What method does Eliot suggest for the assessment of the poets wrongly called the metaphysicals by Johnson?

Answer

What method does Eliot suggest for the assessment of the poets wrongly called the metaphysicals by Johnson? What would such a method lead to? [NU: 2019]

S. Eliot (1888-1965) was a famous modern critic and poet. In “The Metaphysical Poets” (1921), Eliot writes about groups of English poets. Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), another critic, called some poets “metaphysical.” But Eliot says Johnson was not always correct. Eliot suggests a new method to assess these poets. He believes this will lead to better understanding. Let us analyze Eliot’s ideas.

Johnson’s Classification Problem: Dr. Samuel Johnson grouped some poets as “metaphysical.” Johnson thought these poets were sharp but sometimes too clever. He believed their poems forced ideas together. Johnson often judged them by style, not by meaning. He said,

“The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together.”

This means Johnson saw their images as unnatural. He focused on strangeness, not true poetic value. Eliot disagrees with this way of judging. He thinks the label “metaphysical” is often used wrongly.

Eliot’s Suggested Method: Eliot does not accept Johnson’s views blindly. He suggests a different method of assessment. Eliot says we should look at the poets’ sensibility. Sensibility means the way a poet joins thought and feeling. Eliot believes this is the key to understanding poetry. He writes,

“The poets of the seventeenth century… possessed a mechanism of sensibility which could devour any kind of experience.”

This quote shows Eliot’s method is about depth, not surface style. He says critics should study how poets think, feel, and put things together. Assessment should focus on the unity in their work. Not only on clever words or strange ideas.

Comparing Poets Through Their Experiences: Eliot suggests comparing the poets’ experiences. He asks critics to see how poets use life’s events. Good poets join many things together in their work. Eliot writes,

“When a poet’s mind is perfectly equipped for its work, it is constantly amalgamating disparate experience.”

This quote