Information about the Metaphysical Movement
- The Metaphysical Movement has English origins and succeeded the Elizabethan Era.
- Poets grouped together as metaphysical poets didn't even know they were in the same category at the time and did not read each other's work.
- Metaphysical poetry is not considered a genre of poetry.
- "Meta" comes from the word meaning "after." Literally translated, "Metaphysical" means "after the physical".
- Poetry of this movement was difficult and obscure but highly realistic.
Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry
- Big issues where addressed with the use of wit or humor
- Poets compared dissimilar objects, such as the soul to a drop of dew
- The poems where complex in that they contained irony, paradox, and conceits
- Big questions such as the existence of God or if humans could possibly perceive the world and universe where pondered
- Contained introspective meditations about love, death, God, and the humanity of life
- Meant to shock the reader and allow readers to question the unquestionable by waking them from their normal existence
- Many consisted of religious sentiments or discussed the theme of "carpe diem"
- The poems are about both thought and feeling
- Known for dramatically unfolding the truth through irony, conceits, and shifts in scale
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