Major - 2
College name: Maharani shree nandkuvarba mahila arts and commerce college.
Leo Tolstroy.
Name : Sarvaiya Rajviba Bharatsinh
Std : F.y.B.A.
Subject : Major -2
Class Assignment
>• discuss about metaphysical poet what is metaphysical poetry ?
Metaphysical poetry is a term used to describe a unique group of 17th-century English poets who wrote with a highly intellectual, witty, and philosophical style.
The word "meta" means beyond, and "physical" means the physical world. Therefore, metaphysical poetry deals with subjects that go beyond what we can see and touch—such as love, soul, religion, God, and the meaning of existence.
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## 🏛️ Origin of the Term
* John Dryden first criticized John Donne by saying he "affects the metaphysics" in his amorous poems.
* Dr. Samuel Johnson later popularized the term "Metaphysical Poets" in his book Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1779), using it as a critical label for their unusual writing style.
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## ✨ Core Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry
To score well in your major exam, you must memorize and explain these key features:
* Metaphysical Conceits: This is the most important feature. A conceit is an unusual, elaborate, and far-fetched comparison between two completely different things. For example, in John Donne's A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, he compares two lovers' souls to the two legs of a mathematician's compass.
* Blend of Emotion and Intellect: Unlike traditional romantic poets who only wrote from the heart, these poets thought and felt at the same time. T.S. Eliot called this the "unification of sensibility."
* Colloquial and Abrupt Openings: The poems often start very abruptly, using conversational, everyday speech rather than smooth, musical language.
* Wit and Irony: The poems are filled with intellectual playfulness, clever paradoxes, and sharp irony.
* Thematic Variety: The poems primarily revolve around two major themes: intellectualized love (both spiritual and physical) and deep religious devotion.
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## ✒️ Major Metaphysical Poets & Their Works
| Poet | Role / Significance | Famous Works to Remember |
| John Donne | The pioneer and leader of the metaphysical school. Known for his intense blend of passion and logic. | The Flea, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, Holy Sonnets |
| George Herbert | A religious metaphysical poet. Famous for his "shape poems" where the text forms a visual image. | The Temple, The Collar, Easter Wings |
| Andrew Marvell | Known for his versatile style, blending political, romantic, and nature themes with intellectual wit. | To His Coy Mistress, The Garden |
| Henry Vaughan | A mystical religious poet heavily influenced by Herbert, focusing on the soul's relationship with God. | The Retreat, Silex Scintillans |
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>• discuss the meta conceits used by John Don in the canonization :
In "[The Canonization]defends his romantic relationship against a critical world by employing some of the most radical metaphysical conceits in English literature.
Instead of using soft, conventional Elizabethan metaphors (like comparing a lover to a rose), Donne builds a highly intellectual argument by linking physical, passionate love with theology, biology, and ancient mythology.
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## 1. The Fly and the Taper (The Biological & Physical Conceit)
In the third stanza, Donne uses an unconventional, multi-layered comparison involving a fly and a candle:
"Call us what you will, we are made such by love;
Call her one, me another fly,
We're tapers too, and at our own cost die"
*
* The Comparison: The lovers are compared to short-lived flies (parasites or moths) attracted to a burning candle ("taper").
* The Metaphysical Twist: In the 17th century, the phrase "to die" carried a double meaning—it meant both biological death and the exhaustion following sexual intercourse. Donne argues that like moths attracted to fire, they consume themselves through their own passion, paying the cost of their love with their own lives.
## 2. The Eagle and the Dove (The Zoomorphic Conceit)
In the same stanza, Donne blends two completely opposite bird archetypes into the identity of the couple:
"...And we in us find the eagle and the dove."
* The Comparison: (representing masculine strength, intellect, and worldly aggression) and the [Dove] (representing feminine gentleness, peace, and spirituality) are combined.
* The Metaphysical Twist: Through their intense connection, the two distinct genders and personalities fuse together. They neutralize their individual differences to create a perfectly balanced, unified entity.
## 3. The Riddling Phoenix (The Mythological Conceit)
Donne immediately follows the bird imagery with the ultimate symbol of transformation—the
"The phoenix riddle hath more wit
By us; we two being one, are it."
* The Comparison: The lovers are compared to the mythical, immortal bird that dies in flames and rises renewed from its own ashes.
* The Metaphysical Twist: The traditional is a single, sexless creature. Donne creates a paradox: the lovers are two separate beings, yet they combine to form one single phoenix. By "dying" together in love, they rise reborn, proving that their relationship is mysterious, immortal, and self-sustaining.
*
## 4. The Well-Wrought Urn (The Architectural/Artistic Conceit)
Moving away from nature, Donne shifts his imagery to structural and artistic craftsmanship:
"We'll build in sonnets pretty rooms;
As well a well-wrought urn becomes
The greatest ashes, as half-acre tombs"
* The Comparison: The speaker contrasts massive, expensive graves ("half-acre tombs") built for kings and politicians with a small, beautifully crafted ashes container ("well-wrought urn").
* The Metaphysical Twist: He claims their love is not suited for grand historical chronicles or political textbooks. Instead, their relationship will be preserved perfectly inside the tight, structured space of a love poem (a sonnet). The poem itself becomes the beautiful urn holding their immortalized love.
*
## 5. The Sainthood of Lovers (The Central Theological Conceit)
The overarching conceit of the poem—implied directly by the title "The Canonization"—is the direct comparison between romantic lovers and religious saints.
