...In other words, it is a type of poetry dealing with abstract or philosophical subjects such as love, religion, God, beauty, faith and so on. But in reality the poetry which comprises the ideas or aspects that – physical love leading to spiritual union or religious, argumentative presentation of emotion, terseness of expression, use of conceit and wit in profusion, skillful use of colloquial language instead of Elizabethan lucid diction with the abrupt opening can be considered to be metaphysical. Originally the term ‘ Metaphysical Poetry ’ was coined by John Dryden and later popularised by Samuel Johnson and the features of the school which unite the various authors are quite numerous. As well as making widespread use of conceit, paradox and punning, the metaphysical poets drew their imagery from all sources of knowledge particularly from science, theology, geography and philosophy. However, John Donne is the founder of the school of metaphysical poetry and the other practitioners of the type of poetry are Crashaw, Cowley, Denham, Davenant, Herbert, Marvell , Vaughan and Waller . The most striking quality of Donne’s poetry is the use of metaphysical conceit which is a figure of speech in which two far fetched objects or images of very different nature are compared. It surprises its readers by its ingenious discovery and delights them by its intellectual quality. Such conceits are available in his poetry. Such a famous conceit occurs in the poem titled...
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...John Donne In Modern Culture * Famous lines “Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Inspired the title and opening lines of Hemmingway’s For Whom the Bell Tols * His poem “A Fever” mentioned in the novel The Silence of the Lambs * Van Morrison pays Donne tribute in his song “A Rave on John Donne” * A major part of the plot line in “Howl’s Moving Castle” is based off of “Song: Go and Catch a Falling Star”, as is Neil Gaiman’s novel Stardust * “Batter My Heart” is set to song in the opera Dr. Atomic (show clip) I personally think that his poetry and life, really, fit well into the world of opera because his life seems to follow the plot line of an opera. You typically have a subtle opening, setting up of the story. Then, an event comes and drastically changes everything. And then finally, as in every good dramatic opera, he dies. About Dr. Atomic John Adams and Peter Sellars' opera about Robert Oppenheimer, at the Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam. Which better subject John Adams and Peter Sellars could have chosen to denonciate the fall of the modern world? The atomic bomb and its inventor, Robert Oppenheimer (Gerald Finley), are in the middle of the action of this opera premiered in 2005 at the San Francisco Opera. After him, the world will never be the way it used to be, and is inexorably shifting towards a new era: the nuclear era. And yet, this opera focuses on common and universal problems, including love stories and broken hearts. The...
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...ABSTRACT John Donne is acknowledged as the master of metaphysical poetry and is admired for his talent and magnificent wit exercised in his writing. Metaphysical poetry is a special branch of poetry that deals with the pedagogic use of intellect and emotion in a harmonic manner. The basic praxis of metaphysical poetry is to highlight the philosophical view of nature and its ambience concerning human life. Despite criticisms from various corners, Donne and his other companions remained busy with their work to concentrate on metaphysical poetry to portray the feelings and sentiments of human beings by dint of their skillful and artful literary accomplishments. This paper is to address the outstanding performance of John Donne in the arena of metaphysical poetry and it endeavours to make a critical assessment of the diverse issues allembracing metaphysical poetry as well as to establish the relevance of metaphysical poetry in the literary realm. ______________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION ―Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere This bed thy centre is, these walls, thy sphere‖ The Sun Rising: John Donne The startling conversational lines marvellously enumerate the poet‘s intense appeal to spread the beams of sun on the lovers‘ world as a mark of illuminating the macrocosmic world and beckon the readers to enter into a new realm of poetry with a sense of attachment and belonging between different objects of nature...
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...John Donne, a seventeenth-century English poet, was born in London in 1572 and known for his ingenuous style of writing (Bloom 10). According to Christopher Moore, an English writer, Donne’ poetry is colloquial in diction and has the flexibility and liveliness of spoken language which imparts an energy and force perfectly capturing his mercurial jumps in thought and description; his poetry is filled with unusual images and metaphor for the fact most of it deals with love and relations between the sexes (Moore 12). Besides “The Flea,” “The Good Morrow,” and others, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” is another famous masterpiece for which John Donne is recognized. Izaak Walton, a contemporary of John Donne, stated that “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” was addressed to Donne’s wife, Anne More, on the occasion of his leaving for a continental trip in 1611 (Bloom 63). Donne’s poem is a good example that shows his metaphysical wit, a term was conferred on him along with his followers, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, and others by Samuel Johnson, a critic and essayist in the eighteenth-century (Bloom12). To sum up, Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” (Apr 84) is such a love and farewell speech among which he uses a series of simile, symbolism, and analogy to express his feelings and comfort his wife while he is abroad. Donne, in the first two stanzas, uses the image of virtuous men’s death as a metaphor to his separation from his wife to tell her their love is so great...
