JOHN DONNE (1572-1631) GEORGE HERBERT (1593-1633) ROBERT HERRICK (1591-1674) ANDREW MARVELL (1621-1678)  Relevant Links Theme:  Traditional Concepts of Love  Style:  Metaphysical Poetry & Platonic Love Baroque:  Rubens' Paintings  in comparison with Caravaggio &Rembrandt "hightened sensuality combined with spirituality"

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY POETRY Peter Paul Rubens Garden of Love c.  1638 Museo del Prado, Madrid. Rubens and his young wife, Helene, the couple at the far left, are shown in a garden, about to join a group of obviously loving couples. [Rubens' own house in the background, and Venus and cupids on the left] ... The colors are soft and warm, light, gay, ripe, and sensous.  The figures melt into each other in a soft, flowing rhythm.  ...The courtly man in the broad-brimmed hat introduces us to a world that will be, more and more, the subject of art--a golden time without pian or anxiety. (from The Humanities 4th ed.  p. 136).

Jack Donne
 from John Donne site National Portrait Gallery Image Digimarc Copyright Protected
JOHN DONNE (1572-1631)

"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" E-Text with notes Questions for Group Discussion and Journal The occasion of the poem is the immanent, though temporary, separation of two lovers.  The poet argues, paradoxically, that their separation is too momentous for such trivial displays of emotions and that the separation is merely illusory. The first stanza describes the death of "virtuous men." To what is their death compared in the second stanza? (Pay attention to the "As...So" sentence pattern. The word "melt" means more than its literal meaning.)

• the words "laity" (meaning laymen, or people not belonging to clergyman or a given profession), "dull" and "sublunary";
• the comparison between earthquake and the movement of heavenly spheres (stanza 3);
• the comparison of the two attitudes toward parting (stanzas 4 and 5).
1. What does the title mean? ("Valediction" means farewell utterances.) With all the metaphors for parting we've got so far (death of virtuous men, movement of heavenly spheres, the beating of gold foil), as well as the speaker's attitude toward parting, it should be easy to understand why mourning is not necessary for the lovers. What else is their parting from each other compared to (in stanzas 6 and 7)? (Look, again, for the words "like" and "as".)
2. How do you like comparing the two lovers to a compass, with one foot fixed in the center, and the other making a circle around?

 

"The Flea" E-Text Questions for Group Discussion and Journal In this poem, the speaker tries to persuade his mistress to go to bed with him and to demontrate that the reasons for resistance are trivial. How is the flea used in his persuasion? (Clue: the song §A»ú§Ú»ú¡^ Describe the speaker's tone. It may help you to understand this poem to realize that during the seventeenth century it was believed that women became pregnant when the blood of the man (present in his semen) mixed with her blood during sexual intercourse. With this in mind, what do the first six lines of the second stanza mean to you?

1.  Look up the term "conceit" in your handbook or our databank. How is the flea in this poem an example of a conceit?  Is the poet contradictory in comparing the flea first to what the lady denies him, to an impregnated being, and then to the honor which might be lost if the lady "yields" to him?.
2. Why does the speaker say that to kill the flea would be "three sins in killing three"?
3. In the third stanza, the woman has killed the flea. What is the speaker's response to that?

What is your response to the speaker's argument in the poem?

More questions (offered by a course in MSMS)  . . .

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John Donne: Relevant Links

• The Life of John Donne (local site with a lot of links to foreign historical sites)-- from John Donne Page of  Luminarium
• John Donne Page: A Donne page with portrait, bio, links, and e-texts¡Xas well as links to critical essays on Donne, Jonson, Herbert, and others.  Quite a helpful site from Luminarium!

