The Metaphysical Poets
•To become familiar with the conventions and typical imagery
associated with the metaphysical poets.
•To develop awareness of cultural context of religion to expand our
ideas on love.
•To analyse the language and imagery of a number of poems – ‘Batter
My Heart’, ‘The Canonization’ and ‘Song of Songs’

What kinds of love are there??? Make a
mind-map with all the types of love...

What we have done so far...
Period Writer Text Form stylistic features Love Conventions

Mediev Geoffrey Troilus and Epic Pain language, quiet Courtly Love, tragic death, use of the matchmaker in
al Chaucer Criseyde woman, apostrophe. Pandarus, young love separated by politics/ war.
Geoffrey The Knight’s Tale, Tale Elevated Language, Courtly Love, objectification/ idolisation of woman, desire
Chaucer Canterbury Tales traditional & proper interrupting male world, true love allows order/ security
Geoffrey The Miller’s Tale, Fabliaux Shock of rude words, Bawdy, sexual innuendo, crudity. Woman as cruel and
Chaucer Canterbury Tales parody, humour, burlesque manipulative. Mockery of courtly lover.
Tudor Anon Greensleeves Ballad Repetition, sexual and Adoration of woman undercut by associations with
material image. materialism and promiscuity. Objectification of women.
Thomas They Flee From Lyric Ambiguous imagery (birds), Love gone wrong, love causes mental paralysis, power battles
Wyatt Me dislocation, caesura. between the sexes. Desire causes emasculation.
Thomas Sonnet 2 – I Find Shakespear Antithesis and paradoxical Love causes paralysis, Petrarchan Lover, Unrequited love, love
Wyatt No Peace ean Sonnet opposites, tight control. as a seat of contradiction and extreme eotion.
Elizabe William Sonnet 18 – Shall I Shakespear Extended similes, smooth Petrarchan Lover, Woman elevated through similes, Woman
than Shakespeare Compare Thee...? ean Sonnet metre, elevated language as muse.
William Sonnet 130 – My Shakespear Inversions of traditional Inversion of sonnet conventions of Petrarchan lover; insulting
Shakespeare Mistress’ Eyes ean Sonnet expectations, practicality. woman; practical and real approach,
William Romeo and Juliet Romantic Parody, Sonnet through Romeo as a satire of Elizabethan melancholy lover
Shakespeare Tragedy dialogue on stage, couplet. (Petrarchan lover) and then use of sonnet with Juliet.
Roman John Keats When I have Shakespear Extended metaphors, Use of nature and the sublime to inspire love for poetry and
tic fears... ean Sonnet natural imagery, slow metre woman, impossibility of love, love of writing & self.
Victori Louise Am I To Lose You? Shakespear Direct speech, feminine Inversion of male poetic persona, a woman leaving a man,
an Bevington ean Sonnet poetic persona, simple lang difference between romantic and platonic love.
Postmo Gavin Ewart The Last Things Shakespear Breakdown of rhyme Parody of sonnet, breakdown of structures in grief, filial love
dern ean Sonnet scheme, colloquial. of father &disappointment of human relationships.
Postmo Douglas The Kaleidoscope Shakespear Simple language, caesura, Grief and mourning for lost wife, love as domestic and
dern Dunn ean Sonnet ‘redesigned’ structure, enriching, practical, loss of love leads to dislocation
domestic imagery.

Make at least four predictions about this poem from the wordle. E.g. What kind of
love will be represented? What is the relationship like? What kind of person will be
speaking? Who will be the object? What form of poem do you think it will be?

Divide the words into semantic fields
Love/ Eroticism Violence/ Hate

Extension: Do you notice anything about the type of words used?
E.g. How many verbs? How many syllables are the words? Are
particular letters used a lot? The bigger the word the more it is
repeated , what conclusions does that lead you to?

Notes on difficult words...
• 5. To usurp something is to take over something that does not belong to you. A
coup d'etat, for example, is an instance of usurpation: a military officer deposes
the legally constituted government, and assumes control of the powers of state.
• 7. A viceroy is an official appointed by the king (Fr. roi) to rule in his stead, on his
behalf. Such officials were especially necessary to the governance of remote
colonies in the eras before rapid communication.
• 9. would be loved faine: "Fain" is a now archaic intensifier that meant "very
much like to." To say "I would fain be your friend" meant "I would very much like
to be your friend" or "I would love to be your friend." Here it appears in an
inversion of ordinary word order.
• 13. enthrall: to enslave. (A "thrall" is a slave.) The modern meaning -- to
fascinate -- derives from this idea of "reducing to subjection." (Compare the
history of meanings attaching to "charming" and "enchanting." Similarly with
"ravishing.")
• 14. chast: chaste. The concept combines the concepts of being intact
(whole, unbroken, sound) and pure (undefiled).
• 14. ravish: This word derives originally from Latin rapere -- to seize and carry
away by violence, to snatch by force. Hence, eventually, the ideas of rape and
rapture.

