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PGEG S1 02 (Block 2) PGEG SI 02 KRISHNA KANTA HANDIQUI STATE OPEN UNIVERSITY Patgaon, Rani Gate, Guwahati-781017 SEMESTER 1 MA IN ENGLISH COURSE 2: ENGLISH POTERY: CHAUCER TO THE NEO-CLASSICAL BLOCK 2: METAPHYSICAL POETRY TO MILTON CONTENTS Unit 6: Introducing Metaphysical Poetry Unit 7: John Donne: “The Good Morrow”, “Death Be Not Proud” Unit 8: Andrew Marvell: “To His Coy Mistress” and “The Garden” Unit 9: John Milton: Paradise Lost “Book I” (Part I) Unit 10: John Milton: Paradise Lost “Book I” (Part II) REFERENCES : For All Units Subject Experts Prof. Pona Mahanta, Former Head, Department of English, Dibrugarh University Prof. Ranjit Kumar Dev Goswami, Srimanta Sankardeva Chair, Tezpur University Prof. Bibhash Choudhury, Department of English, Gauhati University Course Coordinator : Dr. Prasenjit Das, Assistant Professor, Department of English, KKHSOU SLM Preparation Team Units Contributors 6 & 8 Chayanika Roy, KKHSOU 7 Bashabi Gogoi, Former Academic Consultant, KKHSOU 9 & 10 Dr. Pritima Sarma, Former Academic Consultant, KKHSOU & Dr. Prasenjit Das Editorial Team Content: Prof. Udayon Misra, Former Head, Department of English, Dibrugarh University (Units 7,9,10) In house Editing (Units 6 & 8) Structure, Format and Graphics: Dr. Prasenjit Das May, 2017 This Self Learning Material (SLM) of the Krishna Kanta Handiqui State University is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike4.0 License (International) : http.//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 Printed and published by Registrar on behalf of the Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University. Headquarters: Patgaon, Rani Gate, Guwahati-781017 City Office: Housefed Complex, Dispur, Guwahati-781006; Web: www.kkhsou.in The University acknowledges with strength the financial support provided by the Distance Education Bureau, UGC for preparation of this material. SEMESTER 1 MA IN ENGLISH COURSE 2: ENGLISH POTERY: CHAUCER TO THE NEO-CLASSICAL BLOCK 2: METAPHYSICAL POETRY TO MILTON DETAILED SYLLABUS Unit 6 : Introducing Metaphysical Poetry Page : 91 - 107 The Tradition of Metaphysical Poetry, Beginning and Development, Important Practitioners: John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, Henry Vaughan, Abraham Cowley, Andrew Marvell, Critical Receptions of Metaphysical Poetry Unit 7 : John Donne: “The Good Morrow” & “Death Be Not Proud” Page : 108 - 124 John Donne: Life and Works, Reading the Poem: “The Sun Rising”, and “Death Be Not Proud”, Donne’s Poetic Style Unit 8 : Andrew Marvell: “To His Coy Mistress” and “The Garden” Page : 125 - 142 Andrew Marvell: Life and Works, Reading the Poems: “To His Coy Mistress” and “The Garden”, Marvell’s Poetic Style Unit 9 : John Milton: Paradise Lost “Book I” (Part I) Page : 143 - 157 John Milton: Life and Works, Context of the Poem Paradise Lost, Extracts from Paradise Lost (Book I) Unit 10 : John Milton: Paradise Lost “Book I” (Part II) Page : 158 - 171 The Plot of Paradise Lost, Reading Paradise Lost (Book I), Milton’s Poetic Style BLOCK INTRODUCTION This is the second Block of the Course 2. This Block introduces you to Metaphysical poetry, which shall be studies in terms of a few poems selected from the great metaphysical poets like John Donne and Andrew Marvell of the 17th century. The 17th century poets still recognised God as the source of order. Yet, secular elements began to emerge with the Metaphysical poets like John Donne who excelled in his use of witty paradoxes and ingenious ideas. However, towards the end of the century, the focus of poetry becomes almost entirely secular. Although the 17th century poets like John Donne lost their popularity in the subsequent period, it was the modern poet, T. S. Eliot who restored the significance of these 17th century poets collectively known as the Metaphysical poets. Another significant 17th century poet is John Milton in whose poetry; especially in his epic Paradise Lost, we encounter the changes taking place during the Civil War of 1642-51 and the aftermath. Block 2 : Metaphysical poetry to Milton is divided into five units, which are as the following: Unit 6: Introducing Metaphysical Poetry serves as the introduction to Metaphysical Poetry. There has been no such thing as metaphysical poetry during the 17th century. However, the term was later applied to a certain group of poets of the 17th century, owing to the common features and techniques, use of wit and conceits in their poems. The knowledge about new scientific changes perplexed the minds of the poets of the 17th century, and triggered in them a tendency to challenge existing ideas and thoughts of the universe. The metaphysical poets emerged during such a literary climate with an aim to introduce newer poetic techniques, mixing intellect with emotions. Unit 7: John Donne: “The Good Morrow” & “Death Be Not Proud” deals with two poems by John Donne: ‘The Sun Rising’ and ‘Death, Be Not Proud’. John Donne was the leading English poet