Consider the means by which Donne and Milton convey intensity

of feeling in their works. How Metaphysical are those means?

The word metaphysical is self-explanatory; its meaning is beyond the
physical, it is a form of poetry that is highly intellectualised and contains
a huge amount of conceits, making the reader question things that he
would never question about God, religion and theology. One example is
Does God really exist? Metaphysical poetry deals a lot with weird and
far-fetched imagery and most of the time a subtle form of argument to
evade from the religious domain to consciousness. Samuel Johnson (1744)
is the one who first named a particular group of poets as metaphysical
poets and he stated that all the metaphysical poems of that group dealt
with similar characteristics such as conceits, learned imagery, subtle
argument and above all, they all relied on intellectual wit to convey their
feelings1. John Donne was part of that group and he was and still is
considered to be the leader of them all. Donnes Holy Sonnets contained
all the metaphysical elements stated by Johnson which allowed him to
convey intensity of feelings in his works. Despite not being labelled as a
metaphysical poet, John Milton also shared some of the metaphysical
characteristics. In his most famous work, Paradise Lost, he uses those
traits to convey his feelings and thoughts to his readers. In this paper, we
are going to explore some of the means mentioned above to see how both
poets make use of the metaphysical traits to make their works as intense
as they are.

One characteristic of metaphysical poetry that Donne uses all the time is
that of the abrupt dramatic opening lines of his poems as a start for an
argument. For example, Holy Sonnet 1 from the Holy sonnets, starts with
the line Thou hast made me, and shall Thy work decay? It is a rhetorical
question as well as a statement with a subtle argument to convey his
feelings about the creation of God. The t sounds suggest the violence
and harshness underneath. He questions God about why he created him
1 The Columbia Electronic Encyclopaedia, 2012. 6 th Ed.

(the speaker) when afterwards he has to decay. Therefore, within his

first line itself, he makes his readers get out from their religious sphere to
come into one of consciousness, fulfilling his characteristic as a
metaphysical poet. Despite being a priest, he does not hesitate in
transgressing the limitations of religion by questioning God and his
creation. He also uses his poems to convey his strong temptation towards
the old foe that is Satan and how hard he has to struggle to remain in
the right path. But our old subtle foe so tempth me that not one hour
myself I can sustain By this, we can deduce that he is not the conformist
priest from the seventeenth century. To support his rebellious nature, he
uses the personal, colloquial way to directly speak to God and in a certain
way, to confront God which can signify him elevating his own status to
meet that of God. This is clearly seen when he calls God Dear Christ
instead of my Lord in sonnet 18. However, Donnes utterances in the
Holy Sonnets do indicate him fulfilling his responsibility as a priest. Also,
the way he is always asking for forgiveness indicates that he is attempting
repentance. Hence, it can be deduced that using the metaphysical
characteristics, he mixes his unconventional writing with his preaching to
give his readers a very powerful imagery of his double feelings about God
and religion and hence puts them in the same dilemma, whether to be
religious or conscious.

John Miltons Paradise Lost is said to be the leader of the epic poetry with
metaphysical traits2 (Roscelli John William, 1625); it is a ten thousand lines
long narrative poem divided into twelve books which are all written in
blank verse. Milton claims that this poem of his is to justify the ways of
God to men but many critiques have argued that just like Donne, Milton
also seems to be rebellious and who is a true poet and of the Devils
party as stated by William Blake3. (Fish.S., 2002) Paradise Lost is the
2 Roscelli John William, The metaphysical Milton, 1625-1631. Vol 8, No 4.

3 Fish Stanley, How Milton Works, 2002.

retelling of the Biblical story of the fall of mankind, mostly taken from the
book of Genesis. However, in this story, Milton uses his finest language
with extremely powerful imagery to describe Satan, the rebellious angel
and Hell instead of Adam and Eve or even Heaven. He makes allusions to
the Leviathan and the Titans to describe the size of Satan. This
underlines his metaphysical trait as a poet. Also, Satan is described
majestically, with much grandeur and in a way that his readers are
compelled to be attracted to him and even feel sympathetic towards him.
So stretched out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay, Chained on the
burning lake; nor ever, Immortal Vigor, though oppressed and fallen,
I give not Heaven for lost: from this descent By this, we can feel his
attraction and sympathy towards Satan for being punished by God only
because he was in search of knowledge and wanted his independence.
Just like Donne, he questions God about why are people punished only for
wanting independence and knowledge, highlighting his strong feelings
about it. Thus, he gets out of the religious sphere and comes into
consciousness putting forward his second metaphysical trait along with his
weird and far-fetched imagery about the description of Satan, Sin and
Death.

To conclude, it can be said that both Donne and Milton are subtle admirers
of the Devil though they are supposed to be religious men. They both use
the metaphysical traits in their poems to convey their feelings about God
and religion.

They use their wits to start a very subtle argument with

what they question to make their readers also question their own faith in
God and theology and make them more conscious. However, they both
end their poems with God winning against the Devil which helps them in
maintaining their roles as religious men. Hence, it can be said that even
though they admire the Devil and question God, they know where they
should stand at the end of the day.

Bibliography

Donne John, Holy Sonnets, 1633

Fish Stanley, 2002, How Milton works. Harvard University Press. Available
from: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2002/07/18/did-milton-go-to-thedevils-party/
[Accessed February 22, 2016]

Milton John, Paradise Lost, 1667

Roscelli William John, The Metaphysical Milton, Vol 8 No 4. 1625-1631.

Texas: University of Texas Press. Available from:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40753915
[Accessed February 22, 2016]

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2012, Columbia University

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http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/entertainment/metaphysicalpoets.html
[Accessed February 21, 2016]