331. (Ben Jonson)

Jonson’s “To Penshurst” is an extraordinary achievement of technique: a poem that feels relaxed, and at ease, and yet is … More

328. (John Donne)

Donne’s poetry does not achieve ambiguities at the cost of compression; it achieves compression with the success of ambiguities. That … More

Andrew Marvell’s detached melancholy accommodates skepticism towards the idea that melancholy is suitable for the world (even as it admits … More

Mary Sidney is among the greatest Elizabethan poets in English, her translations of the psalm an achievement of a style … More

John Donne’s “Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy’s Day” is one of the most beautiful poems in English. Below is a discussion … More

Of the true metaphysical conceit, the critic James Smith (in “On Metaphysical Poetry”) says, hesitating before his extravagant language, “it … More

Edward Taylor’s poetry affirms the divided, fallen self differently from other poet in the broad metaphysical tradition. Here is “The … More

If we take Andrew Marvell’s Damon the Mower as an avatar for the poet himself, there is something peculiar in … More

It seems necessary that, if poetry is not to effect synthesis by way of the elaborate similes and coaxed metaphors … More

For John Dryden, the world tends towards fusion and confusion and it is for the poet to establish distinctions and … More