of the Metaphysical School of Poetry, and is often considered to be one of the greatest love poets in the English language. From this unit, the learners will be able to get some ideas contained in these two poems, while at the same time, also being acquainted with Donne’s poetic style characterised by his use of conceits, paradox and puns. Unit 8: Andrew Marvell: “To His Coy Mistress” and “The Garden” deals with Marvell’s poems namely “To His Coy Mistress” and “The Garden”. Just like Donne, Andrew Marvell is also acclaimed as one of the finest metaphysical poets. “To his Coy Mistress” is often considered one of Marvell’s finest poems. The second poem “The Garden” too is often considered a famous English poem in which the poet’s personal emotions and feelings are told throughout the words of nature. Unit 9: John Milton: Paradise Lost “Book I” (Part I) deals with the life and works of John Milton with special reference to his epic poem Paradise Lost. Milton was a controversial writer of his time. Being a strict Puritan, he openly challenged some of the very basic biblical doctrines, particularly Preordination and Free will, which he deals with in Paradise Lost. Unit 10: John Milton: Paradise Lost “Book I” (Part II), which needs to be studied along with the previous unit, deals with a detailed analysis of the various aspects of the poem Paradise Lost. What is so striking is the fact that the whole poem cannot be considered a continuous narrative as the main story begins in the middle (In Medias Res), and earlier events are presented in terms of dreams, reminiscences and conversations. While going through a unit, you may also notice some text boxes, which have been included to help you know some of the difficult terms and concepts. You will also read about some relevant ideas and concepts in “LET US KNOW” along with the text. We have kept “CHECK YOUR PROGRESS” questions in each unit. These have been designed to self-check your progress of study. The hints for the answers to these questions are given at the end of the unit. We advise that you answer the questions immediately after you finish reading the section in which these questions occur. We have also included a few books in the “FURTHER READING” list, which will be helpful for your further consultation. The books referred to in the preparation of the units have been added at the end of the block. As you know, the world of literature is too big and so we advise you not to take a unit to be an end in itself. Despite our attempts to make a unit self-contained, we advise that you should read the original texts of the writers as well as other additional materials for a thorough understanding of the contents of a particular unit. UNIT 6: INTRODUCING METAPHYSICAL POETRY UNIT STRUCTURE 6.1 Learning Objectives 6.2 Introduction 6.3 The Tradition of Metaphysical Poetry 6.4 Beginning and Development 6.5 Important Practitioners 6.6 Receptions of Metaphysical Poetry in Subsequent Periods 6.7 Let us Sum up 6.8 Answers to Check Your Progress (Hints only) 6.9 Further Reading 6.10 Possible Questions 6.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After going through this unit, you will be able to: • gather an idea of the 17th century lyric poets who were commonly called metaphysical poets • trace the beginning of metaphysical poetry • analyse the common features in the poems of the metaphysical poets • explain the development of metaphysical poetry and discuss its major practitioners • analyse the impact of metaphysical poetry in the works of later writers 6.2 INTRODUCTION This is the first unit of this Block and serves as the introduction to Metaphysical Poetry. This unit deals with some poets of the 17th century grouped under the term “metaphysical poets”, and the various nuances that are characteristics of their works. You must keep one thing in mind that there was no such thing as metaphysical poetry during the 17th century. However, the term was later applied to a certain group of poets of the 17th Metaphysical Poetry to Milton (Block – 2) 91 Unit 6 Introducting Metaphysical Poetry century, owing to the common features and techniques, use of wit and conceits in their poems. Here we shall discuss the tradition of metaphysical poetry that began in the 17th century, differing from the preceding age in employing spiritual themes and unique comparisons. As you know, the Renaissance and Reformation led the way to a vast socio-political change in the society creating religious and political crisis. The knowledge about new scientific changes perplexed the minds of the writers and triggered in them a tendency to challenge existing ideas and thoughts of the universe. The metaphysical poets emerged during such a literary climate with an aim to introduce newer poetic techniques, mixing intellect with emotions. By tracing the beginning of metaphysical poetry, we shall in this unit, reflect on its development, and analyse its important characteristics.
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