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...Through the comparative study of John Donne's poetry and Margaret Edson's play W;t we are shown the individual context of both writers and their perspectives on relationships and death. Donne represents his assurance of life after death in his Holy Sonnets. Additional to this in his earlier poetry, his valuing of deep relationship being critical to the human experience is reflected by his renaissance belief. Edson's individual post-modern context is apparent in the appropriation and rewriting of Donne's ideas to reflect her own perspective. This is further emphasized in the choices made by each composer to represent their ideas in different textual forms. Before Donne changed to his Protestant Christian faith in 1601 he believed that the meaning of life was through love. Donne ignores the reality of love and instead writes about what is outside reality, the metaphysical. In 1601 Donne secretly married a young seventeen-year-old girl by the name of Anne More. Donne wrote about how the love between him and his wife would go past this life and travel with them to the afterlife. After her death, Donne wrote “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” which describes his undying love for her. Donne made sure that his audience understood the significance of relationships, through the self-importance of "twin compasses"," thy soul, the fix'd foot", "making my circle perfect". The 17th century context is reflected in the representation of circular perfection which lifts the status of relationships...
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...Issa Haddad Jason Sebacher ENGL102 27 November 2012 Compare/Contrast Essay In Dylan Thomas', “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, he entreats his father to not succumb quietly to death. He uses the metaphor, "the dying of the light" (3) to illustrate that he feels death to be a destructive power seeking to put out the "light" which is the human life force. That he feels this destruction should not be passively accepted is first shown when he states, "old age should burn and rave at the close of day" (2). He employs the metaphor, "close of day" (2) to show he feels death is an end to human consciousness as he knows it. He also uses "old age" (2) to personify the person/people who should fight death, and "burn and rave" (2) to indicate the fight. He uses examples of different types of men resisting death to add to his argument that life should not be given up lightly. "Wise men" (4) do not "go gentle" because "their words had forked no lightning" (5). Another metaphor, meaning that the words they speak receive no notice, therefor there is still more recognition to achieve before death's finality. "Good men" (7), realizing (with the metaphor/personification) that their "frail deeds might have danced in a green bay" (8), also fight against dying. The use of "green bay" (8) as a metaphor for the inevitable "sea" of mortality shows that they realize their actions in life may not yet be enough to secure them an illustrious place in human history and remembrance. "Wild men"...
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...British Lit / Test Two Review Essay Questions 1. The genre of “The Fairie Queen” is a romantic epic. Epic poetry is the highest form of poetry; long and episodic. It is a narrative that contains many adventures, a central character, journey to hell, gods and goddesses, and it starts in the middle (in medias res). The Fairie Queen is allegorical of the Protestant Reformation. It contains many biblical allusions supporting the Protestant faith and criticizing Catholicism. It is written in Spenserian stanza, stanzas of nine iambic lines; the first eight are pentameters and the ninth is hexameter with the rhyme scheme ababbcbcc. 2. The term Renaissance translates into “rebirth”. This was a great revival of art, literature, and learning in Europe; marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world. The Renaissance began in Europe around 1390; this was around the same time of the Canterbury Tales. The Renaissance did not begin in England until1485. It was so late coming to England because of the civil war due to the “power struggle” between the House of York and the House of Lancaster. This Civil War was called the War of the Roses. The two houses fought until they killed each other off and in 1485, King Henry took crown and this was the beginning of the Tudor Dynasty. England finally had a level of peace allowing its people to acknowledge and then take part in this renewal of life, vigor, and interest. 3. The difference in doctrine between Protestantism...
