Andrew Marvell as a Metaphysical Poet
Metaphysical
poetry is a revolt against the Elizabethan poetry of conventional form and
theme. By metaphysical poetry we mean that type of new school of poetry which
implies some salient characteristics (of abrupt and striking beginning, complexity,
dramatic quality, blending of passion and intellectuality, argument and wit,
conceits and images, philosophic and reflective tone, the use of colloquial
language etc.) To justify Marvell as a true metaphysical poet, we should
discuss the various aspects that we find in his representative poems especially
in ‘To His Coy Mistress’ and ‘The Definition of Love’.
The
abrupt and striking beginning is a common aspect of metaphysical poetry that we
find in Marvell’s poetry. Such kind of abrupt beginning must arrest the
attention of the readers instantly to go into the depth of the theme. Let us
quote the beginning two lines from ‘To His Coy Mistress’:
Had we but world enough and Time,/This coyness Lady
were no crime.’
Another aspect
of metaphysical poetry is the use of colloquial language in a dramatic tone and
Marvell’s poetry is no exception. He uses the familiar and simple
conversational style of language very effectively.
Another
important aspect of Marvell’s metaphysical poetry is the argumentative presentation.
To express their spiritual love which has separated two lovers, Marvel has
shown some argument in the following lines of ‘The Definition of love’:
‘As lines so loves oblique may well/Themselves in
every Angle greet: But ours so truly parallel,/Through infinite can
never meet’.
The
fusion between passion and intellect is a fundamental aspect of metaphysical
poetry and Marvell’s poetry must bear this testimony. In ‘The Definition of
Love’, the emotion is expressed in an intellectual manner. The following lines
are very much apt to this context:
Therefore the love which us doth bind/But Fate so
enviously debars
Is the conjunction of the mind,/And opposition of
the Stars’.
This blending of
emotion and thought is vividly revealed in the poem ‘To His Coy Mistress’. In
this poem the poet becomes deeply passionate in his expression of physical love
in praising his beloved’s beauty and convincing her to enjoy sexual ecstasy
with him but the whole poem is based upon logically developed lines of
reasoning and argument.
Metaphysical
conceits and wits are the most striking aspect of metaphysical poetry. Marvell
has shown his marvelous skill in the use of far-fetched images, wits and
conceits. The poem ‘The Definition of Love’ abounds in wits and conceits. For example:
‘It was begotten by Despair/Upon Impossibility’.
One of the finest conceits of Marvell is found in
‘To His Coy Mistress’ where he compares his love thus:
‘My
vegetable love should grow/Vaster than Empire, and more slow’
According to the above discussion there is no
denying the fact that Marvell is a metaphysical poet.
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