Metaphysical Poetry
Metaphysical Poetry John Donne's "The Sunne Rising" and "The Flea" and "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell Metaphysical poetry necessitates the understanding of mankind but concentrates on topics such as romantic love, sexual love, faith, loyalty and religion. The poems are very short and have a formal tone, metaphysical poems are characterised by arguments and theories yet to be proved. It was written between 1572 and 1695, these were chaotic time as there were lost of changes taking place. For instance in 1577 there was the defeat of the Spanish Armada. The "Gunpowder Plot", dissolution of parliament, civil wars and the plague followed this. These poets want to show off their intelligence and wit. The poems usually contain conceits (these are sharp and unpredicted uses of metaphors and comparisons), for example: romantic lovers are compared to "a pair of compasses" (inseparable) and a woman losing her virginity is called a "flea bite", as in, the little drop of blood women shed when they first have sex. The poems are supposed to be direct, dramatic and straight to the point. Sometimes, the poems have a "carpe-diem" theme. Metaphysical poetry was seen as "shocking" at this time, it addressed issues that were previously unmentionable, or it looked at issues in a more controversial way. In this essay I am going to compare the three poems; 'The Sunne Rising' and