Metaphysical Poets – Page 2 – Interesting Literature

A Short Analysis of George Herbert’s ‘Discipline’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Discipline’ is a poem by the Welsh poet George Herbert (1593-1633), who is associated with the Metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century but is also seen as one of English literature’s greatest devotional poets. What follows is a brief summary and analysis of Herbert’s poem ‘Discipline’. This isn’t as well-known a poem as some by Herbert, so its language and argument may not be as familiar to readers – hence the short summary that follows.

Discipline

Throw away thy rod,
Throw away thy wrath:
O my God,
Take the gentle path.

A Short Analysis of Henry Vaughan’s ‘The Retreat’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Henry Vaughan (1622-95) was a Welsh Metaphysical Poet, although his name is not quite so familiar as, say, Andrew Marvell, he who wrote ‘To His Coy Mistress‘. His poem ‘The Retreat’ (sometimes the original spelling, ‘The Retreate’, is preserved) is about the loss of heavenly innocence experienced during childhood, and a desire to regain this lost state of ‘angel infancy’. What follows is a brief summary and analysis of ‘The Retreat’, paying particular attention to Vaughan’s language and imagery.

The Retreat

Happy those early days! when I
Shined in my angel infancy.
Before I understood this place
Appointed for my second race,
Or taught my soul to fancy aught
But a white, celestial thought;
When yet I had not walked above
A mile or two from my first love,
And looking back, at that short space,
Could see a glimpse of His bright face;

A Very Short Biography of George Herbert

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

George Herbert (1593-1633) was one of the greatest poets of the seventeenth century, one of the greatest devotional poets in the English language, and one of a group that Samuel Johnson identified as the ‘Metaphysical poets’. Yet his poems almost died with him in 1633, and it was only thanks to his friend’s sound judgment that they saw the light of day. In this post we sketch out a very brief biography of George Herbert: one of the greatest religious poets of any age.

George Herbert was born in Powys, Wales, in 1593, into a wealthy and artistically gifted family. He studied at Westminster School, being taught by Lancelot Andrewes, influential bishop and one of the masterminds on the committee which translated the King James Version of the Bible.

A Short Analysis of George Herbert’s ‘The Pearl’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

George Herbert (1593-1633) is widely regarded as one of the greatest religious poets in all of English literature. His work is also associated with the Metaphysical Poets. ‘The Pearl’ is a tricky poem to decipher and analyse, but the effort is worth it. What follows, then, is a brief summary and analysis of ‘The Pearl’ in terms of its language and meaning.

The Pearl

Matth. 13. 45

I know the wayes of Learning; both the head
And pipes that feed the presse, and make it runne;
What reason hath from nature borrowed,
Or of itself, like a good huswife, spunne
In laws and policie; what the starres conspire,
What willing nature speaks, what forc’d by fire;
Both th’ old discoveries and the new-found seas,
The stock and surplus, cause and historie;
All these stand open, or I have the keyes:
Yet I love thee.

A Short Analysis of Andrew Marvell’s ‘Bermudas’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Fancy a voice to a tropical paradise? Andrew Marvell (1621-78) provides just the poem in ‘Bermudas’. Marvell is one of the most critically acclaimed and studied poets of the seventeenth century, and his work is often associated with the Metaphysical Poets. In this post we’re going to offer a brief summary and analysis of ‘Bermudas’, one of his finest poems, which is written in tetrameter rhyming couplets.

Bermudas

Where the remote Bermudas ride
In th’ocean’s bosom unespied,
From a small boat, that row’d along,
The list’ning winds receiv’d this song.
‘What should we do but sing his praise
That led us through the wat’ry maze
Unto an isle so long unknown,
And yet far kinder than our own?