{"id":326,"date":"2006-09-09T14:49:26","date_gmt":"2006-09-09T13:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/index.php\/2006\/09\/09\/more-poetry-4\/"},"modified":"2006-09-09T14:51:32","modified_gmt":"2006-09-09T13:51:32","slug":"more-poetry-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/2006\/09\/09\/more-poetry-4\/","title":{"rendered":"More Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s interesting to note how many of the great artistic movements got their names from insults hurled by their critics. The work of a group of Parisian artists was described as not painting, but mere \u201cimpressions??? and thus<\/a> was born Impressionism. Later, in that same city, artists were derided as savage and primitive; \u201cFauves<\/a>???, in short.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the poets we now call \u201cmetaphysical??? did not choose this label for themselves. Writing, perhaps 100 years after the fact, of poets such as John Donne and Andrew Marvell, it was Samuel Johnson who coined<\/a> the term. In using the word metaphysical, he was suggesting that these poets were insufficiently grounded, rather too fond of clever conceit and far-fetched metaphor. Metaphysical did not mean spiritual or philosophical, but \u201cairy-fairy???.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Johnson did have to concede the greatness of Donne (pronounced, incidentally, like the Irish \u201cDunne???), and for the same reasons that we today revere him. Even if you prefer a little more profundity in your poetry, there\u2019s no denying the sparkle of intelligence and wit of his work. Glorying in its own cleverness, it takes love and its discontents as its main theme, but characteristically sounds a note of knowingness alongside the more traditional romantic approach. It’s this sharp, knowing edge that gives poems such as \u201cWoman\u2019s Constancy??? a remarkably contemporary flavour.<\/p>\n

Now thou hast loved me one whole day,
\nTo-morrow when thou leavest, what wilt thou say ?
\nWilt thou then antedate some new-made vow ?
\n Or say that now
\nWe are not just those persons which we were ?
\nOr that oaths made in reverential fear
\nOf Love, and his wrath, any may forswear ?
\nOr, as true deaths true marriages untie,
\nSo lovers’ contracts, images of those,
\nBind but till sleep, death’s image, them unloose ?
\n Or, your own end to justify,
\nFor having purposed change and falsehood, you
\nCan have no way but falsehood to be true ?
\nVain lunatic, against these ‘scapes I could
\n Dispute, and conquer, if I would ;
\n Which I abstain to do,
\nFor by to-morrow I may think so too.<\/em><\/p>\n

Donne here asks his loved one how and when she is likely to leave him. What will be her reasoning? Here, Donne lists a variety of excuses, all remarkably close to our contemporary clich\u00e9s \u2013 note, in particular \u201cWe are not just those persons which we were???. It\u2019s only a surprise that \u201cit\u2019s not you, it\u2019s me??? doesn\u2019t make an appearance. Donne sees these various lines as what they are, \u201c\u2019scapes???. Devoid of any sense or sincerity, these are simply exit lines, ways of getting out, no more. Combined with the bitter sarcasm of the poem\u2019s title, the contemptuous listing of these excuses suggests the bitterness of one thus scorned, but Donne closes the poem with a twist. He could argue against any of these excuses and win, but he declines to do so. The reason? He may end up using the same excuses himself. Given the social and sexual politics of the day, the playful cynicism of \u201cWoman\u2019s Constancy??? is remarkable. Indeed, it may be that it was so ahead of it\u2019s time that it escaped censure only because no-one could take it for anything more than a joke. Indeed, it may well have been merely a joke, but jokes, like art can always touch upon certain universal truths about the human condition, cutting closer to the bone than many in the audience will prepare to admit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s interesting to note how many of the great artistic movements got their names from insults hurled by their critics. The work of a group of Parisian artists was described as not painting, but mere \u201cimpressions??? and thus was born Impressionism. Later, in that same city, artists were derided as savage and primitive; \u201cFauves???, in short. Similarly, the poets we now call \u201cmetaphysical??? did not choose this label for themselves. Writing, perhaps 100 years after the fact, of poets such as John Donne and Andrew Marvell, it was Samuel Johnson who coined the term. In using the word metaphysical, he was suggesting that these poets were insufficiently grounded, rather too fond of clever conceit and far-fetched metaphor. Metaphysical did not mean spiritual or philosophical, but \u201cairy-fairy???. Nonetheless, Johnson did have to concede the greatness of Donne (pronounced, incidentally, like the Irish \u201cDunne???), and for the same reasons that we today revere him. Even if you prefer a little more profundity in your poetry, there\u2019s no denying the sparkle of intelligence and wit of his work. Glorying in its own cleverness, it takes love and its discontents as its main theme, but characteristically sounds a note of knowingness alongside the more traditional romantic approach. It’s this sharp, knowing edge that gives poems such as \u201cWoman\u2019s Constancy??? a remarkably contemporary flavour. Now thou hast loved me one whole day, To-morrow when thou leavest, what wilt thou say ? Wilt thou then antedate some new-made vow ? Or say that now We are not just those persons which we were ? Or that oaths made in reverential fear Of Love, and his wrath, any may forswear ? Or, as true deaths true marriages untie, So lovers’ contracts, images of those, Bind but till sleep, death’s image, them unloose ? Or, your own end to justify, For having purposed change and falsehood, you Can have no way but falsehood to be true ? Vain lunatic, against these ‘scapes I could Dispute, and conquer, if I would ; Which I abstain to do, For by to-morrow I may think so too. Donne here asks his loved one how and when she is likely to leave him. What will be her reasoning? Here, Donne lists a variety of excuses, all remarkably close to our contemporary clich\u00e9s \u2013 note, in particular \u201cWe are not just those persons which we were???. It\u2019s only a surprise that \u201cit\u2019s not […]","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[89],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}