Critical Appreciation Of T. S. Eliot s The Metaphysical...

Critical Appreciation of T. S. Eliot’s â€Å"The Metaphysical Poets† T. S. Eliot’s essay â€Å"The Metaphysical Poets† was first published in The Times literary Supplement, 1031 (1921) and reprinted in Homage to John Dryden (1924) and Selected Essays (1932). It was published as a review of J.C. Grierson’s Edition of Metaphysical Lyrics and Poems of the 17th Century. The essay possesses a high critical value and significance. Eliot begins the essay by praising Grierson’s scholarly edition of Metaphysical lyrics and Poems of the 17th Century as an admirable â€Å"piece of criticism, and a provocation of criticism.† According to Eliot that the phrase ‘metaphysical poetry’ has been used as a term of abuse or as a label of a quaint and pleasant taste. He raises a question whether the so-called metaphysical poets formed a new school or movement or whether it was just a mere continuation of some older tradition. Eliot states that it is quite difficult to define metaphysical poetry as well as to explain the char acteristics, which differentiate metaphysical poetry from other kinds of poetry. It is also very difficult to find precise use of metaphor, simile, or other conceit that is common to all the poets and at the same time is significant enough to make distinction between metaphysical poetry and the other kinds of poetry. Then he proceeds to examine one by one with suitable illustrations the characteristics that can be considered as ‘metaphysical.’ First, he states that the elaboration of aShow MoreRelatedwisdom,humor and faith19596 Words   |  79 Pages there is â€Å"a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.† Enlightening comments on the relationship of humor to wisdom were once made by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971), perhaps the twentieth-century’s most influential U. S. theologian (and a favorite thinker of President Obama). Although Niebuhr generally agreed that humor stresses the incongruous, he also, like Chesterton and Solomon, linked it with humility. Humor is a proof of the capacity of the self to gain a vantage