Wyatt; Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; Sir Walter
Raleigh, and others. Music was also a part of this
cultural renaissance. Some of the leading compos-
ers of the day, whose music is still performed
in the early 2000s, include William Byrd, John
Dowland, and John Taverner.
Metaphysical Poetry
Metaphysical poetry is a term applied to a type of
poetry written mostly in the Jacobean Age, in
the early seventeenth century, although poets
also wrote metaphysical verse in the Elizabe-
than Age. The Jacobean Age refers to the reign
of James I (1603–1625). Leading metaphysical
poets were Donne, George Herbert, Richard
Crashaw, Abraham Cowley, Andrew Marvell,
and Henry Vaughan.
Metaphysical verse has great intellectual dex-
terity. It is characterized by word play often
involving paradoxes and puns, quick turns of
thought, and witty and unusual similes and meta-
phors known as conceits. A metaphysical conceit
is a sometimes outlandish comparison between
two very dissimilar things, made similar only
through the intellectual ingenuity of the poet.
The metaphysical poets exploited all areas of
common or everyday life and esoteric or schol-
arly knowledge in order to create these striking
conceits. For example, in ‘‘A Valediction: For-
bidding Mourning,’’ Donne wants to show that
the soul of his speaker and that of his lady love
can never be parted, and the poet constructs an
elaborate conceit that compares the souls of lov-
ers to the two feet of a draughtman’s compass;
each moves only in coordination with the other.
Critical Overview.
Donne’s poetry was influential and widely read
after his death and until the end of the seven-
teenth century, but after that his work fell into
neglect. In the early nineteenth century, during
the Romantic period, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
COMPARE
&
CONTRAST
Elizabethan Age: Mandrake has various
associations. Some think it is used as a poi-
son by witches. It is also seen as an aid to
fertility for women and also as a narcotic
that promotes sleep. Shakespeare mentions
it in the latter context inAntony and Cleopa-
traandOthello.
Today:Mandrake is used in small doses by
herbalists for various medical purposes. These
include as a stimulant for the liver and as a
purgative for the removal of waste products.
Elizabethan Age:In the privileged classes,
marriage is determined more by factors such
as wealth and social position than affection or
love. Suitable partners are often identified by
the families of the young people concerned,
although the future couple does have to agree
to the match. In London, the average age
at which people marry for the first time is
twenty-eight for men and between twenty
and twenty-one for women.
Today:In 2003, the average age of people
marrying for the first time in England is
thirty-one for men and twenty-nine for
women. People tend to make their own deci-
sions about marriage, and love is considered
a more important factor than wealth or
social position.
Elizabethan Age:In a superstitious age, fall-
ing stars and other astronomical phenomena
such as eclipses are often seen as portents
from heaven, signs of impending death or
disaster.
Today:Astronomical events are understood
entirely in scientific terms. They are not con-
sidered to have any effect, whether good or
bad, on human life.
Song
