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Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following...

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Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry
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Page 1: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry

Page 2: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

Metaphysical Poetry

• Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know what is truly “real”

• Characteristics:– Use of argument: appeals to intellect and

emotions– Use of comparison: metaphysical conceit

(extended metaphor that compares 2 very unlike things)

– Use of language: plain style

Page 3: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

John Donne

• B. 1572; Roman Catholic at a time when England was anti-Catholic

• “Conceited verses” written in younger years (“The Flea”)

• Poor (lost his government position due to scandal); became very depressed

Page 4: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

John Donne

• Friends urged him to enter the ministry because of the power of his religious poems

• Became a minister at 43; soon became chaplain to King James I

• By the time he died (1631), was considered the greatest preacher in England

Page 5: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”

Valediction = farewell statement

• Written for his wife just before he left for France; purpose was to ease his wife’s fears of a premonition she had about his trip

• Metaphysical conceit = lovers to the feet of a compass

Page 6: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

“Death Be Not Proud”

• Written soon after his wife’s death

• Donne’s thoughts on immortality and religious faith

• Personification

Page 7: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

“Meditation 17”

• At age 51, Donne became seriously ill

• Wrote “Meditation 17” as he was recovering

• Meditation = short sermon; expresses his thoughts on his illness and experience

• Bells = signal death; villagers knew to pray for the soul of the dead/dying

• Extended metaphysical conceit

Page 8: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

Ben Jonson

• Large man; fiery temper• Self-taught (no money for

formal education); apprenticed with a bricklayer, entered army

• Began acting/writing in early 20s

• First big success at age 26 (play that featured Shakespeare in a leading role)

Page 9: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

Ben Jonson• Killed a fellow actor in a duel and was

sentenced to death• Because he could read Latin, was

allowed to be tried in church court• Church court overturned death

sentence; branded on the thumb as a convicted felon

• Resented comparisons to Shakespeare (Jonson was more respected at the time)

• Age 49—King James I gave him a lifetime pension (he’d always be able to write)

• Took a year off, but when he returned, his writing had gone out of style; spent the last 20 years of his life trying to regain his former status

Page 10: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

“On My First Son” / “Song: To Celia”

• Elegy = poem expressing mourning

• Son, Benjamin, died of the plague in 1603, on his 7th birthday

• “Benjamin” (Hebrew) = “Child of my right hand”

• Unrequited love

• Ambrosia = drink of the gods (immortality)

Page 11: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

Cavalier Poetry

• Writers affiliated with King Charles I’s court

• Characteristics:– Carpe diem = “seize the day”– Intended to entertain audience rather than

instruct it– Conversational style– Popular themes were love and loyalty– Could be serious or sarcastic

Page 12: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

Robert Herrick• Anglican priest• Needed money; took a ministerial job in

a quiet country parish far from London• Was miserable and lonely, so he turned

to poetry• Wrote poems to his pet pig, cat, dog,

maid, neighbors, and imaginary girlfriends

• After many years and 1200 poems, returned to London; wasn’t able to publish his poetry

• London had changed; took his old parish job back 10 years later

• “To the Virgins, Make Much of Time”

Page 13: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

Andrew Marvell

• Brilliant writer of lyric poetry and prose

• Always managed to land on his feet, no matter what political upheavals took place (good connections)

Page 14: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

“To His Coy Mistress”

• “Coy” = flirty but shy• “Mistress” = ma’am, miss; sometimes

sweetheart

• Published after his death; his maid had it published, and in the introduction she described him as her husband (secret marriage)

• Few believed this, never proven

Page 15: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

The Puritans

• Wanted to “purify” the Church of England by eliminating Roman Catholic traditions

• Puritans = Protestants– Protestants rejected belief in the Pope– Didn’t like the “top-to-bottom” hierarchy of the

RC church; wanted “bottom-to-top”

• Elizabeth I, James I tolerated Puritans; Charles I wanted to bring back RC traditions, so some Puritans left for America

Page 16: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

The Puritans• Puritans who stayed in England gained political

power• 1649—King Charles I found guilty of treason;

beheaded• Commonwealth (new government) headed by

Oliver Cromwell– Tried to make English society conform to their strict

Puritan beliefs (no holiday celebrations, no dancing, no playing chess, no public theaters)

• Commonwealth was unpopular; in 1660, monarchy was restored (Charles II)

Page 17: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

John Milton• Declared at age 21 he’d

be a “great poet”• At 30 he traveled to

Europe to study; religious/political upheavals called him home

• Gave up all other writing to create pamphlets in defense of religious and civil freedoms

• Neglected poetry for 20 years (held govt positions)

• Went blind at age 44

Page 18: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

John Milton

• In 1660 (end of Commonwealth), had time to devote to writing (was 52)

• Charles II had him arrested as a traitor; friends in high places saved him from hanging, but he had to pay heavy fines that left him broke

• Dictated Paradise Lost to his daughters

Page 19: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

Paradise Lost

• Epic poem = long narrative poem that tells, in a serious tone and stately language, heroic exploits and dramatic events

• Begins with an invocation of the Muse and a statement of purpose

• 10,565 lines long• Blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)

Page 20: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

Paradise Lost

• Depicts the fall of Adam and Eve• Satan (as a snake) tempts Adam and Eve

to commit original sin (eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge)

• Also gives background: a description of Hell at the time Satan and other rebellious angels were first driven from Heaven

• Paradise Regained, his next epic poem, depicts Christ’s temptation

Page 21: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

John Bunyan

• Grew up in poverty

• Only received a very basic education; left school at an early age to work

• Grew up to be on of England’s best-known nonconformist preachers

• Arrested for preaching without a license at the age of 32

Page 22: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

John Bunyan

• Refused to renounce his faith; spent 12 years in prison

• Pardoned at the age of 42

• Arrested again 4 years later and imprisoned again for his beliefs

Page 23: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry. Metaphysical Poetry Metaphysical = after or following the physical; a branch of philosophy that seeks to know.

The Pilgrim’s Progress

• allegory—work in which characters and settings are symbols aimed at teaching a moral lesson

• Character names indicate the quality they represent

• Main character is named Christian; on a journey to the Celestial City

• Christian meets Faithful, who joins him on the journey.

• Together, they stop at the town of Vanity.


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