The author of this article, Dr Oliver Tearle, is a literary critic and lecturer in English at Loughborough University. Continue to explore Donne’s poetry with our analysis of his poem ‘The Canonization’, our discussion of his ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’, and our summary of his classic seduction poem, ‘The Flea’. If you’re studying poetry, we recommend checking out these five books for the student of poetry. We’ve offered more tips for the close reading of poetry here. It comes with very useful annotations and an informative introduction. The best affordable edition of Donne’s poetry is John Donne – The Major Works (Oxford World’s Classics). We can observe all of these features in Donne’s poetry. This last one is where the term ‘metaphysical’ came from: from metaphysics, the branch of philosophy dealing with, among other things, the relationship between mind and matter, or between the physical world and human consciousness. Key characteristics of metaphysical poetry include: complicated mental and emotional experience unusual and sometimes deliberately contrived metaphors and similes and the idea that the physical and spiritual universes are connected. In many ways, what is now known as metaphysical poetry began with Donne and his innovative use of imagery, particularly his fondness for extended metaphors and elaborate conceits which draw on what were, at the time, new scientific theories and discoveries. John Donne (1572-1631) is one of the most important poets of the late Elizabethan and Jacobean periods in English literature. How should we view the poem? Or does it derive its vital energy from offering both the exploration motif and the complaint about women in one poem? Can we overlook the negative twist at the end? That may depend on our view of Donne’s other poems. The earlier sections of the poem, enjoining the listener to go out into the world and make discoveries and see strange sights, is the real core of the poem’s meaning, in Carey’s analysis.Ĭertainly such a reading connects to Donne’s preoccupation with space travel and exploration (something Empson, in his essay ‘Donne the Space-man’, explored the idea of discovery and exploration is also there in ‘ To His Mistress Going to Bed’, with its reference to the woman’s body as ‘my America! my new-found-land’). ![]() William Empson, who was heavily influenced by Donne and wrote extensively on his poetry, said of ‘Go and catch a falling star’ that ‘the song had aimed at being gay and flippant but turned out rather heavy and cross’.Ĭonversely, for another great Donne critic, John Carey, ‘Go and catch a falling star’ is more about self-improvement than women, as we can see from that opening stanza: But Ricks’s issue with this poem in particular is not its misogyny (which loses its power to offend by being such a worn-out complaint) but the fact that the poem’s ending seems false to itself: it goes against what the rest of the poem promises. Mandrake leaves are a common ingredient in magic potions and can be used to cure magical ailments such as petrification.Can we still enjoy a poem that seems to be so down on half the human race? (Or the beautiful section of that half, leastways: poor unattractive women can apparently be trusted to remain true, presumably because Donne’s speaker thinks no one else would want them.) This aspect of Donne’s poem – and the problem is not confined to ‘Go and catch a falling star’ – has exercised critics for a while now.Ĭhristopher Ricks, in his Essays in Appreciation, has a good essay on what Ricks sees as the unhealthy endings to many of Donne’s poems: they seem to become uncharitable as they reach conclusion. Mandrake extract is also highly sought after for its supposed aphrodisiac properties. Mandrakes have several medicinal uses, such as ingredients for pain killers and sedatives. Mandrake gardeners are required to wear earplugs when plucking Mandrakes. The Mandrake's scream is usually fatal to humans, although infant Mandrake screams only render humans unconscious. When a Mandrake is pulled from the soil, it lets out a terrible scream. This behaviour makes them comparable to teenage humans. Their behaviour changes as they age during their adolescent period, they can be quiet and moody one day and the next day be throwing wild parties. Mandrakes, like any plant, live and grow in soft earth and spend most of their lives in an immobile state. Green leaves grow from small stalks on their heads which have faces reminiscent of human infants. While they may be plants, they exhibit humanoid appearance and, to some extent, behaviour.Ī typical Mandrake appears to have a humanoid form, but with the colour and rough texture of a plant root. ![]() ![]() ![]() Mandrakes are magical plant creatures that feature in the Harry Potter books and films. The mandrake root from Harry Potter: The Chamber of Secrets
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