Metaphysical Poets

When writing about Ponsot and her poetry, reviewers and literary critics tend to label her work as being closely related to that of the metaphysical poets, whom Ponsot has admitted are a great influence on her writing. Metaphysical poetry was once described by the poet T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) as bringing together reason and passion. Writers who are often classified as the metaphysical poets wrote in the seventeenth century and include John Donne (1572-1631), Andrew Marvell (1621-1628), Henry Vaughn (1621-1695), and George Herbert (1593-1633). Their poetry tends to appeal to the intellect rather than to the emotions and incorporates energetic imagery, which in the case of the metaphysical poets is called “metaphysical conceit.” This is a figure of speech through which the poet creates a long, elaborate comparison between two dissimilar objects. It is used by these poets to enhance their poetry and to exhibit their...