Metaphysical poetry

1. The omission of syllables to speed up the rhythm (e.g., "She 'is all States").
6. Metaphysical poems are rarely just emotive; they are structured like a legal argument or a syllogism to persuade the listener.
7. The belief that physical love can elevate the soul to a higher spiritual understanding.
9. References to the English Civil War, new scientific discoveries (microscopes, space exploration), and exploration of the "New World" which influenced their imagery.
12. Coined by 18th-century critic Dr. Samuel Johnson to describe the 17th-century poets, initially as a critique that they "yoked" together "heterogeneous ideas by violence".
14. The poem often starts in media res (in the middle of the action) with a dramatic, urgent, or confrontational statement (e.g., "For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love").
15. Deliberate, extreme exaggeration to highlight a point.
16. A harsh or rough tone, common in Donne’s earlier, more cynical poetry.

1. Moving over from one line to another without a stop, creating a sense of natural speech.
2. The use of everyday, informal language, making the poems feel conversational, direct, and intimate.
3. A poetic device that catalogs and praises the physical parts of the beloved's body (sometimes parodied or used ironically by Metaphysicals).
4. Intellectual ingenuity, irony, and verbal playfulness used to explore deep philosophical questions.
5. A strong pause within a line, often used to create a jagged, conversational rhythm.
8. In Donne's poetry, this is the idea that the soul and body are one, justifying physical intimacy as a spiritual act.
10. The fleeting nature of life and beauty.
11. A statement that appears contradictory but reveals a deeper truth (e.g., "Death, thou shalt die").
13. The most vital term. An elaborate, unconventional, or startling metaphor that sets up an ingenious parallel between highly dissimilar objects or situations (e.g., comparing lovers to a compass in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" or a flea in "The Flea").