Metaphysical poets: Difference between revisions

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>Michael Forde Cayley
(New page: {subpages} The '''metaphysical poets''' is a term applied to some poets of the 17th century whose work is characterised by wit, a love of conceits, complex argument and unexpected use of ...)
 
imported>Michael Forde Cayley
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
{subpages}
{{#switch: {{{info}}}


The '''metaphysical poets''' is a term applied to some poets of the 17th century whose work is characterised by wit, a love of conceits, complex argument and unexpected use of similes and arguably extravagant comparisons. They were not a movement as such, though one can trace a pattern of influence between some of them. Among the poets were [[John Donne]], [[George Herbert]], [[Richard Crashaw]], [[Henry Vaughan]], [[Andrew Marvell]] and [[Thomas Traherne]]. Some of their poems start from something very concrete - for example sunrise or a flower - and move on to an exploration of religious or philosophical themes or of the nature of love and relationships.
<!--Pagename must be filled out for template to work correctly-->
|      pagename =


The term "metaphysical" to describe the poets dates back to [[John Dryden]], who disliked this poetic style, and said disparagingly of Donne, "He affects the Metaphysics... in his amorous verses, where nature only should reign; and perplexes the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy". [[Samuel Johnson]] picked up the term metaphysics in his '''Life of Cowley''', where he wrote that "about the beginning of the seventeenth century appeared a race of writers that may be termed the metaphysical poets".
<!--primarily whether the article is written in "AE" - American, "AuE" - Australian, "BE" - British or "CE" - Canadian English.-->
|        variant = BE


Two major anthologies of the metaphysical poets are:
<!--Required for checklist.  In brief:
* ''Metaphysical Lyrics & Poems of the Seventeenth Century, Donne to Butler'', selected and edited by Herbert Greirson, Clarendon Press, 1921
*''abc'' means the form of the title for alphabetization, e.g. "Doherty, John" or "Orient, The".  Please think this one through and replace the "&nbsp;" if required.
* ''The Metaphysical Poets'', introduced and edited by Helen Gardner, Penguin Books 1957
*''cat_check'':  put "yes" if you want someone to check over the categories
*''status'': 0 for approved articles; 1 developed, 2 developing, 3 stub, 4 external
*''underlinked:'' put "yes" if not enough other articles link to it (click "What links here" at left)
*''cleanup'': put "yes" if basic cleanup has been done.
*''by'': Names of anyone editing the checklist, in reverse chronological order.
*''cat1, cat2'' and ''cat3'' are categories;  if there is only one category, put it in cat1.
For more info see http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:The_Article_Checklist-->
 
|            abc = Metaphysical poets
|      cat_check =
|        status = 3
|    underlinked = yes
|        cleanup =
|            by = [[User:Michael Forde Cayley|Michael Forde Cayley]] 11:37, 14 April 2008 (CDT)
|          cat1 = literature
|          cat2 =
|          cat3 =
|          sub1 =
|          sub2 =
|          sub3 =
 
<!--required for ToApprove template-->
|    article url =
|    subpage url =
|        cluster =
|            now =
|    ToA editor =
|    ToA editor2 =
|    ToA editor3 =
|          date =
 
<!--required for Approved template-->
|      A editor =
|      A editor2 =
|      A editor3 =
 
}}<noinclude>{{subpages}}</noinclude>

Revision as of 11:37, 14 April 2008

This article is developing and not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.