In their own way they were authors of fairy tales. The “metaphysical poets” were given that name because they wrote paradoxical and pure poems about mysterious subjects. He was also a poet, a prophet and a priest, his fellow poet Henry Vaughan called him “a most glorious saint and seer.” He was a country parson, so he went to church to pray. The man helped the poor people in the village and ministered to the sick. He went to a tiny country village and lived in a large house beside a river that flowed down to a meadow on which stood beautiful cathedral. But the gentle Englishman chose instead to be a country priest. The king himself honored him and called him to high office. He was a man of glorious birth and good connections. There he excelled in language, music and oratory. There once was a young man from an aristocratic family who went off to a splendid university town. The paragon of these poets is the gentle priest George Herbert and the best way to tell his story is to tell a story: This is because their poetry succeeds in being a vehicle for the absolute in a way that no other school of poetry quite does. It seems their work is poetry par excellence. There is a reason for this sense that in their verse we can do no worse. What is it about the metaphysical poets that captivate the student’s heart and mind? There is something pure and perfect about the poetry of that band of poetic pilgrims.
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