This document provides an introduction to metaphysical poetry and examines John Donne as a metaphysical poet. It defines metaphysical poetry as portraying ideas beyond physical existence. It notes that Samuel Johnson first used the term "metaphysical poets" to describe 17th century poets like Donne, Marvell, and Cowley. It explores Donne's life and works, noting he was intellectual and asked unusual questions in his poetry through wit and improbable comparisons. Key characteristics of Donne's metaphysical poetry are discussed, including his use of wit, conceits, and examination of themes like love, death, and religion.

1. PRESENTED BY ;
M. Farooque

2. CLASSICAL POETRY
PRESENTATION
TOPIC;
METAPHYSICAL
POETRY AND
DONNE AS
METAPHSICAL POET

3. INTRODUCTION
• The word ‘Metaphysical Poetry’
is a philosophical concept used
in literature where poets portray
the things/ideas that are beyond
the depiction of physical
existence. Etymologically, there
is a combination of two words
‘meta’ and ‘physical in word
“metaphysical”.’

4. METAPHYSICAL POETRY
•The first word “Meta” means beyond. So
metaphysical means beyond physical, beyond the
normal and ordinary. The meanings are clear
here that it deals with the objects/ideas that are
beyond the existence of this physical world.

5. Origin of the Word Metaphysical Poetry
• In the book “Lives of the Most Eminent English
Poets (1179-1781)”, the author Samuel
Johnson made the first use of the
word Metaphysical Poetry. He used the term
Metaphysical poets to define a loose group of
the poets of 17th century. The group was not
formal and most of the poets put in this category
did not know or read each other’s writings. This
group’s most prominent poets include John
Donne, Andrew Marvell, Abraham Cowley,
George Herbert.
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6. The types of questions metaphysical poetry
may make you ask yourself can be:
Is our world real or a projection?
Is there an afterlife?
Can souls time travel?
Is God out there?
Are we restricted in our bodies or free?
Is fate real?

7. Definition of Metaphysical Poetry

8. John Donne as a
Metaphysical
Poet

9. poetical works of John Donne
The Flea.
Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou denies me is;
It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;

10. John Donne as a Metaphysical Poet
•John Donne is the most prominent of the
metaphysical poets. The metaphysical poets were
the people of learning. Donne, in his early
poems, has also expressed his knowledge of
society. He has presented the problems in it using
criticism and satire. However, the subject of
religion was the most important to Donne. He
also wrote erotic poetry in his early career with
unusual use of metaphors.

11. •John Donne’s poetry is metaphysical because of
uniqueness in his poetry and his search for
questions. Wit is dominant in his poetry, and it is
vague and makes use of improbable conceits. The
themes of his poems include, paradoxes, fidelity,
religion, Death and the Hereafter, both physical
and spiritual Love, Interconnection between
humanity, etc.
Characteristics of John Donne’s poetry

12. Let us look at the unique and interesting
characteristics of Donne’s poetry.
•Donne was an intellectual and he has always
used unique and new concepts in his poetry. He
would ask questions in his poetry that people
would not normally think about and prompt the
reader to open his mind. In his ‘Death Be Not
Proud’, he has talked to death as if it was a
person and asked death upon death.

13. Let us look at the unique and interesting
characteristics of Donne’s poetry.
•As wit is most important part of metaphysical
poetry, so it is of Donne’s poetry too. He, in fact
in metaphysical poetry, is called the “Monarch of
Wit”. (2) His wit goes in all directions, from
seriousness to humour. His intellectual abilities,
syllogism, exaggeration, and irony also made wit
in his poetry great.

14. Let us look at the unique and interesting
characteristics of Donne’s poetry.
•Conceit is plentiful in John Donne’s poetry. Conceit is a
comparison of most improbable things. John Donne
has compared two lovers to two opposite sides of a
compass in his poetry. In his ‘The Flea’, he has
compared a flea to a marriage bed. In his, ‘The Sun
Rising’, he has said that he could eclipse the Sun, as if
he was a star. In his, ‘A Valediction: Forbidding
Mourning’, he says that parting should be happy, and it
should not be a cause of sadness, and death should be
calm.

15. THANK YOU