✳️What do you understand by the term "metaphysical"? Which aspects of Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress can be considered "metaphysical" in nature?
Metaphysical poetry, such as ‘To His Coy Mistress’, is a subset of poetry popularized in the late 17th century which focused primarily on the use of what is known as ‘conceit’ – in layman’s terms, a type of comparison that is made between two objects who are consciously nothing alike, therefore the relationship between the two things being compared is completely and utterly confused.
Another tenet of metaphysical poetry was the rumination on topics far greater and grander than easy definitions; love was popular, and so was religion, and faith, and belief, and a variety of other topics along those lines. Most metaphysical poets were seldom known in their day as metaphysical poets, did not form the same sort of cohesive movement as the Romantics did in the late 18th century, and were generally considered to be too finicky in their expression. Their work, though emotional and moving, stopped short of expressing the wide ideals behind their writing.
Andrew Marvell was a metaphysical poet writing in the Interregnum period. He sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1678, worked with John Milton, and wrote both satirical pieces and love poetry.
"The metaphysical poets were men of learning, and, to show their learning was their whole endeavour; but, unluckily resolving to show it in rhyme, instead of writing poetry, they only wrote verses, and, very often, such verses as stood the trial of the finger better than of the ear; for the modulation was so imperfect, that they were only found to be verses by counting the syllables… The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions; their learning instructs, and their subtilty surprises; but the reader commonly thinks his improvement dearly bought, and, though he sometimes admires, is seldom pleased.
✳️The Collar by George Herbert.
What does the collar in the poem "The Collar" signify?
The collar literally signifies the white collar worn by priests. This in turn is a spiritual signifier of the priest's submission to God and the church; and in this poem, the collar takes on a further literary significance as a source of restriction and stifling bondage.
What is the theme of "The Collar" by George Herbert?
The overarching theme of "The Collar" by George Herbert is the inner turmoil of spiritual doubt. The author's turmoil is caused by his growing resentment for the restrictions placed on him by religion, especially in his capacity as a priest.
What features of metaphysical poetry does Herbert's "The Collar" show?
"The Collar" is considered an example of metaphysical poetry most notably for avoiding either consistent rhyming or metrical patterns in its construction. Also typical of metaphysical poetry is the use of a conceit which in this poem is the collar itself.
"The Collar" by George Herbert
George Herbert (1593-1633) was an English poet, priest, and noteworthy intellectual of his time. He was born into a prominent and wealthy family and received a formal education at Trinity College. Herbert entered the priesthood, which was considered a noble career path, and became rector of a small rural parish in 1630. Though dedicated to his faith and the English church, some of Herbert's writings admit to spiritual and religious doubt. "The Collar" is an example of this, published posthumously in 1633 as part of a collection titled The Temple.
Summary of "The Collar"
In the poem, "The Collar," George Herbert provides a first-person portrayal of a man struggling with his own faith. He has arrived at a crisis of the spirit, unsure of his spiritualism and resentful of the religious confines in which he has lived and served. He yearns for a release, to become "free as the road/Loose as the wind." He describes his life until this point as having been unfulfilling and disappointing despite his religious work and devotion to God and Christ.
A Brief Synopsis of 'The Collar' by George Herbert
The Collar is a poem that was written by George Herbert in 1633. If you've read this poem, you may have found the beginning of the poem a bit off-putting. It begins abruptly, with a display of seemingly unfounded aggression. For no reason the reader's aware of, the poetic narrator starts by throwing a bit of a tantrum, flailing limbs as he 'struck the board' and yelling, 'No more; / I will abroad!' He asks whether he'll always be in the apparently miserable state he's in, but he finally concludes that 'my lines and life are free' for him to do as he pleases.
With that conclusion drawn, the narrator asks if he should stay in his current situation, then, and deal with all his resources, 'wine' and 'corn', being spent. The narrative voice also doesn't seem to have anything to show for all those misspent resources. Accordingly, he comes to his next question - if he still possibly has time to recover what he's already lost. The poetic narrator decides that there is, indeed, enough time; that is, provided he fills what time he has remaining with double pleasures to make up for those he missed out on while he still worried about right and wrong.
