Song: Go and Catch a Falling Star (1633) – John Donne
Go, and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me, where all past years are, Or who cleft the devil’s foot, Teach me to hear mermaids singing, Or to keep off envy’s stinging And find What wind Serves to advance an honest mind. If thou be’st born to strange sights, Things invisible to see, Ride ten thousand days and nights, Till age snow white hair on thee, Thou, when thou return’st, wilt tell me All strange wonders that befell thee, And swear Nowhere Lives a woman true, and fair. If thou find’st one, let me know, Such a pilgrimage were sweet; Yet do not, I would not go, Though at next door we might meet, Though she were true, when you met her, And last, till you write your letter, Yet she Will be False, ere I come, to two, or three. Main Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry 1. Metaphysical conceits – far fetched and ingenious extended comparisons which are original and logical 2. Metaphysical wit – made of heterogeneous ideas that are yoked together b...