Universität Bielefeld

Anglistik: British and American Studies (BA)

A Survey of British Literature (Beleg-Nr. 230525)

Basic Module 3: Introduction: Studying Literatures in English

Semester: 2

John Donne ­ "The Flea" and Andrew Marvell ­ "To His Coy Mistress"

Metaphysical Poetry: Virginity, Sexuality and Seduction in Conceits

Daniela Schulze

Anglistik (KF) / Germanistik (NF), Fachsemester 2

Abgabedatum: 3 September 2007

Table of Content

1. Introduction _____________________________________________________________ 3

2. Metaphysical Poetry and Conceits____________________________________________ 4

3. Virginity, Sexuality and Seduction in Conceits__________________________________ 5

3.1 The Wit of Conceit in ,,The Flea" ______________________________________________ 5

3.2 The Wit of Conceit in "To His Coy Mistress" ____________________________________ 6

3.3 Similarities and Differences of Donne′s and Marvell′s Poetry _______________________ 8

4. Conclusion _____________________________________________________________ 10

5. Bibliography ____________________________________________________________ 11

5.1 Works Cited_______________________________________________________________ 11

5.2 Appendix _________________________________________________________________ 12

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1. Introduction

How are poets like John Donne and Andrew Marvell able to write about an apparent

theme that offers a completely different profound meaning if the reader scrutinizes the poem?

What does the metaphysical author really intent to say with his poem? In this term paper I try

to answer these questions and a lot more.

First I have to clarify what metaphysical poetry and conceits are. For that reason I want to

give a short overview of the 17th century, the main issues of that time and who were leading

poets. Moreover, I will point out the characteristics of conceits, which are explained in more

detail in the course of this paper, using the example of two poems. Then I will give a short

analysis of these poems called "The Flea" by John Donne and "To His Coy Mistress" by

Andrew Marvell. This analysis will be extended to an in-depth analysis of the conceits (type,

style of writing, theme, etc.), but I will merely concentrate on the most salient aspects, which

are connected to virginity, sexuality or seduction, because a whole analysis would break the

mould. In a next step I will introduce an analysis of similarities and differences of Donne′s

and Marvell′s literature, having a look at the poets′ background, because I expect some

astounding coherences with the theme of the poems. At last, I will summarise all my results in

a conclusion. For all my suppositions I will consult a lot of secondary literature to prove my

ideas and results.

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2. Metaphysical Poetry and Conceits

Metaphysical poetry denominates a literary movement in the 17th century and is part of the

period of Baroque, represented by Donne, Marvell and other famous poets. Johnson "remarks

of them that ′the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together′." (Eliot 43). The

book

Englische Literaturgeschichte

helps to define metaphysical poetry more precisely: A

major topic is religion, even more frequently there is only love poetry, which is commonly

very sensuous and drastic in marked contrast to metaphysics but yet is a central theme for the

poets of that time. The arguments in the poems are usually selected for a matter of changeover

or cajolery procedure. Marvell and Donne compress erotic ideas in conceits, what means that

elements of two widely separated fields of reality are trenchantly copped. The conceits are

often actually seeking for darkness and mystery. This technique is also called "strong lined"

(Seeber 109). But even in the century of Donne and Marvell the pictorial language was treated

depreciatory. The poets seem affected and as if their uppermost aim is to impress the people

by presenting their wit. Metaphysical poetry can be seen as a break with the conventionalised

Elizabethan poetry. The School of Donne, who was denominated the father of metaphysical

poetry, is featured by an emphatic, impetuous way of speech, often colloquial and of an

appellative nature. It is essential for the poets to avoid a sophisticated choice of language as

effectively as possible. The issues are provocative; most poems deal not with love as a feeling

but with physical desires and the premarital act of love-making, some even canonise the

sexual intercourse. Love will be materialised, which is absolutely against all English

traditions of that time (Seeber 108-110). The

Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary

Theory

gives the marks of metaphysical poetry: "conceits (showing a preoccupation with

analogies between macrocosm and microcosm), wit, ingenuity . . . a linking for paradox and

dialectical argument" (Cuddon 508). The essence of metaphysical poetry is the intellectual

delectation; the poets often merge secular ideas and colloquial language with witty subtleness.

A proper definition of conceits is provided by W. R. Moses. He says that a conceit is "a

passage which causes imaginative shock, usually through the stated or clearly implied linkage

of things or ideas from different associational categories" (19). That implies that the concept

of the poem, the basic idea, cannot be perceived without understanding the conceit, which is

often extended to the whole poem. The categories the images are taken from must be so

contradictory that the reader is surprised, even shocked. The imaginative distance decelerates

apprehension (Moses 8), therefore we can also speak of "bold metaphors", like Bode does in

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