Metaphysical Poetry and George Herbert’s “Virtue”

By Ellie June and Eric Flatt

Metaphysical Poetry

•Mainly in the 17th Century•Main themes focus on love, man’s relationship

with God•Poets were serious intellectuals, highly

educated

Metaphysical Poetry

•Lyrical poemsoCharacterized by the use of wit, irony and wordplay

•Main PoetsoGeorge Herbert, John Donne, Andrew Marvell,

Henry Vaughan

George Herbert

•Born in Wales, educated at Trinity College, CambridgeoReceived a B.A. and M.A.

oElected public orator at Cambridge from 1620-1628

•Later preached and wrote poetry in Bermington

•Poems are characterized by the use of imagery and conceits, conversational speech, and celebrate the ways of gods love

Title

•“Virtue”oPositive poem, with positive imagery

oGood character trait

Paraphrase

•Life Cycle-everything lives and diesoUses examples of day to night, rose blossoms then

dies, spring comes and goes

•Last quatrain expresses only the virtuous soul lives

Form

•Lyric poem, 4 quatrains

•Last line in each quatrain is indented, forces the reader to pauseoShows the emphasis on life and death

Diction

•Repetition of “sweet”oCreates contrast in each quatrain

•Quatrains start off describing beautiful life, end with negative connotation of death

Imagery

•NatureoBright and colorful, descriptive

•Light and Dark contrastoRepresents the contrast between life and death

Point of View

•3rd Person Omniscient

Detail

•Descriptive Adjectives strengthen the imageryoCool, calm, bright, angry, brave

Allusions

•‘bridal of the earth and sky’oAllusion to the reunion of God and man

Symbolism

•Life cycle

Other Devices

•Apostrophe – first line

Shifts

•Each quatrain begins with a description of life, the last line references death

•First 3 quatrains follow this pattern, then there’s a shift in the last quatrainoThe positive idea that Herbert believes the virtuous

soul can persevere

Title

•Virtue is the deciding factor of a happy afterlife or an unhappy afterlife

•Suggests a positive theme

Theme

•Virtue is the deciding factor of a happy afterlife or an unhappy afterlife

Works Cited• "George Herbert (1593-1633)." Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature. Web. 29 Mar. 2011.

<http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herbert/>.

• "Studying the Metaphysical Poets." Teachit.co.uk - English Teaching Resources. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/metaphys.htm>.

• "Virtue, by George Herbert." Poetry Archive | Poems. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://www.poetry-archive.com/h/virtue.html>.