Metaphysical Poetry By Penguin Books Ltd (Paperback, 2006)

Product Description

A key anthology for students of English literature Metaphysical Poetry is a collection whose unique philosophical insights are some of the crowning achievements of Renaissance verse edited with an introduction & notes by Colin Burrow in Penguin Classics Spanning the Elizabethan age to the Restoration & beyond Metaphysical poetry sought to describe a time of startling progress scientific discovery unrivalled exploration & deep religious uncertainty This compelling collection of the best & most enjoyable poems from the era

Includes:: tightly argued lyrics erotic & libertine considerations of love divine poems & elegies of lament by such great figures as John Donne George Herbert Andrew Marvell & John Milton alongside pieces from many other less well known but equally fascinating poets of the age such as Anne Bradstreet Katherine Philips & Thomas Traherne Widely varied in theme all are characterized by their use of startling metaphors imagery & language to express the uncertainty of an age & a profound desire for originality that was to prove deeply influential on later poets & in particular poets of the Modernist movement such as T S Eliot In his introduction Colin Burrow explores the nature of Metaphysical poetry its development across the seventeenth century & its influence on later poets &

Includes:: A Very Short History of Metaphysical Poetry from Donne to Rochester This edition also

Includes:: detailed notes a chronology & further reading Colin Burrow is Reader in Renaissance & Comparative Literature at Gonville & Caius College Cambridge He has edited Shakespeare's Sonnets for OUP & The Complete Works of Ben Jonson & is working on the Elizabethan volume of the Oxford English Literary History If you enjoyed Metaphysical Poetry you might like John Donne's Selected Poems also available in Penguin Classics