Metaphysical poetry is concerned with the relationship between man and experience, particularly love, God, and beauty. Metaphysical poems are lyrics poems and tend to be romantic and concerning the nature of sensual experiences, far-fetched imagery and theological concepts, however they may also include lyrics about art and learning. These lyrics tend to investigate the world not by mysticism or intuition, but rather rational discussion with subtle arguments.
Metaphysical poetry can be characterized by its abundance of intellectual wit, irony and unusual metaphors, yet intricacy, complexity and ultimately its inventiveness of metaphysical conceits. It is often that poets of metaphysical poetry express several
arguments into their poems, which frequently result in a paradox. Frequently, the last two lines of metaphysical poems present a final ‘conceit’.
The term, “Metaphysical poets” was introduced in the seventeenth century by the poet, Samuel Johnson. This term usually refers to the work of the poets listed below, however, “metaphisical poetry” can also refer to any poetry which discusses metaphysics, a branch of philosophy.
Neo-Platonism was the major influence for much metaphysical poetry, such as John Donne. John Donne was one of the most influential metaphysical poets of his time. Many of his lyrics are concerned with spirituality, which he expressed a personal interest for.
Metaphysical poets:
John Donne (1572–1631)
Saint Robert Southwell (c. 1561–1595)
Richard Crashaw (c. 1613–1649)
Andrew Marvell (1621–1678)
Henry Vaughan (1622–1695)
Thomas Traherne (1636 or 1637 – 1674)
George Herbert (1593–1633)
Read more on metaphysical poetry at Wikipedia.