Metaphysical poets.
Metaphysics is the philosophy of being and Knowing, but this term was originally applied to a group of seventeenth-century poets in a derogatory manner. Dryden in his Discourse of Satire (1693) remarked that John Donne 'affects the metaphysics'. meaning that Donne's poetry was full of ingenious, abstruse and unnecessary argument Dr. Johnson in his, 'Life of Cowley' (1779) applied the term 'metaphysical' to all the seventeenth century poets who wrote like Donne.
The other 'Metaphysicals' are Herbert, Vaughan and Crashaw (all
of whose poems are mainly, religious,) and Cleveland, Marvell and Cowley. Each of these poets has a strongly individual style, but there are still some common features that allow the identification of something like a 'Metaphysical style'. The chief feature of Donne's poetry is his abrasive colloquiality, especially in contrast with the smooth Elizabethan LYRICS that preceded him. His poems often start with an exclamation and take the form of an argument with another person, lover or God. !n these arguments Donne likes to indulge in fantastical nights of logic. bringing in an extraordinary range of discordant imagery and ideas ."A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning' (1633), for example, compares his leaving home to a dying man. surrounded by friends; makes a blasphemous comparison between his love and religion; discusses earthquakes, astronomy and the relining of gold and finishes with a famous comparison between his love and a pair of compasses drawing a circle: all this in a love poem trying to persuade someone not to weep. It is this density and range of metaphorical association, and the witty display of ingenious comparisons and CONCEITS, clever PARADOXES and Puns, that the other poets copied and modified into their own separate styles.
It is exactly these qualities that twentieth-century writers like T. S. Eliot and especially the New CRITICS admired, to the extent that the Metaphysicals have come to be regarded as major poets: former ages tended to consider them eccentric and unnecessarily difficult.
Metaphysical poetry: Although the term metaphysical may be applied to any poetry dealing with spiritual or philosophical matters, it is usually limited to the work of a group of seventeenth-century poets, of whom John Donne is the most notable. Other so-called Metaphysical poets (in no sense a "school") were Marvell, Cleveland, Cowley, Crashaw, Herbert, and Vaughan.
The work of these poets is characterized by the use of ordinary speech ("For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love"), combined with puns, paradoxes, elaborate and startling conceits, and abstruse terminology, often drawn from the science of the day. The poems sometimes take the form of arguments, for the Metaphysicals characteristically link intense emotion with intel¬lectual ingenuity. In their amorous verse, some of the Metaphysi¬cal poets, particularly Donne and Marvell, utilize ideas drawn from Renaissance Neo-Platonism to depict the relationship of soul to body and the union of lovers' souls. The range, however, of Metaphysical poetry is extensive: from Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," a poem about the brevity of life and the desirability of ***ual consummation, to Herbert's "Easter Wings," a poem of yearning for the resurrection of the poet's spirit.
In the seventeenth century, John Dryden, in his "Discourse on the Origin and Progress of Satire" (1693), said that Donne "affects the metaphysics," meaning that he was too much given to intellectual analysis (Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," for example, compares a pair of lovers to the legs of a drawing compass). Extending the term metaphysical to designate the group of poets who v/rote in this style, Dr. Johnson, in his "Life of Cowley" (1778), complained: "The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions; their learning instructs and their subtlety surprises; but the reader commonly thinks his improvements dearly bought, and, though he sometimes admires, is seldom pleased." In the late nineteenth century, a new interest in Donne arose (particularly on the part of such critics as Edmund Gosse and Arthur Symons) after long neglect (the Romantics, understandably, saw little to admire in Metaphysical poetry); the Grierson edition or Donne's poetry in 1912 stimulated further interest, as did T. S. Eliot's famous essay, "The Metaphysical Poets" (1921

 
Metaphysics is the philosophy of being and Knowing.Dryden in his

Discourse of Satire (1693) remarked that John Donne 'affects the

metaphysics'.

The chief feature of Donne's poetry is his abrasive colloquiality, especially

in contrast with the smooth Elizabethan LYRICS that preceded him. His

poems often start with an exclamation and take the form of an argument

with another person, lover or God.!n these arguments Donne likes to

indulge in fantastical nights of logic. bringing in an extraordinary range of

discordant imagery and ideas ."A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning'

(1633), for example, compares his leaving home to a dying man.
The Metaphysicals have come to be regarded as major poets: former ages

tended to consider them eccentric and unnecessarily difficult.

Metaphysical poetry: Although the term metaphysical may be applied to

any poetry dealing with spiritual or philosophical matters, it is usually

limited to the work of a group of seventeenth-century poets, of whom John

Donne is the most notable. The work of these poets is characterized by

the use of ordinary speech ("For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me

love"), combined with puns, paradoxes, elaborate and startling conceits,

and abstruse terminology, often drawn from the science of the day.The

poems sometimes take the form of arguments, for the Metaphysicals

characteristically link intense emotion with intel¬lectual ingenuity.
Metaphysical poetry is extensive: Herbert's "Easter Wings," a poem of

yearning for the resurrection of the poet's spirit.Extending the term

metaphysical to designate the group of poets who v/rote in this style, Dr.

Johnson, in his "Life of Cowley" (1778), complained: "The most

heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are

ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions.

In the late nineteenth century, a new interest in Donne arose after long

neglect the Grierson edition or Donne's poetry in 1912 stimulated further

interest, as did T. S. Eliot's famous essay, "The Metaphysical Poets