Metaphysical naturalism

A renowned idea using surprising symbols. It is debated as to whether Donne is a metaphysical poet or not, one view being from T.S Eliot that it is difficult to find any ‘precise use of metaphor simile or other conceit’ in order to identify Donne with the other metaphysical ‘poets as a group’. I however disagree with T.S Eliot and this poem ‘The flea’ contains a metaphysical conceit right through the poem. Using the surprising symbol of a Flea something so ‘little’ to represent…

Paradise Lost holds some of the greatest literary elements throughout its series of books. This work, by John Milton, showcases many persuasive skills and rhetoric. Aristotle once stated that rhetoric classifies as “the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion.” Among the three main arguments in Paradise Lost, each carry, at least, one form of Aristotle’s rhetorics: Ethos, Pathos, and/or Logos. Whether it be Eve persuading Adam, or Satan persuading Eve, each…

John Donne’s metaphysical poem written in 1600’s follows an intricate love poem that is both humorous and playful. Donne uses a range of poetic techniques but his most influential is the continued conceit of the sun that is continued throughout the poem. Through this he is able to introduce an outrageous idea, that he is better than the sun, his woman is “all the states” and he is “all princes.” Donne uses his intellect throughout the poem to justify his claims, especially focussing on the idea…

several things in common regarding their way of writing; Andrew Marvell is an English poet, a clergyman and a parliamentarian, he was concerned with politics for a very long time, also, Marvell was called a nature poet and he was one of the best metaphysical poets. Even though Marvell wrote less than some other famous poets like Donne and Jonson, his range was greater, “as he claimed, both the private worlds of love and religion and the public worlds of political and satiric poetry and prose,…

CONCLUSSION The development of a love poet, can be traced easily by subtle analysis of various strains that define different moods and shades of love. The great metaphysical poet, John Donne provides a great instance of this kind of analysis of the poem. The first phase of Donne's love poems are conspicuous for exasparation and eccentricity that owes its genesis to peculiar notion that woman is essentially unfaithful and the object of sexual pleasure only. The second phase begins with the…

Donne’s ‘The Flea’ was first published posthumously in 1633 and is a metaphysical poem. The poem has two main themes intertwining throughout; the theme of love and erotica, and the theme of religion and sacrilege. Due to the fact the poem plays hosts to both of these themes, we can infer from the beginning that due to the publication date, sex and religion were far closer linked together during the 1600s than they are today, therefore this inclusion of both of themes could reflect the thematic…

The next major argument in the world of critical analysis rests in the amount of literary references used in Donne’s work. Some critics pronounce that Donne believed in new ideas and cultivated them, using literary references as models for his own poetry. Some regard that Donne was not only learned, but used science and mythology to make a specific point in his poetry, appealing to a wider range of critical thinkers. Others disagree with both statements, saying that Donne’s success was merely…

role in people’s lives. Marvell often used exalted topics/ However, he chooses different approaches compared to other famous poets like William Wordsworth who was born and worked hundred years after Marvell’s death. The last author often covered metaphysical motifs like his experience as a cloud that saw a filed of daffodils during its everyday trip. While many poets were concerned with the afterlife, Marvell focused on the earthy paradise. Existence of such place that became forbidden for…

In 1633, John Donne published a metaphysical poem titled The Flea. This poem consists of an erotic theme where a flea is used as a metaphor in order to demonstrate the affair between the speaker and their lover. In the same year, The Altar was published by George Herbert. This poem illustrates the religious notion of how one must sacrifice themselves to God through the use of an altar. In the following, The Flea and The Altar will be compared and contrasted in terms of the physical shape of the…

In the short poems, “The Flea” by John Donne and “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell, the theme of carpe diem, or “seize the day”, is incorporated in these poems. In other words, the theme is about enjoying life in the moment and to make the most of it because life is short. In both of these poems, the writers express that theme by attempting to persuade women to seize the day. In other words, they are poems of seduction. In the poems in Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” and John…