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John Donne (1572-1631) was born in a Catholic family in London. He first
studied at
Oxford (1584) and then at Cambridge (1587) and later studied law
at Lincoln’s Inn in London (1592). He lived a unstrained and dissolute life
in his youth. Because of a secret marriage to a noble lady, he was put into
prison. After his release, Donne gave up his Catholic faith and became an
Anglican. In 1621, he was appointed Dean of St. Paul’s by King James I.
He is the founder of Metaphysical Poetry. He liked using
conceit (an elaborate and surprising figure of speech, comparing two very
dissimilar things.) which can startle the reader into seeing and knowing
what he has not noticed before. Remarkable images, peculiar analogies,
reason and emotion together with complex rhythms are merged together in his
poetry. His poetry can be divided into two parts. The first part, written in
his youth and early manhood, mainly consists of love poems. The second part
contains chiefly divine poems and sermons written he took orders.
Donne’s love lyrics can also be divided into two groups. The poems of the
first group take a negative view to love, while those of the second group
were positive. In the poems of the first group, Donne gave up the
conventional romantic ideas about love and poetic methods in the Elizabethan
age. He did not passionately suggested sensual love. In the poem “Woman’s
Constancy”, he directly criticized women’s inconstancy and the incredibility
of women’s vows.
Now thou hast loved me one who day,
Tomorrow when thou leav’st, what wilt thou say?
Wilt thou then antedate some new-made vow?
Or say that now
We are not just those persons which we were?
In the poems of the second group, he showed his
confidence to true love, and even sanctifies love as something holy. In the
poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” (1611), the poet believes that if
love combines soul together, this love is sublime and will not be affected
by the far distance between lovers.
But we by’a love so much refined
That our selves know not what it is,
Inter-assured of the mind,
Careless, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.
Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A beach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat.
The holy sonnets contain 19 sonnets, which shows the
suffering of human soul and the desire to find eternal peace. The most
well-known one is “Death Be Not Proud”, which shows the poet’s religious
view towards death, that is, death is not horrifying.
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
…
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
Donne influenced a lot on his followers of the
metaphysical poets in the 17th century. He directly influenced George
Herbert (1593-1633) who was a priest. Herbert was strongly influenced by his
mother who was devoted herself to religion. His poems were collected into
The Temple which was published in 1633 soon after his death. Just like
Donne, Herbert employed quaint and ingenious imagery in his poems and showed
the conflict between his earthly desires and religious duty. In poem “The
Collar”, Herbert strongly voiced his desire at the beginning:
I struck the board and cried, No more;
I will abroad!
What? Shall I ever sigh and pine
My lines and life are free, free as the road,
Loose as the wind, as large as stone.
At the end, God’s calling calmed him down.
But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild
At every word,
Me thought I heard one calling, Child!
And I replied, My Lord.
Donne influenced Herrick who also influenced two other
poets in his time, Richard Crashaw (1613?-1649) and Henry Vaughan
(1621-1695). However, a more attractive figure in this Metaphysical School
is Andrew Marvell (1621-1678). He was a puritan and served as Milton’s
assistant in Latin Secretaryship when Milton was becoming blind. He was also
on of the men who saved Milton from death.
Like Donne, Marvell liked using conceits, which could
be observed obviously in his poem “To His Coy Mistress”. However, Marvell
also added the writing skill of classical writers which made his language
not as rough and obscure as that of the Metaphysical poets. Thus, he is more
acceptable by people.
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