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...HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE "And as I lay and lined and looked on the waters slombred into a sleeping, it swayed so murye"- From The vision on Pier’s Plowman by William Langland The wit remains too: in his last poem, written when he was dying, he bargains with God about forgiving his sins, punning in the last lines on his name: "And, having done that, Thou hast done:/I fear no more. – JOHN Donne "the proper study of mankind is man", -Alexander Pope Dryden did for English poetry what Augustus had done for the city of Rome—"he found it brick and left it marble." – Dr Johnson "the contemporary l.iterature of France was characterised by lucidity, vivacity, and—by reason of theclose attention given to form—correctness, elegance, and finish...It was moreover a literature inwhich intellect was in the ascendant and the critical faculty always in control." – by W.H. Hudson in “An Outline History of English literature” "It is almost exclusively a "town"poetry, made out of the interests of 'society' in the great centres of culture. The humbler aspects of life are neglected in it, and it shows no real love of nature, landscape, ortountry things and people." – W.H.Hudson wrote about Neo classical poetry Romanticism described by Pater, “the addition of strangeness to beauty” By Watt Dunton, “therenaissance of wonder” By Goethe, “Romanticism is disease, Classicism is health.” “Human...
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...2014 A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne In 1572, John Donne, an English poet was born in London, England in the year 1572.Due to his family believing in the Roman Catholic Tradition; he attended Trinity College at a very young age. Because of this tradition, John displayed the knowledge and laws of religion in majority of his works. However, in 1621, he converted to the Church of England, taking up teaching, thus becoming a famous preacher. Five years later he was appointed in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London Dean. Because of this knowledge and charismatic character, he was easily one of the most influential people in London. Throughout his works, John became known as the founder of the Metaphysical poetry; using vivid images and extended metaphors to portray thoughts and feelings. This theory also uses philosophy and religious as a platform, working in imagery from art as well. John Donne preferred to write poetry with strong rhythm, intense language, strange and bold imagination. ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’ is known as one of John’s calmest and understanding poems. Considering the fact that his marriage was not accepted by his father in law, the thought of distance between two lovers really occurred in his life. That allows this poem to have a universalized personal experience that he conveyed to his readers. The principal theme of the poem is that lovers remain united even when they are physically separated. Donne proves his idea by argument, conceits, passion...
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...Death, Be Not Proud “Death, Be Not Proud” is a nonfiction sonnet written by John Donne, in which the speaker takes on Death, claiming it to be boastful and proud unjustifiably. The speaker takes a stand against the oppressive nature of Death, and asserts that a greater effect can take place through the use of simple human means, such as “poppies, or charms.” In fact, Donne ultimately claims that death has no real effect, and could conceivably be a relief, as we will “wake eternally.” He alleges that in the end, the only thing to die is Death itself. Throughout the poem, Donne talks to death as though he is speaking to it directly. This use of personification is of use, especially when the author is seemingly patronizing death, calling it “poor Death.” He exploits Death’s dependence on accidents, mistakes, and misfortune. According to Donne, Death is at the mercy of “Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men.” He demeans Death’s endeavors to such an extent that he pokes fun at its bleak and undesirable affiliates, “poison, war and sickness.” In giving death the role of something tangible, Donne is certainly aiming to take control and humble a force that is seen to most as unnerving. By establishing supremacy, it seems as though John Donne is trying to convince others to adopt the same attitude as he. Considering his obvious belief in heaven through the phrase “wake eternally,” Donne is proudly claiming to have conquered death because of his acceptance of the Christian afterlife...
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...COURSE # AND TITLE: ENGL 102-D11: Literature and Composition SEMESTER OF ENROLLMENT: Spring 2013 NAME: Greg Mohnkern ID: L23191458 WRITING STYLE USED: Essay of poetry (MLA style) Thesis Statement: “Death be not proud” by John Donne personifies death, as its title aptly prescribes. Giving death human traits allows the writer to blast him with colorful images full of sarcasm and a tone of defiance. The ultimate message of the author provokes the human soul to resist the fear of death. Outline: Introduction: Thesis statement Transition: Discuss the writer’s life in relationship to the subject of the poem Body: Discuss the poem’s form based on the 14-line Petrarch sonnet Evaluate the mood and tone as it changes through the thoughts expressed by the writer Review the uses of symbolism and imagery Review the poet’s theme based on mortality and hope Summary: Donne successfully encourages the reader to reevaluate the power of death The Death of the Power of Death “Death be not proud” by John Donne personifies death. The poem is an apostrophe. By giving death human traits it allows Donne to blast his vilified opponent with colorful images full of sarcasm and a strong tone of defiance. The title is drawn from the first line of the poem, as this is the tenth of Donne’s “Holy Sonnets,” according to Louis Untermeyer, in his work Lives of the Poet ( 136). The ultimate message of the author is to provoke the human soul to resist the...