The narrator comes to the realization that he's been trapped in his present situation, allowing his own petty thoughts of goodness and duty to distract him from reality. To make things worse, he also realizes that he's simply refused to acknowledge the issue for a long time. At this point, the narrative voice decides it's time for action and comments on how people who refuse to change their fortunes deserve them. However, as the poem draws to a close and it seems the narrator would just keep ranting and raving, there's a surprising twist: the agitated and plaintive narrative voice is instantly calmed by faithfully responding to that of God.
Analyzing Herbert's 'The Collar'
Many of us can most likely remember a time (probably somewhere around our teen years) when we were rebellious and full of angst. If we can recall, we probably also made what we thought were reasonably passionate speeches defending our foul moods and unruly behavior. What might've sounded reasonable to us, though, most likely came off as extremely disorganized and not very well thought out.
George Herbert reflected this lack of organization with The Collar because this poem is very much like a teenage rant. The poetic narrator's angry and sulking because he's discovering that life's not fair, so the poem itself is disorganized; though he uses iambic meter, Herbert has various numbers of iambs per line with no discernible pattern.
In this way, The Collar is quite unlike Herbert's other works, which are typically well structured in all aspects, such as diction and meter. However, it still shows his handiwork as a piece of metaphysical poetry, a genre of verse works from the 17th century marked by their use of complex imagery to explore primarily concepts of love or religion. Herbert is considered one of the masters of this genre, and The Collar is largely responsible for that reputation.
Themes of 'The Collar'
One of the themes of this poem could be described as the downside of being good.
You might be familiar with the white collars worn by priests or other clergy members, and this particular article of clothing is what Herbert uses in the title of the poem to represent not only the attire but the entire burden of those taking religious orders. The narrator asks, 'Shall I be still in suit?' using the clothing of the profession as a way of examining whether or not he should remain as a clergyman.
He asks this question because he's begun to realize how mentally, spiritually, and even physically demanding life as a spiritual leader can be. What's worse, though, is the poetic narrator doesn't feel he has anything to show for all his spent effort and resources ('cordial fruit'): Is the year only lost to me? / Have I no bays to crown it, / No flowers, no garlands gay? All blasted? / All wasted? This, of course, only fuels his self-pity and his desire to reclaim what he feels his service to the church has stolen from him.
Example of Conceit in Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"
The conceit of this poem by John Donne is that two lovers are described as the two points of a compass (the drawing tool), in which one lover is the point, the other is the point of a pen or pencil, one rotating around the other and both leaning toward each other . This is another example of a metaphysical conceit.
If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two,
Thy soul the fixed foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if the other do.
And though it in the center sit,
Yet when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.
Example of Conceit in Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for death"
The conceit in this poem by Emily Dickinson is neither strained nor absurd, Petrarchan nor metaphysical. It's simply an unlikely extended metaphor that governs the structure of the entire poem (in which the poet goes for a carriage ride with Death). But it's a more modern (and therefore rarer) example of the use of conceit. This example is also a case in which the terms extended metaphor and conceit could easily and correctly be used interchangeably.
Why Do Writers Use Conceits?
Writers use conceits for many of the same reasons they use metaphors and extended metaphors:
To explain or describe an abstract concept in vivid, memorable, and unique terms.
To help the reader make a new, insightful connection between two different entities that might not have seemed related.
To help communicate personal or imaginary experiences in terms to which readers can relate.
To show off a bit. Conceits—particularly metaphysical conceits—gave poets a chance to show off their smarts by comparing two very unlike things.
To lead the reader to surprising and important discoveries by connecting different spheres of experience and language. The figurative meaning that metaphors create can help a reader to see the world or a concept in a new way.
A poet would generally use a Petrarchan conceit to lavish praise on their beloved, while they might use a metaphysical conceit to describe something (or explain an idea) using a novel comparison—one that might take some mental gymnastics to make sense of, but that would ultimately serve to both demonstrate the poet's ingenuity and give readers a new way of seeing the subject.
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