Strategies for responding to literature

¶ … people view metaphysical poetry as contrived, but I tend to find this view flawed. The poetry is not a plot to confuse the audience, but it is more of a deeper meaning of a connection between two previously unrelated objects that the poet sees himself. Just because the reader might not understand that connection, does not mean that it is not there. I personally believe that there are some connections in metaphysical poetry which truly do work. A more obvious example of the conceits of this type of poetry as successful is in the work of George Herbert's "Easter Wings." Not only does Herbert make metaphysical connections with the words of the poem, he does so with the visual structure as well. The actual stanzas look like wings, and the rise and fall of the action coincides with the angles of the wing shape. This is a connection which brings the religious ideals into the visual frame of the reader.

John Donne's famous work "Death Be Not Proud," personifies death in a much different way than the normal idea of death as scary and fearful. In fact, Donne does the exact opposite, and strips death of all its fearful images saying that the act of taking life is not up to him, and that he is a slave to others will. Donne also brings in the idea of the afterlife, and that when we die we do not sleep forever, but awake on the other side. Therefore death is not something to fear, but more so to ridicule for its false persona in the eyes of the world.