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...Death is personified as a person in John Donne's, "Death, be not proud" as well as in Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death". Despite the different implications in each poem, the central theme is death. The inevitable realization of death is explored in both poems, by examining death as a person and by reflecting the poets' religious beliefs. Although John Donne's poem was written in 1633, the theme of death can be compared to Emily Dickinson's poem, written about two centuries later. Both Donne and Dickinson are urging the readers not fear death. However, Donne addresses this theme with assertiveness while Dickinson is more sensitive to the subject. Both Donne and Dickinson are certain that death should not be feared and emphasize...
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...“reflective poets” as opposed to merely intellectual ones. Eliot says they have the ability to “feel their thought as immediately as the odor of a rose,” compared to the strictly thought-driven traditional poetry of lyrical poets. Housman’s view is significantly more harsh and critical. In reference to metaphysical poetry, he says that “poetry, as a label for this particular commodity, is not appropriate.” According to Housman, similes and metaphors, which are primary factors in metaphysical poetry, are “things inessential to poetry.” He describes the far-fetched paradoxes of metaphysical poets as “wit,” not poetry. Despite Housman’s negative claims regarding metaphysical poetry, there are several works of metaphysical poets, such as John Donne, that have proven to be very effective. In Donne’s “Holy Sonnet 14,” often referred to as “Batter My Heart,” there is a plethora of evidence of the work’s overall effectiveness as a poem in the poet’s use of poetic devices. The poem is written in first person and the speaker is someone who is struggling with sin and is desperately seeking the guidance of God, who is intended to be the recipient of the speaker’s message. “Batter My Heart” is a fixed form sonnet written in iambic pentameter. Enjambment is used in the title of the poem because it is the same as the poem’s first line. The form of the sonnet is closed and it is composed of three quatrains and one couplet. It has a regular rhyme scheme, but a half rhyme does exist in...
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...change due to her disease. In particular, Ms. Bearing’s advocacy for the need of wit in language loses its importance under the influence of her experiences in the hospital. Vivian’s concept of witty language undergoes fundamental changes during her hospital stay, which results in her understanding of the role played by simplicity in the expression of real life human experience. Being a professor of English, Vivian Bearing is passionate about the subject of her life, that is, language. Her primary idea of language has cardinally changed under the influence of her experiences in the hospital, where she appeared in the result of her diagnosis of Stage IV ovarian cancer. Vivian in fact adored language in its complicacy, whereas poetry of John Donne was used by the woman as a source of the author’s wit that provided her with great examples for her students’ learning of sophisticated English. In particular, Donne’s sonnet “Death Be Not Proud” was her favorite one, as it was a manifestation of “…wit at work: not so much resolving the issues of life and God as revelling in their complexity” (Edson 39). However, Vivian reshaped her opinion of language’s beauty as triggered by its wit after her own life’s complication by the need to choose between life and death. The final exam of Vivian’s own life has shown her that language does not need wit or any other devices of complication when simple words are more than capable of getting the message across. The woman catches herself thinking...
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...Anniversary’ as two poems written by John Donne possess certain similarities, largely through Donne’s use of extended metaphor in both to portray his feelings of love. However, elements of these poems can also be seen as to greatly juxtapose with ‘A Valediction’ focussing on the concept of ‘greater love’ enduring distance whilst ‘The Anniversary’ seems to portray the same love, though enduring time. Both poems convey a sense of ‘higher love’ - a highly spiritual experience. In ‘A Valediction’ Donne writes of ‘Dull, sublunary lovers’ in comparison to himself and his wife, using assonance to amplify the portrayal of these lovers as heavy-sounding and truly physical rather than anything more spiritual. The adjective ‘dull’ creates a lack of brightness about most lovers in comparison to Donne, whilst as he adds ‘Whose soul is sense’ Donne uses sibilance to continue the peaceful and gentle air of the poem in order to replicate his love, rather than to portray the love of the ‘Dull, sublunary lovers’. Donne’s ‘refin’d’ love (syntactically placed at the end of the line for further weight in describing the innate majesty of Donne’s love) connotes that of a diamond – a precious commodity in the 17th century – to describe the rich wealth of his love to his wife, but also its rarity, whilst Marxist literary theorists perceive this to be a reference to Donne’s ‘hardly attainable’ love, only truly expressible in the higher classes. In ‘The Anniversary’ , Donne too uses the concept of love described...
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