292. (John Donne)

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

290. (Edward Taylor)

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

Among the tissues of judgments that compose a poem will be a judgment about what a poem plays at doing … More

Renaissance translations of the Psalms are maybe the closest English poetry comes to what we encounter in the religious paintings … More

The experiences of time, from its swelling (the remove from the court in As You Like It) and contracting time (Richard II; … More

Since both are masters of the heroic couplet, both scathing satirists, how, it might be asked, does Dryden achieve effects … More

Reading Paradise Lost with a student, the chance to see more than before, vicariously through fresh eyes, has been most thrillingly felt … More