'Metaphysical Poetry Essay\r'

'metaphysical poetry arose as a reaction to the extremes of Petrarchism; one problem with Petrarchan poems is a kind of predictability-the conceitedness is found, presented, & elaborated, but in that respect are few subsequent surprises. Donne and his followers analogous to catch us off-guard, change direction, etc., to foil expectations. Metaphysical poetry is, in general, characterized by its ingenuity, intellectuality, and frequent obscurity.\r\nIn terms of subject topic, metaphysicals reject not but Petrarchan rhetoric but also the pose of poor worship of the mistress which sonneteers had inherited via Petrarch from the troubadours; in its office staff they put sexual documentaryism and an interest in introspective psycho logical analysis of the emotions of recognise and morality (sometimes expressing the one in terms of the other, and sometimes genuinely being metaphysical in subject matter too). These poets showed a penchant for the novel and the shocking, and re lished obscurity, rough verse, strained imagery, and at their best can be startlingly effective.\r\nDonne set the pattern by writing in a diction & metre modelled on the rough give-and-take of actual speech, and usually create his poems in the dramatic and rhetorical form of an imperative or heated argument (with reluctant mistress, enter friend, God, Death, himself). Employed a subtle and often designedly outrageous logic; realistic, ironic, and sometimes cynical in his treatment of the complexity of human motives, whether in matters of admire or religion.\r\nReputation-decline in 18th-19th centuries during which time they were seen as elicit but perversely dexterous and obscure eccentrics.; blown-up upsurge in the 20th due to the comfortable press from the likes of T.S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas.\r\nMetaphysical Conceit->a highly ingenious kind of conceit widely used by the metaphysical poets, who explored all areas of knowledge to find, in the startlingly esoteric o r the shockingly commonplace, telling and unusual analogies for their ideas. Metaphysical conceits often exploit verbal logic to the point of the grotesque and sometimes achieve such(prenominal) extravagant turns on meaning that they become squiffy (e.g. Richard Crashaw’s description of Mary Magdalene’s eye as â€Å"Two walking baths; two tearful motions,/Portable and compendious oceans”).\r\nThese conceits work best when the lector is given a perception of a real but previously unsuspected similarity that is edifying; then they may speak to our minds and emotions with force. Examples of potential metaphysical conceits-> roll in the hay is like an oil change; love is like a postage stamp; love is like a pair of compasses; the soul of a sinner is like a damaged pot. As you can see, the temptation to be merely cagy must be hard to resist, while the encumbrance in making such a conceit truly effective is quite considerable.\r\n'