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The Metaphysical Poetry

During Semester 1, we got a delightful chance to attend lectures on “The Metaphysical Poetry” by R.K.Mandaliya (S.P.University, Vallabh Vidyanagar). His ‘Talk and chalk’ method makes poetry flow in your veins. While going through the class notes even today, it just feels like you are sitting in the class and studying poetry. Thanks Dr.Dilip Barad Sir for organising such fruitful session. Even in Semester 3 we again got a chance to attend his lectures on “Robert Frost and his poetry” which I shall share later on.


In the beginning of the 17th century; between 1600 and 1635, a school of poets emerged - whose poetry came to be known as “The Metaphysical Poetry”. With the passing of time it was Dr. Samuel Johnson – a great neo-classicist who made use of this term for the first time in his introduction to the life of Abraham Cowley. When Dr.Johnson used this term, it was in a derogatory sense – negative sense to criticise the poetry of John Donne and his followers. With the passing of the time, the same term became a term of appraisal.

There are certain characteristics of the metaphysical poetry. The chief of them are as under:-
·       Conscious Attempt – All the metaphysical poets made a conscious attempt to differ from the poetry of former poets. They tried to differ in both matter and manner. They wanted to establish their unique identity as poets.
·       Display of Scholarship – All the metaphysical poets were university graduates, men of learning and wit. It was to display their knowledge that they tried to differ from the former poets.
·       Far – fetched Images - The metaphysical poets are well- known for their choice of distant images and conceits in the writing of poems. They selected their images from the fields like engineering, history, biology, geometry and many other fields. Andrew Marvell made extensive use of geometrical and agricultural images in his poems. George Herbert used images from the field of Engineering. John Donne made use of biological images for the writing of his poems.
·       Scholarship and Musicality- Dr.Johnson mentions that the metaphysical poetry stood at a trial of their finger, but not of their ear. They failed in creating music in their poetry. There is no presence of rhyme and rhythm.

In our syllabus of M.A (Semester 1), the metaphysical poetry of John Donne was included.

John Donne (22 January 1573 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet and a cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries. (Wikipedia)

List of poetry:-
1.) Sweetest Love
2.) The Sun Rising
3.) Death be not Proud
4.) The Flea
5.) Dream
6.) Ecstasy

Click on the title of the poetry to read analysis of that particular poetry.


Work Cited –
·       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Donne

·       Class Notes (17/9/2015) by R.K.Mandaliya Sir

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