Batter my heart, three person'd______; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee, and bend
Your force, to breake, blow, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurpt towne, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearley I love you, and would be loved faine,
But am betroth'd unto your enemie:
Divorce mee, untie, or breake that knot againe,
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.

Can you identify the extended simile used in this
poem?
Your force, to breake, blow, burn and make me new. “like an usurpt
I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due, towne” – Poetic
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end, Persona compares
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend, itself to a conquered
But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue. town in battle – it is a
Yet dearley I love you, and would be loved faine, long, extended simile/
But am betroth'd unto your enemie: metaphor. This is
Divorce mee, untie, or breake that knot againe, terms a conceit and is
typical of
Metaphysical verse

Have a look at the typical Shakespearean
sonnet form – does it meet the criteria?
Sonnet feature Regular/
Irregular
Poetic Persona –a male voice, Three Quatrains – 3 groups of
overwhelmed with love for a four rhyming lines, a new idea/
woman, usually in pain and image introduced in each.
conflicted. Final Couplet – 2 lines that
Object of poem – A beautiful rhyme, often offer a resolution to
woman, although rarely directly the problems proposed in
described, who resists seduction. quatrains.
Strict Rhyme Scheme - ABAB OR
Plot – a courtly lover writes a love
ABBA in the three quatrains and
poem to seduce/ admire a woman
then CC in the couplet
who he can never be with.
Volta separates Octave and
Imagery – beautiful, grandiose
Sestet – change of tone, attitude,
images used to describe object of
place, tense, ideas.
poem – usually one per quatrain.
Strict punctuation – typically one
14 lines
idea (or sentence) per quatrain.
Iambic Pentameter - 10 syllables in
No title – either the number of
each line, with rhythm ‘De-DUM’
the sequence or the first line.

What do you make of the sentences?
Easy/ difficult to follow?
Critical Comments on the poet
His metre is “knotted and gnarled like a sailor’s
rope.”
“for not keeping of accent, [he] deserved hanging“
– Ben Jonson

Fill in the missing word (who the poem is addressed
to...) Be prepared to explain your reasoning.

I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due,

“three-personed God” = Holy Trinity
The Father, the son and the holy spirit.

What kind of love is this then?

Holy Sonnet XIV
Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you

How does this word change your interpretation of the poem? How does knowing the
object of the poem alter our ideas?

A range of CONCEITS are then used to describe God’s love...

Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend; Male violent lover
An invading force
But am betroth'd unto your enemie: A husband
Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free, rapist

Do you think the writer is blasphemous?
What does his use of erotic imagery and violent
imagery imply about his religion, beliefs and
relationship with God?

Meet John Donne
“The first thing to remember about Donne,”
writes critic John Carey, “is that he was a
Catholic; the second that he betrayed his
faith.”

Key Facts About John Donne
1) 1572 – 1631 (Elizabeth I and James I protestant reigns)
2) John Donne was born a Catholic and refused to swear to the
crown (and hence betray his religion) until he was 43 years old,
when he was ordered to specifically join the Church by James I.
3) He was the great-grandson of the Catholic martyr St. Thomas
More – his family were Jesuits and many were arrested and
burned at the stake.
4) His brother was tortured and died in the Tower of London from his
injuries for harbouring secret priests.
5) He secretly eloped with Anne More without her father’s
permission and was promptly arrested and lost his financial
security. He wrote “John Donne, Anne Donne, Un-done.”
6) He then later became the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, becoming
famous for his sermons: his famous sayings include “no man is an
island”, “for whom the bell tolls”.
7) In his later years he was known for his womanising.

Religion – The Reformation

The English Reformation was the
series of events in 16th-century
England by which the Church of
England broke away from the
authority of the Pope and the
Roman Catholic Church.

The Reformation:
Many factors contributed to the
process: the decline of feudalism and
the rise of nationalism, the rise of
the common law, the invention of
the printing press and increased
circulation of the Bible, the
transmission of new knowledge and
ideas among scholars and the upper
and middle classes.

Martin Luther

Translated the Bible from Latin
into the language of the people.
Initiated the Protestant Reformation.
Influenced the creation of the King James Bible.

Alexandre Dumas’ historical
novel ‘La Reine Margot’
(1845) gives a unique insight
into the violence, chaos and
scheming that overtook
Europe during the
reformation in the St
Bartholomew’s Massacre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVzLN9lGT

Though by no means unique, it
"was the worst of the century's
religious massacres." [2]
St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre 1572
Throughout Europe, it "printed
on Protestant minds the
indelible conviction that
Catholicism was a bloody and
treacherous religion".