• Student Discussion on "The Flea" from U of Texas
• TOPIC: CONCEITS, JOHN DONNE (Poem: "The Flea" by John Donne)

• The Analysis is Donne!  A general online essay about Donne's religious conflicts, with a brief mention of ¡""Valediction."
• JOHN DONNE: The Love Poems brief online essay about Donne's love poetry
• John Donne's Love Poetry and Rock N' Roll
• Love in Shakespeare and Donne - Ryan Pinkston
• Early Modern Conceit-- online essay about Donne and metaphysical conceits, by Lea Jackson from Missouri.
• An untitled essay on Donne and Herbert--by Shanyn Saving from Missouri.

• John Donne: Relevant Links: biographical, images & miscellaneous
• A resource guide to the works of John Donne ¡@
• John Donne with bio, e-texts and links, from the Poetry Archive

George Herbert "Easter Wings" Relevant Links               Left: George Herbert from George Herbert Homepage

"Easter Wings" E-Text Questions for Group Discussion and Journal This poem is a good example of a visual poem. Describe the visual pattern that the words make on the page. Is the poem more than just a picture? How does this poem also engage your mind and emotion? How does it also use sounds, such as rhyme and rhythm, to attract your ears? Herbert was an Anglican minister, and this poem presents some of his religious beliefs. He believed, for example, that sin caused the "fall" of humanity from the Garden of Eden. He also believed that Jesus Christ, when He rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, redeemed people from sin and restored them to their original spiritual "wealth and store." How are these religious views about people's fall and rising again reflected in the form and content of the poem? One of the themes of this poem is human diminution and regrowth. How do the visual pattern and sounds emphasize that theme?¡@

from The Seventeenth Century Literature site  of  The University of Nebraska at Omaha; another manuscript

• The Life of  George Herbert  of  Luminarium
• George Herbert Page  of Luminarium
• George Herbert Homepage --an impressive site created by students!  Centering around the poem, "The Windows," it offers a good history page which has bio, as well as general introduction to his poetry and theology ("The Windows of George Herbert's Life").
• Herbert's Biography: from The Seventeenth Century Literature site produced by students from The University of Nebraska at Omaha

• A Painting of Herbert "George Herbert at Bemerton" by W. Dyce

• Three Student's On-line papers on "Easter Wings" from a course (English 200 - A Survey of British Literature to the Restoration - Fall 1997) in Malaspina:

1.Derek Henson;   2. Mica Stewart;   3. Cathy Larmand

• A lively discussion of Herbert's poetry by students from U. of Texas

• "Affliction and Flight in Herbert's Poetry"
• E-Texts of George Herbert from U of Toronto

The George Herbert Resources Page, with small reproductions of the "Easter Wings" manuscripts:  from The Seventeenth Century Literature site produced by students from The University of Nebraska at Omahaebraska at Omaha

1. What does the word "liquefaction" in the first stanza mean?  (Hint: it is related to the word "liquid.")  How does the word "liquefaction" continue the action of the verb "flows" in the second line?
2. What clothes is Julia wearing in the first stanza? What is she wearing in the second stanza, or is she not wearing clothes at all in the last three lines?
3. How do the three-line stanzas, called triplets, and the rhymes contribute to the central contrast of the poem?

 

 
 
 

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Robert Herrick: Relevant Links

• The Life of  Robert Herrick of  Luminarium
• Robert Herrick Page  of Luminarium
• Herrick's Biography from The Seventeenth Century Literature site produced by students from The University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Robert Herrick - Robert Herrick Herrick, Robert (1591-1674), English Cavalier poet, whose work is noted for its diversity of form and for its style, melody, and feeling. He was born in London and educated at the University of Cambridge. In 1629 he became vicar of...
• Another biography

• Robert Herrick --from Luminarium

• The Robert Herrick Resources page from The Seventeenth Century Literature site produced by students from The University of Nebraska at Omaha
• More poems by Herrick "Upon a Chilld," "Upon a Child That Died" "Upon the Nipples of Julia's Breast", etc.
• Early Modern Period's Imperialistic Views of Women  Jennifer Goodon Essay 2 (revised) "When considering English literature in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, . . . The sexual invasion by men onto a woman's body with a colonist mentality is one such "new" idea that is to continue for years to come."
• The Fairy References of Robert Herrick - from Fairies
• Rhyme in "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" - Kaye Anfield
• Imagery in Herrick's "The Vine" - Mary McCarrick

