The Good-Morrow

John Donne

1. What kind of poet is John Donne?

Ans: John Donne is a metaphysical poet.

2. Who first coined the phrase "metaphysical poets"?

Ans: Samuel Johnson first coined the phrase “metaphysical poets”.

3. What is metaphysical poetry? 

Ans: Metaphysical poetry is a type of witty, ingenious and highly philosophical poetry that uses literary elements like similes, metaphors, imagery, paradoxes, conceit and farfetched views of reality.

4. When did metaphysical poetry begin?

Ans: Metaphysical poetry began in the beginning of the seventeenth century.

5. Who is the leader and founder of metaphysical Poetry? 

Ans: John Donne is the leader and founder of metaphysical Poetry.

6. What do you understand by the term 'metaphysical conceit'?

Ans: Metaphysical conceit is the conceit where most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together.

7. What kind of poem is "The Good-Morrow"?

Ans: “The Good-Morrow” is a metaphysical poem.

8. What is the rhyme scheme of each of the stanzas of "The Good Morrow"? 

Ans: The rhyme scheme of each of the stanzas of "The Good Morrow" is ababccc.

9. What does the phrase ‘Good Morrow’ mean? 

Ans: The phrase ‘Good Morrow’ means good morning.

10. To whom does the poet wish Good Morning in the poem "The Good Morrow"?

Ans: In the poem, "The Good Morrow" the poet wishes Good Morning to the waking souls of both the poet and his beloved.

11. What is Metaphysics? 

Ans: Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy exploring the fundamental questions, including the nature of concepts like being, existence, and reality.

12. What metaphysical qualities do you find in the poem "The Good Morrow"?

Ans: The metaphysical qualities we find in the poem The Good Morrow are abrupt beginning, use of conceit, blending of passion and intellect, use of colloquial language, perception of spiritual love etc.

13. Give two examples of the metaphysical conceits used by Donne. 

Ans: Two examples of the metaphysical conceits used by Donne are given below: 

i. But suck’d on country pleasures, childishly. 

ii. Snorted we in the seven sleepers den.

14. Who are the "Seven Sleepers" as referred to in the poem "The good Morrow"?

Ans: “The seven sleepers” refer to the seven brothers who slept in a cave for about two hundred years to escape death sentence.

15. What does "The seven sleepers den" refer to?

Ans: “The seven sleepers den” refers to the cave in which the seven brothers slept for about two hundred years to escape death sentence. 

16. How do the lovers become a single entity?

Ans: The lovers become a single entity by mixing the two souls of the lovers in equal proportion.

17. What is a hemisphere?

Ans: Hemisphere is half of the terrestrial globe divided into two by the equator.

18. Name some of the areas from where Donne has brought imagery in "The Good Morrow".

Ans: Some of the areas from where Donne has brought imagery in the poem "The Good Morrow" are geography, cartography, psychology, chemistry, the Bible etc.  

19. What is conceit?

Ans: Conceit is a figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors.

20. What is allusion?

Ans: Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.

21. What is Platonic love?

Ans: Platonic love is that type of love in which sexual desire is nonexistent or has been suppressed or sublimated.