Metaphysical Wit

by A.J. Smith

Book Overview

English metaphysical poetry, from Donne to Marvell, is conspicuously witty. A. J. Smith seeks the central importance of wit in the thinking of the metaphysical poets, and argues that metaphysical wit is essentially different from other modes of wit current in Renaissance Europe. Formal theories and rhetorics of wit are considered both for their theoretical import and their appraisals of wit in practice. Prevailing fashions of witty invention are scrutinized...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521340276
• ISBN13: 9780521340274
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"