Andrew Marvell "To His Coy Mistress" Relevant Links

from Andrew Marvell resources

1. This poem, like the poems we've already read from the Victorian period, is a dramatic monologue. Who is the speaker of this poem? Who is he speaking to? What is the dramatic situation that the speaker presents? What does he want from the listener?
2. Does the speaker in the first stanza think that he and his lover have "world enough and time"? If they did, how would he choose to spend that time?
3. In the second stanza, the speaker describes his awareness of time and immanent death. How does time influence his relationship with his lover?
4. If we view this poem as the speaker's attempt to create a logical argument (1. "If we had"; 2. "But"; 3. "Therefore") to persuade his lover, the third stanza presents the final statement of that argument. What does the speaker offer as the logical conclusion to be drawn from the ideas presented in the first two stanzas?

Theme: carpe diem (seize the day)   The poem is a carpe diem poem with some major differences from the convention in 1. the praise of the lady--exaggerated to be ironic of the convention, 2. the macabre image of death, 3. the intensification of pleasure.  What do you think about the poet's offer ("devour our time"; " Let us roll all our strength, and all/Our sweetness, up into one ball"; "tear our pleasures with rough strife"; "make [the sun] run")?

Applications and Wild Associations

• If you were the speaker's lover, how would you respond to this poem?
• Compare and contrast this poem with Donne's "The Flea."
• Re-collect in your mind the poems we have read about women & courtship ("She Walks in Beaut"; "On Stella's Birthday"; "Upon Julia's Clothes"; "To His Coy Mistress" & "The Flea."),  and love ("Valediction").  What similarities and differences do you find among them?

Andrew Marvell: Relevant Links

• The Life of Andrew Marvell from Luminarium
• Andrew Marvell Page  from Luminarium
• Marvell's Biography: Bio and timeline, with an explication of one poem; from The Seventeenth Century Literature site from The University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Summary of student responses to "To His Coy Mistress"
• "Marvell's Use of Sound in 'To His Coy Mistress'"
• "How to Prepare for an Essay about Poetry"--by the same author of the essay on Marvell's use of sound.
• "Marvell: How Noble in Reason"--Another on-line essay about "To His Coy Mistress"
• "To His Reticent Tease": a crass parody of the poem
• A Site for On-line discussion of "To His Coy Mistress" from Poetry Jam

E-Text of "You, Andrew Marvell" by Archibald MacLeash

• Metaphysical Poetry & Platonic Love: definitions and history (from Fu Jen English Literature Databank; by Dr. Marguerite Connor)
• English Literature: Early 17th Century Page: including pages on John Donne, Ben Jonson, Francis Bacon, Robert Herrick, George Herbert,  Henry Vaughan,John Milton, Andrew Marvell, Thomas Carew, Richard Lovelace , Essays & Articles, etc.  from  Luminarium(which also has Medieval, Renaissance)
• The Seventeenth Century Literature site produced by students from The University of Nebraska at Omaha; including Major Poets, Women Writers, Styles, History, Links
• Four suggested essay topics on Metaphysical poetry (from Malaspina University-College)
 

• THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: historical background (from Fu Jen English Literature Databank; by Dr. Marguerite Connor)
• The 1662 edition of The Book of Common Prayer, which offers the content of A Book of Common Prayer, all kinds of Christian services, as well as chances for us to create an Almanac of the Moveable Feasts for any range of years (for instance, you can find when Easter is in 1998).
• THE PHILOSOPHIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY POETS: THREE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT, by students from The University of Nebraska at Omaha
• A Brief History of England in the 17th Century by students from The University of Nebraska at Omaha

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