Transcript Edward Taylor and the Metaphysical Poets

English 441
September 8, 2010
 The
term "metaphysical poets" designates the
work of 17th-century English poets who were
using similar methods and who revolted
against the romantic conventionalism of
Elizabethan love poetry that was prevalent
from ~1550 – 1600. Think Shakespeare’s
sonnets!


a penchant for imagery that is novel,
"unpoetical" and sometimes shocking, drawn
from the commonplace (actual life) or the
remote (erudite sources), including use of the
metaphysical conceit
The best metaphysical poetry is honest,
unconventional, and reveals the poet's sense
of the complexities and contradictions of life.
It is intellectual, analytical, psychological,
and bold; frequently it is absorbed in thoughts
of death, physical love, and religious devotion.
 In
England, John Donne was the
acknowledged leader of the metaphysical
poets (though they themselves would not
have used the term, nor have considered
themselves to constitute a "school" of
poetry).
 We
see the influence of these metaphysical
poets in early America in the likes of Anne
Bradstreet and Edward Taylor. We talked
about Anne Bradstreet’s use of metaphysical
conceits last week, specifically her poems
“The Author to Her Book” and “In Reference
to Her Children, 23 June 1659.”
 But in Edward Taylor, his leanings toward
metaphysical poetry are even stronger,
specifically his poems “Huswifery” and “A Fig
for Thee, Oh! Death”
A
far-fetched and ingenious extended
comparison used by metaphysical poets to
explore all areas of knowledge. It finds
telling and unusual analogies for the poet's
ideas in the startlingly esoteric or the
shockingly commonplace -- not the usual
stuff of poetic metaphor.
MARK but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
Thou know'st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead;
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two;
And this, alas ! is more than we would do.
O stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, yea, more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.
Though parents grudge, and you, we're met,
And cloister'd in these living walls of jet.
Though use make you apt to kill me,
Let not to that self-murder added be,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.
Cruel and sudden, hast thou since
Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?
Wherein could this flea guilty be,
Except in that drop which it suck'd from thee?
Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou
Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now.
'Tis true ; then learn how false fears be;
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.
1633
 Note
the use of domestic imagery in
"Huswifery." Why do you think Taylor chooses
imagery taken from the domestic sphere to
express his religious sentiments in this
poem?
 Is it significant that his God is here presented
as a housewife rather than, say, a judge or a
soldier?
DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die. 1633
 How
does Taylor’s poem differ from Donne’s?