphysical not only by virtue of his scholasticism but by his deep reflective interest in the experiences of which his poetry is the expression, the new psychological curiosity with which he writes of love and religion.”

                                       Grierson

In his eyes, John Donne has created a new kind of metaphysical poetry, which has psychological curiosity and it is based on personal experiences. Thereby, he considers John Donne a metaphysical poet.

👉Characteristics of John Donne’s poetry

John Donne’s poetry is metaphysical because of uniqueness in his poetry and his search for questions.Wit is dominant in his poetry, and it is vague and makes use of improbable conceits.Let us look at the unique and interesting characteristics of Donne’s poetry.

🖋️ Unique

🖋️Vagueness

🖋️Wit

🖋️Conceit

🖋️Maxims

👉John Donne’s Metaphysical poetry

📌 The Sun rising

📌   The Flea

📌  Death, be not proud

📌  The Dream

📌   The Ecstasy 

👉Major Theme: John Donne's Poems

📌Paradoxes

📌Belittling cosmic forces

📌Religion 

📌Death and the Hereafter 

📌Love as both physical and spiritual

📌Interconnectedness of humanity

📌 Fidelity

Now, let us analyze his poems step by step,

⭐The Flea

     In the very first line of ‘The Flea,’ the poet-lover asks his beloved to observe the flea carefully. She should notice that first, it sucked his blood and then hers, and in this way, their blood mingles in its body, as they do in sexual intercourse. The flea has enjoyed union with her, without any courtship or marriage. Yet this is not considered any loss of honour; there is neither any sin, nor shame, nor loss of virginity in it. In this respect, the flea is superior to them. She can do, i.e. enjoy the pleasure of physical union, which the lovers cannot enjoy prior to marriage.

📌Analysis of this poem:

The speaker tells his beloved to took at the flea before them and to note "how little" that thing she denies him. For the flea, he says, has sucked first his blood,then her blood,so that now, inside the flea, they are mingled; and that mingling cannot be called "sin, or loss of maidenhead". The flea has joined them together in a way that, " alas, is more than we would do."

"Cruel and sudden, hast thou since

Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?"

As his beloved moves to kill the flea, the speaker says her hand, asking her to spare the three lives in the flea: his life, her life and the flea' s own life. In the flea, he says, where their blood is mingled, they are almost married no, more than married and the flea is their marriage bed and marriage temple mixed into one. Though their parents grudge their romance and though she will not make love him, they are nevertheless United and cloistered in the living walls of the flea.she is apt to kill him,he says, but he asks that she not kill herself by killing the flea that contains her blood; he says that to kill the flea would be sacrilege, "three sins in killing three." "Cruel and sudden," the speaker calls his lover, who has now killed the flea, "purpling" her fingernail with the "blood of innocence." The speaker asks his lover what the flea's sin was, other than having sucked from each of them a drop of blood. He says that his lover replies that neither of them is less noble for having killed the flea. It is true, he says and it is this very fact that proves that her fears are false: If she where to sleep with him, she would lose no more honor than she lost when she killed the flea.

⭐Death, Be Not Proud

The present Holy sonnet 10 of John Donne deals with the theme of ‘Death’. Death is an inevitable truth of life, one who is born is bound to doe. The poet reduces fear of death in the preset sonnet. The speaker tells Death that it should not feel proud, for though some have called it “mighty and dreadful,” it is not. Those whom Death thinks it kills do not truly die, nor, the speaker says, “can’s thou kill me.”

📌Analysis of this poem:

    “Sleep is a temporary death and,

 Death is a permanent sleep”

The speaker tells Death that is should not be feel proud, for though some have called it "mighty and dreadful," it is not. Those whom Death thinks it kills do not truly die, nor, the speaker says, "can't thou kill me." Rest and sleep are like little copies of Death, and they are pleasurable; thus, the speaker reasons, Death, to rest their bones and enjoy the delivery of their souls. Death, the speaker claims, is a slave to "fate, chance, kings, and deseperate men," and is forced to dwell with war, poison and sickness. The speaker says that poppies and magic charm can make men sleep as merely a short sleep, after which the dead awake into eternal life, where Death shall no longer exists: Death itself will die.

⭐Elegy X: The Dreame

This is a good example of Donne's more erotic poems. It is playful in the sense that we have a short of verbal foreplay situation: playful, but with a serious desire for sexual union afterwards. The poem teases us, too,as readers: is the poet going to get his wish? Or will he have to go to sleep again and just dream he is making love to his lady?

The poem plays with ideas of truth, sexual desire and dreams. He is clearly having an erotic dream when his lady friend wakes him for some reason. Is she going, or is she coming? If the latter, then 'My Dream thou brok'st not, but continued'st it.' In other words, she can 'make dreams truths', so she is a true lover.

📌Analysis of this poem:

"Dearest, for nothing worth less than you

Would I have woken up from this dream;

For reality was stronger than fantasy."

The speaker or the poet was deep in a dream when he was woken up by his lady love. He states that he is happy his dream was broken by her because he was dreaming about her and now that ‘fantasy’ could be made into a reality, now that she was there. So it was a wise thing that she broke his dream. His lady love was so pure and true that mere thoughts of her were enough to make dreams true and ‘fables histories’. He invites her to embrace him and continue where she left off in his dream.

Donne now compares her to light as in lighting and as in candle light.She knew what he was dreaming and woke him up just as he was about to indulge in excess joy. He says it would be irreverent if he did not see her as someone divine.

"As lighting, or the light of a candle,

Your eyes, and not your noise woke me;"

In the third stanza he is a little disappointed because she came only to leave immediately. She did not stay to fulfil his desires. He feels like her love is weak and therefore she fears him and is about to leave. He had called her pure in the earlier stanza but now doubts it. She is filled with ‘fear, shame, honour’. He compares her to a torch which is lighted just to be tested and then put off. She had dealt with him like that; came to kindle him with excitement and then left leaving him totally dampened in spirit. Now all that he can do is to dream again.

👉Conclusion

John Donne without any doubt is a metaphysical poet. Nevertheless, his poetry is different from other metaphysical poets of his era. He uses conceits; his remarks are witty; there is no artificiality in his poems; his demonstration is fresh and original. In fact, he only presents his emotions and personal experiences of his life. All these elements make his poetry remarkable and him best metaphysical poet of every era. By

Words Count: 2,152

Sources: 

https://www.englitmail.com/2017/11/john-donne-as-metaphysical-poet-dr.html?m=1

https://literaryenglish.com/john-donne-as-a-metaphysical-poet/

http://askliterature.com/poetry/john-donne/john-donne-as-a-metaphysical-poet/