Effect in England
The wars of religion on the continent is reflected by, and influenced the extent
of, huge violence and turmoil in England:
 Burning of the monasteries/ destruction of religion iconography (arts,
libraries, centres of learning)
 Burning at the stake of both Catholics and protestants (depending on who
monarch is)
 Jesuit (Catholic super-spies) infiltrate England during Elizabeth I, constantly
trying to assassinate her/ cause disruption.
 Mary Queen of Scots beheaded for treason – and many MANY others.
 Gunpowder Plot
 Traditional sources of education, advice and order abolished.
 War with Spain: Spanish Armada
 Informers on religion: growth of secret ‘priestholes’ – there are hundreds of
examples of secret Catholics.
 Fear and paranoia sets in amongst most people.
 Debate on religion: rise of a variety of different forms of protestantism – in
particular, Calvinism comes into fashion.

• Not only is Donne a Catholic, he exists in the
time of Calvinism – a particularly terrifying
version of Protestantism.

Calvinism
• All humans are totally depraved and imprisoned in sin.
• God chooses – almost at random – who to take mercy
on and ‘save’ with his grace.
• This is completely predestined and not based on moral
calibre/ actions in life: it cannot be changed.
• A ‘good’ person who never broke a law could be
damned and a ‘bad’ person could be saved – there is no
way to know until the moment of death.
• There is nothing a person can do to alter this fate. They
are helpless in their sinfulness unless God chooses to
save them with his grace.

The Chain Of Being
The Chain of Being is a
ladder going from
Satan up to God:
every animal, plant,
human characteristic
and supernatural
characteristic is in the
chain. It is a symbol of
Christian order.

The chain starts from God
and progresses downward
with stars, moon, kings,
princes, nobles, men, wild
animals, domesticated
animals, trees, other
plants, precious stones,
precious metals, and
other minerals.

Man’s
position –
between
ANGEL
the angels
and beasts Divine intellect and soul.

Animal desires and body.

LION

Aren’t we doing the literature of
love???
The relationship between LOVE and LUST is often
viewed through this spectrum of salvation/
damnation in Renaissance texts (indeed, this idea
is so powerful it resonates up through the
Victorian era).

The typical conflicts of love: love & lust, soul &
body, intellectual & physical, passionate &
platonic.
These all have religious significance – the
temptations of love/ desire can lead to
damnation.

Read Song of Solomon 4 & 5 –
King James Bible.

• Note the sensory language, the eroticism and
fascination with the body.

• Protagonists are a husband and wife – often
thought of as an allegorical representation of
relationship of God & Israel (Jewish tradition)/
God & church/ Christ & human soul/ lust and
love/ body and soul/ husband and wife.

• Therefore erotic imagery is used to display
religious dedication.

Stanza 2

Stanza 3

Stanza 4

Stanza 5
The Canonization – John Donne
Look at the images used in the poem.
Can you predict how he will use these
similes to defend having a lover?

Prominent member of the Metaphysical
Poets (they are named after him)
Dryden had written of Donne in 1693: "He
affects the metaphysics, not only in his satires,
but in his amorous verses, where nature only
should reign; and perplexes the minds of the
fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy,
when he should engage their hearts, and
entertain them with the softnesses of love."[

The Metaphysical Conceit
An extended metaphor that combines two vastly
different ideas into a single idea, often using
imagery.
Donne’s Metaphysical Conceits:
Lovers = Saints

Lovers = Legs of the Compass

Woman’s Naked Body = Discovery of America

Sex = A flea biting

Donne’s Seductive Poetry
• Donne's early career was also notable for his erotic poetry, especially his
elegies, in which he employed unconventional metaphors, such as a flea
biting two lovers being compared to sex.[13] In Elegy XIX: To His Mistress
Going to Bed, he poetically undressed his mistress and compared the act
of fondling to the exploration of America. In Elegy XVIII, he compared the
gap between his lover's breasts to the Hellespont.[13] Donne did not
publish these poems, although did allow them to circulate widely in
manuscript form.[13]
• Donne is considered a master of the metaphysical conceit, an extended
metaphor that combines two vastly different ideas into a single idea, often
using imagery.[10] An example of this is his equation of lovers with saints in
"The Canonization". Unlike the conceits found in other Elizabethan poetry,
most notably Petrarchan conceits, which formed clichéd comparisons
between more closely related objects (such as a rose and love),
metaphysical conceits go to a greater depth in comparing two completely
unlike objects. One of the most famous of Donne's conceits is found in "A
Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" where he compares two lovers who are
separated to the two legs of a compass.

Homework
To complete table chart for what we studied
today and what you have studied with Miss
Peacock.

To prepare a 10 minute presentation in pairs on
how Donne uses a metaphysical conceit in one
of his Elegies to seduce a woman.

Presentations on Donne’s Elegies...
1) Read the poem aloud
2) Who is the subject/ object and ‘plot’ of the poem?
3) Identify the central metaphysical conceit and explain how the
image is developed?
4) How does this image effect the ‘imaginary subject’ and the
reader?
5) What is the tone of the poetic voice?
6) What is the form and structure of the poem – how does this
support the ideas of love presented?
7) What key words and language devices are used to present the
theme of love?
8) Can you form a comparison with another text we have studied?

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