1. Cavaliers and Metaphysical Poets
The Jacobean Period and the Commonwealth

2. The Later Cavaliers A group of young men loyal of the king
Poetry characterized by great wit and intended to entertain the audience
Conversational style
Elaborate conceits
Admiration for the classics: regular rhythm and simple language
Themes of love and sometimes sarcastic commentaries on pursuit of fickle women

3. Robert Herrick “To the Virgins to Make Much of Time”
“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” : carpe diem
Identify the metaphor inline 5.
(the sun compared to a lamp)
What age does Herrick consider to be the best? Why?

4. Sir John Suckling “The Constant Lover”
What conclusion can you draw about the speaker after reading the first stanza?
The image of “time” shedding its wings is a play on words (Time flies). What is the speaker saying about his constancy?

5. “Why So Pale and Wan Fair Lover?”
What is the condition of the person described in the poem?
What advice does the speaker give the lover?
Do you think the lover will see the logic of his argument?

6. Richard Lovelace “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars”
What contrast is being made in the first stanza?
What is suggested about Lucasta’s first reaction to his leaving?
Identify the paradox in the third stanza

7. “To Althea, from Prison”
To what is the speaker contrasting himself in the third stanza?
Can you put lines in your own words?
What is the paradox in the last stanza?

8. Andrew Marvell “To His Coy Mistress”
Why is the suggestion in the first 7 lines of how they would spend time seem ridiculous?
Lines 8-10: hyperbole and allusion
What is the speaker urging his beloved to do ?

9. The Metaphysical Poets
Philosophical approach to everyday subjects
Striking comparisons
Conversational style
Poetry: takes the form of an argument appealing to both intellect and emotion; subject matter is serious and complex.

10. The metaphysical conceit
Witty comparison between two dissimilar things
Takes thought and imagination to unravel
Is important to understanding the poet’s argument

11. John Donne “Song” Written on the occasion of his parting from his wife
Identify the conceit in the second stanza
The tight rhyme scheme reinforces the logical organization of the argument
Lines 21-24: What are his reasons?
Lines 33-36: What is he asking of her?

12. “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”
A song of farewell
What is happening in the first four lines?
In the second stanza, what is he asking of his beloved? What hints do we see of Donne’s religious conversion?
What is the purpose of the comparison in lines 13-20?

13. “Death Be Not Proud” “Meditation 17”
Personification or apostrophe? Line 1
What assumptions does the speaker make about death in this poem?
“Meditation 17”
What comparisons does Donne make in this meditation? What does this say about man and his fate?

14. Ben Jonson “On My first Son” “To Celia” Written after his son’s death
What does Jonson consider his best piece of poetry? (His son)
“To Celia”
What is Celia’s reaction to his gift? (she rejects him)