Comment on Johnson’s views of metaphysical poetry in his “The Life of Cowley.” 

Answer

Critically examine Dr. Johnson’s account of metaphysical poetry in “The Life of Cowley.”

Or, Comment on Johnson’s views of metaphysical poetry in his “The Life of Cowley.” 

Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was a famous critic. In “The Life of Cowley” (1779), he gave his thoughts on metaphysical poets. He mainly focused on Cowley, but also talked about Donne, Marvell, and others. Johnson showed both the good and the bad sides of their poems. He praised their wit and learning, but also found many faults. He said their style was hard and not natural. Johnson used his own judgment, not only the ideas of others.

Two Kinds of Poems: Johnson said that metaphysical poets mostly wrote two types of poems. One kind was love poems. The other was religious poems. Donne, Marvell, and Cowley wrote many love poems. Here is an example from Marvel’s Poem “The Definition of Love.” 

“My love is of a birth as rare

As ’tis for object strange and high;

It was begotten by Despair

Upon Impossibility.”

On the other hand, Henry Vaughan mostly wrote on religion. These poets always showed their learning. They wanted to look clever. They used strange comparisons from different subjects. Johnson studied them intensely. He found both power and problems in their way of writing.

Search for Conceits: Metaphysical poets used conceits in place of simple images. They searched all over nature, art, and science for ideas. Their comparisons were often hard to follow. Johnson gave Cowley and Donne as examples. Let us study such lines from Donne’s poem “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning” (1633).

“If they be two, they are two so

   As stiff twin compasses are two;

Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show

   To move, but doth, if the other do.”

This made the poems sound very complex. Still, Johnson praised their sharpness when their deep ideas matched the subject well.

Cowley’s Place in The Group: