Dear SunWinkers!

As I go through my Gather columns and fill in topics I have not yet addressed here on WordPress with the ultimate goal of producing SunWinks! The Book, we next find the poetic device known as the Metaphysical Conceit.

*sound of jaws dropping to the floor*

Once upon a time, I was reading one of my favorite sourcebooks, which cited Theodore Roethke in a discussion of figurative language:

I nibbled meekly from her proffered hand;
She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake,
Coming behind her for her pretty sake
(But what prodigious mowing did we make.)

from “I Knew A Woman” © Estate of Theodore Roethke

and went on to say, rather too briefly, “this is what is known as a metaphysical conceit.” [Engle and Carrier, eds.:Reading Modern Poetry; Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman & Co., revised edition 1968. From the Introduction by Lawrence Kramer.]

In the Roethke, the narrator compares himself to a rake, his lover to a sickle, and their lovemaking to …mowing a field??

Well, sure, and isn’t this so much more poetic, memorable, captivating, and original than just saying, “we made passionate love”? This is what modern poetry is about!

Now, this begs the questions, glossed over by the author of the essay (and me at the time), what is a conceit? and what makes it a metaphysical conceit? (And so what?)

Then one day, I ran into a wonderful lyric by my favorite songwriter:

There ain’t no moon
There ain’t no stars
Have to close up soon
‘Cause there ain’t no cars
Got no radio
Got no telephone
I’m just awful bored
And I’m so alone

Baby, please come to the station
And I’ll wipe your windshield clean
If you need oil, I’ll give you oil
And I’ll fill your tank with gasoline…

Randy Newman “If You Need Oil” © 1970 January Music Corp. BMI

And I had an epiphany: That’s a metaphysical conceit! How delightful!

A conceit, it turns out, is a

figure of speech, usually a simile or metaphor, that forms an extremely ingenious or fanciful parallel between apparently dissimilar or incongruous objects or situations.

“Conceit” in Encyclopedia Britannica
Also see “Metaphysical Conceit”

Further,

“a conceit is a comparison whose ingenuity is more striking than its justness”,

and

“a comparison becomes a conceit when we are made to concede likeness while being strongly conscious of unlikeness.” (Helen Gardner)

“Metaphysical Conceit” at Wikipedia

That’s what a conceit is. A metaphysical conceit draws a comparison between an incongruous physical object and someone’s spiritual or intangible qualities. It is a favorite device for the metaphysical poets of the 17^th century, in whose work it is frequently an extended metaphor and the basis for the entire poem.

An oft-cited example is John Donne’s “The Flea,” in which the congress (nookie) which the narrator desires with his unmarried paramour (sweetie) is compared to a flea (flea) which has bitten both of them and thus contains their intermingled blood!

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.

Here are links to two more examples from contemporary poets:

“somewhere I have never traveled” by e.e. cummings

“The Lesson” by Billy Collins

A metaphysical conceit does not have to be complex and intellectual. Some of the most delightful metaphysical conceits I know of are found in folk/rock/blues songs:

She came down from Cincinnati.
It took her three days on a train.
Lookin’ for some peace and quiet;
Hoped to see the sun again.

But now she lives down by the ocean.
She’s takin’ care to look for sharks.
They hang out in the local bars,
And they feed right after dark.

Can’t you feel ’em circlin’ honey?
Can’t you feel ’em swimmin’ around?
You got fins to the left, fins to the right,
And you’re the only bait in town.

“Fins” Jimmy Buffet © Coral Reefer Music

Years ago, I wrote a song for my honey drawing an extended metaphor between her zaftigkeit and her flamboyance and love for life:

I want a woman I can wrap my arms around
I want a girl who bites off more than she can chew
I don’t need no waify type whose taste for love and life
Consists of Perrier and rabbit food

I like my ladyfriends the way I like my cars,
Big and beautiful and hot beneath the hood.
I don’t need no pencil-neck, my taste is Rubenesque,
And boy I think I’m onto something good.

“You’re All The Woman I Need” © 1998 Douglas J. Westberg. All Rights Reserved. Published by Copious Notes Music (ASCAP).

Comparing a woman to a car has become a cliché. Drawing such a metaphysical conceit not only makes the comparison colorful, it provides the basis for lots of fun euphemism and double entendre:

Rollin’ down highway 95,
Sailin’ through her hometown countryside.
Move on over, stand aside,
My cruise control’s in overdrive
When I take my baby for a ride.

Ooo she’s like a smooth stretch of highway
Ooo she’s like a cool summer breeze
If my motor’s runnin’ right, we might lose control tonight.
Got the shape I love to squeeze, looks that bring me to my knees,
Oh please, let it roll tonight!

Little Feat “Let It Roll” by Payne/Barrere/Kibbee © 1988 Feat Music (ASCAP)

Finally, in this classic standard, the sexual arena is compared to a classroom:

Did you say I’ve got a lot to learn
Well don’t think I’m trying not to learn
Since this is the perfect spot to learn
Teach me tonight

Starting with the ABC of it
Getting right down to the XYZ of it
Help me solve the mystery of it
Teach me tonight

The sky’s a blackboard high above you
If a shooting star goes by
I’ll use that star to write “I love you”
A thousand times across the sky

“Teach Me Tonight” Lyric by Sammy Cahn © 1954 Renewed and Assigned to Cahn Music Co.

The Prompt:

Write a poem that includes a metaphysical conceit.

Alternate: Find a poem or lyric that includes a metaphysical conceit or choose one of the examples above. Tell us, what is the metaphor being drawn and why is it a metaphysical conceit? What makes it effective?

Devotedly,

Doug
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© 2015 Douglas J. Westberg. All Rights Reserved. Please share, reblog, link to, but do not copy or alter.