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

Medieval

Geoffrey Chaucer

Troilus and Criseyde

Epic Pain language, quiet woman, apostrophe.

Courtly Love, tragic death, use of the matchmaker in Pandarus, young love separated by politics/ war.

Geoffrey Chaucer

The Knight’s Tale, Canterbury Tales

Tale Elevated Language, traditional & proper

Courtly Love, objectification/ idolisation of woman, desire interrupting male world, true love allows order/ security

Geoffrey Chaucer

The Miller’s Tale, Canterbury Tales

Fabliaux Shock of rude words, parody, humour, burlesque

Bawdy, sexual innuendo, crudity. Woman as cruel and manipulative. Mockery of courtly lover.

Tudor Anon Greensleeves Ballad Repetition, sexual and material image.

Adoration of woman undercut by associations with materialism and promiscuity. Objectification of women.

Thomas Wyatt

They Flee From Me

Lyric Ambiguous imagery (birds), dislocation, caesura.

Love gone wrong, love causes mental paralysis, power battles between the sexes. Desire causes emasculation.

Thomas Wyatt

Sonnet 2 – I Find No Peace

Shakespearean Sonnet

Antithesis and paradoxical opposites, tight control.

Love causes paralysis, Petrarchan Lover, Unrequited love, love as a seat of contradiction and extreme eotion.

Elizabethan

William Shakespeare

Sonnet 18 – Shall I Compare Thee...?

Shakespearean Sonnet

Extended similes, smooth metre, elevated language

Petrarchan Lover, Woman elevated through similes, Woman as muse.

William Shakespeare

Sonnet 130 – My Mistress’ Eyes

Shakespearean Sonnet

Inversions of traditional expectations, practicality.

Inversion of sonnet conventions of Petrarchan lover; insulting woman; practical and real approach,

William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet Romantic Tragedy

Parody, Sonnet through dialogue on stage, couplet.

Romeo as a satire of Elizabethan melancholy lover (Petrarchan lover) and then use of sonnet with Juliet.

Romantic

John Keats When I have fears...

Shakespearean Sonnet

Extended metaphors, natural imagery, slow metre

Use of nature and the sublime to inspire love for poetry and woman, impossibility of love, love of writing & self.

Victorian

Louise Bevington

Am I To Lose You? Shakespearean Sonnet

Direct speech, feminine poetic persona, simple lang

Inversion of male poetic persona, a woman leaving a man, difference between romantic and platonic love.

Postmodern

Gavin Ewart The Last Things Shakespearean Sonnet

Breakdown of rhyme scheme, colloquial.

Parody of sonnet, breakdown of structures in grief, filial love of father &disappointment of human relationships.

Postmodern

Douglas Dunn

The Kaleidoscope Shakespearean Sonnet

Simple language, caesura, ‘redesigned’ structure, domestic imagery.

Grief and mourning for lost wife, love as domestic and enriching, practical, loss of love leads to dislocation

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?

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.

“like an usurpt towne” – Poetic

Persona compares itself to a conquered town in battle – it is a long, extended simile/

metaphor. This is 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, overwhelmed with love for a woman, usually in pain and conflicted.Object of poem – A beautiful woman, although rarely directly described, who resists seduction.

Plot – a courtly lover writes a love poem to seduce/ admire a woman who he can never be with.

Imagery – beautiful, grandiose images used to describe object of poem – usually one per quatrain.

14 linesIambic Pentameter - 10 syllables in each line, with rhythm ‘De-DUM’

Three Quatrains – 3 groups of four rhyming lines, a new idea/ image introduced in each.

Final Couplet – 2 lines that rhyme, often offer a resolution to the problems proposed in quatrains.Strict Rhyme Scheme - ABAB OR ABBA in the three quatrains and then CC in the couplet

Volta separates Octave and Sestet – change of tone, attitude, place, tense, ideas.

Strict punctuation – typically one idea (or sentence) per quatrain.

No title – either the number of the sequence or the first line.

What do you make of the sentences? Easy/ difficult to follow?

Critical Comments on the poetHis 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.

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.

GOD

“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 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.

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; 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.

Male violent lover

An invading force

A husband

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 Donne1) 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

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.

The King James Bible

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVzLN9lGToE

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.

St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre 1572Though by no means unique, it "was the worst of the century's

religious massacres." [2] Throughout Europe, it "printed

on Protestant minds the indelible conviction that

Catholicism was a bloody and treacherous religion".

Effect in EnglandThe 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.

ANGEL

Divine intellect and soul.

Animal desires and body.LION

Man’s position – between the angels and beasts

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 5The 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 aloud2) 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?