Metaphysical and Cavalier Poetry

In the early 17^th c., two new groups of poets emerged. The first was inspired by the literary man-of-all-trades Ben Jonson. Like Shakespeare, his friend and rival, Ben Jonson was not just a playwright but also an accomplished poet. Dissatisfied with the extravagant romance of Elizabethan lyrics, Jonson chose instead to imitate the graceful craftsmanship of classical forms. Far from the typical image of a refined poet, however, Jonson was a great bellowing bear of a man who loved an argument and didn’t mind if it turned into a brawl, and his forceful personality won him as many admirers as his considerable talent did.

J

Metaphysical and Cavalier Poets

• Ben Jonson, a boisterous man and an accomplished poet, inspired later poets, called “sons of Ben.”

• These poets were known as Cavaliers because they took the side of Charles I and his Royalist cavaliers.

• Cavalier poetry was charming and witty, dealing with themes of love, war, and carpe diem.

• John Donne wrote metaphysical poetry—poems characterized by themes of love, death, and religious devotion.

• Metaphysical poets used elaborate metaphors to explore life’s complexities.

onson’s followers, called “sons of Ben,” were sophisticated young aristocrats, among them Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, and Sir John Suckling. These poets were known as the Cavaliers, because many of them took the side of Charles I in the civil war between Cromwell’s “Roundheads” (so called for their closely cropped hair) and the long-haired Royalist cavaliers. Lighthearted, charming, witty, and sometimes cynical, Cavalier poetry dealt mainly with themes of love, war, chivalry, and loyalty to the throne and frequently advocated the philosophy of carpe diem, or living for the moment.

Jonson’s contemporary, John Donne, is representative of a second group of poets, the metaphysical poets. These writers broke with convention, employing unusual imagery, elaborate metaphors, and irregular meter to produce intense poems characterized by themes of death, physical love, and religious devotion. Whereas the Cavalier poets tended to treat limited, human-focused subjects, Donne and other metaphysical poets tried to encompass the vastness of the universe and to explore life’s complexities and contradictions. Some ridiculed Donne for the philosophical tone of his love poems, saying that instead of winning over women he merely succeeded in perplexing them. However, Donne’s unique blend of intellect and passion influenced many other poets, from his own time to the 21^st century.

Literature Focus II. The Sonnet

T he word sonnet comes from the Italian sonetto, meaning “a little sound or song.” For more than seven hundred years, poets have used these highly structured fourteen-line poems to explore such deeply felt issues as the fleeting nature of love and the aching questions of mortality.

During the 1300s, Italian poet Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374) popularized the sonnet. The form grew in popularity until, by the end of the 16^th century, poets throughout much of Europe were writing sonnets. Many of the most recognizable poems in history have been written in sonnet form. The Romantic poet William Wordsworth wrote that the sonnet was the key with which “Shakespeare unlocked his heart.”

Petrarch wrote hundreds of poems about a woman named Laura. Later, many other Renaissance poets also wrote sonnet sequences, which, like Petrarch’s, consisted of a series of sonnets focused on a particular theme. English poets Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Edmund Spenser both wrote sonnet sequences examining questions of love. In the seventeenth century, poets such as John Donne and John Milton began to depart from the sonnet’s common love themes and to explore religion and personal experience in their sonnets.

Meter and Rhyme Patterns Traditional sonnets have fourteen lines, each of which is written in iambic pentameter. That is, each line has five metric units, or feet, and each foot consists of an unstressed syllable (marked ) followed by a stressed syllable (marked ). The rhythm of a line of iambic pentameter would be indicated as shown in this example from Spenser’s “Sonnet 30”:

My love is like to ice, and I to fire;

Sonnets also have set rhyme schemes, based on the last word in each line. To identify the rhyme scheme of a poem, begin with the first line and assign letters, in alphabetical order, to each new sound at the end of the lines. Lines that end in the same sound should be assigned the same letter. In Sidney’s “Sonnet 39,” for example, the rhyme scheme for the first four lines would be abab:

Come sleep! O sleep, the certain knot of peace, a

The baiting place of wit, the balm of woe, b

The poor man’s wealth, the prisoner’s release, a

The indifferent judge between the high and low; b

Sonnet Forms There are three major sonnet forms: the Italian or Petrarchan, the English or Shakespearean, and the Spenserian.

T he Italian Sonnet The Italian sonnet is often called the Petrarchan sonnet after Francesco Petrarch, the poet who made it famous. Many of Petrarch’s sonnets are about his love for a woman who did not return his love. Thus, unrequited love is a common topic for sonnets that follow this form. In an Italian sonnet, the first eight lines (called an octave) present a problem or situation. The last six lines (called a sestet) provide an answer or resolution to the problem. The switch from problem to resolution is called the “turn.” The octave of a typical Italian sonnet has the rhyme scheme abbaabba, and the sestet follows either cdecde or cdcdcd.

If my life find strength enough to fight

the grievous battle of each passing day,

Octave: problem or that I may meet your gaze, years from today,

situation is described. lady, when your eyes have lost their light,

and when your golden curls have turned to white,

and vanished are your wreaths and green array,

and when your youthful hue has fled away,

whose beauty makes me tremble in its sight, Turn

perhaps then Love will overcome my fears

enough that I may let my secret rise

Sestet: problem or and tell you what I’ve suffered all these years;

situation is resolved. and if no flame be kindled in your eyes,

at least I may be granted for my tears

the comfort of a few belated sighs.

The English Sonnet The English sonnet is also called the Shakespearean sonnet, because

Shakespeare was the master of this sonnet form. English sonnets are divided into three quatrains (groups of four lines, with each containing its own rhyme scheme) and one couplet (a group of two lines). The rhyme scheme is usually abab cdcd efef gg. The English form allows for a more detailed development of the question or problem in the first three quatrains, but it demands a quick summary and solution in the couplet.

The Spenserian Sonnet Sir Edmund Spenser crafted his own version of the sonnet. Like the Shakespearean sonnet, the Spenserian version has three quatrains and a couplet, but it follows the rhyme scheme abab bcbc cdcd ee. This interlocking rhyme scheme “pushes” the sonnet toward the final couplet, in which Spenser typically made a key point or comment.

Reading a Sonnet

• Always read a sonnet at least three times.

• The first time, read the sonnet silently for content.

• The second time, read it aloud to hear the meter and rhyme patterns.

• The third time, read it to discover the “puzzle” of the poem; that is, the problem the poet is trying to solve or the issue the poet explores. Then look for the “turn,” where the poet shifts focus and begins to explore solutions. Finally, find the lines that present the solution or final answer.