* The Comparison: In the Roman Catholic tradition, "canonization" is the official process of declaring a deceased person a holy saint. Donne argues that he and his mistress will be canonized not for religious asceticism, but for their total devotion to romantic love.
* The Metaphysical Twist: True saints retreat from the corrupt world to focus entirely on God. Similarly, Donne argues that he and his partner have rejected the corrupt material world (the king, wealth, and politics) to focus entirely on each other. Their love becomes a private religion, their eyes become mirrors containing the entire universe, and future generations will pray to them as the "Saints of Love" to learn how to love ideally.
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Home assignment
>• write a note a realizm explain one of the Tolstroy story on it .
"After the Ball" (1911) by Leo Tolstoy is the perfect short story to analyze.
Written later in his life, this story is highly recommended because it uses a simple plot to deliver a sharp critique of Russian high society, institutional cruelty, and human hypocrisy.
Here is a complete, assignment-ready structural breakdown of the story that you can copy, expand, and submit.
## 📋 Assignment Topic: The Contrast of Reality in Tolstoy's "After the Ball"
## 1. Introduction to the Story
* Author: Leo Tolstoy (written in 1903, published posthumously in 1911).
* Core Style: Frame narrative (a story within a story) and psychological realism.
* Central Thesis: The story exposes how the beautiful, polished surface of the upper class masks a hidden, brutal system of state violence and moral corruption.
## 2. Plot Outline (The Case Study)
* The Frame: An elderly man named Ivan Vasilievich argues with his friends that a person's environment does not determine their morality; rather, it is shaped by a single chance event.
* The Ball (The Illusion): Ivan recalls his youth when he was deeply in love with a beautiful girl named Varenka. At a grand ball, he watches Varenka dance gracefully with her father, a handsome, deeply affectionate, and highly respected military Colonel. Ivan feels immense admiration for the father.
* The Morning After (The Reality): Unable to sleep from pure joy, Ivan goes for an early morning walk. He stumbles upon a military camp where a runaway Tatar soldier is being forced to run a gauntlet.
* The Shocking Twist: The same gentle Colonel from the ball is viciously directing the punishment. He watches coldly as soldiers beat the bleeding captive, and he even strikes a young soldier for not hitting the prisoner hard enough.
* The Resolution: Horrified by this hypocrisy, Ivan's romantic illusion is shattered. He realizes he cannot live in a society built on such hidden cruelty. He stops courting Varenka and completely rejects a military career.
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## ⚖️ Critical Themes to Include in Your Essay
Group your assignment paragraphs under these three highly academic headings to score high marks:
## 🏗️ The Technique of Binary Contrast (Dualism)
* Tolstoy structures the story into two completely opposite halves.
* The first half features bright lights, beautiful music, expensive dresses, and joyous romance.
* The second half shifts to heavy fog, a sinister drumbeat, muddy streets, and blood-soaked violence.
* This direct contrast proves that the elite class survives by actively ignoring the suffering of the lower classes.
## 🎭 The Mask of Social Hypocrisy
* The Colonel represents the ultimate social hypocrite.
* At the ball, he wears a warm smile and acts like a loving, sentimental father.
* In the line of duty, he transforms into an unfeeling, robotic agent of state cruelty.
* Tolstoy uses him to show that institutional laws often strip human beings of their natural empathy.
## 🧭 Moral Awakening and Pacifism
* Ivan’s choice to walk away from Varenka and the military is an act of quiet rebellion.
* Instead of trying to change the system, he completely removes himself from it.
* This ending reflects Tolstoy’s personal philosophy of non-violent resistance to evil.
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Conclusion
"Ultimately, 'After the Ball' is not merely a failed love story, but a profound ethical awakening. Through the eyes of Ivan Vasilievich, Tolstoy strips away the romantic glamour of the Russian empire to expose the brutal mechanism of state-sanctioned violence hiding just beneath the surface of polite society."
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Essay Assignment.
William Shakespeare's life
William Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest dramatist in the English language, was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptized on April 26, 1564.
The son of John Shakespeare, a prosperous glove-maker and local alderman, and Mary Arden, he grew up in a comfortable middle-class household and likely attended the local King's New School, where he received an intensive education in Latin grammar, classical literature, and rhetoric. At the young age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in late 1582. The couple quickly started a family, welcoming their first daughter, Susanna, in 1583, followed by twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585. Following the birth of the twins, Shakespeare entered a mysterious chapter of his life known to historians as the "lost years," a seven-year period where no historical records track his activities or whereabouts.
By 1592, Shakespeare resurfaced in London and had established himself as a rising playwright and actor, drawing enough attention to be publicly mocked by a rival writer as an "upstart crow." He became a founding member, actor, and the primary playwright of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, a highly successful theatrical company that later built the famous Globe Theatre in 1599 on the south bank of the River Thames. During this productive London era, Shakespeare authored the vast majority of his 38 plays and 154 sonnets, masterfully shifting from early histories and lighthearted comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream to profound, dark tragedies such as Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. His unparalleled success caught the attention of royalty, earning his company the patronage of King James I, who renamed them the King's Men in 1603.
Having accumulated significant wealth and property from his theatrical shares, Shakespeare gradually retired from the bustling London theatre scene around 1613 and returned to his family in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he lived comfortably in New Place, the second-largest house in the town. He passed away on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52, and was buried inside the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church. Seven years after his death, his close friends and fellow actors compiled his plays into the First Folio (1623), preserving monumental works that otherwise might have been lost to history and cementing his eternal legacy as a writer who was, in the words of his contemporary Ben Jonson, "not of an age, but for all time."
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