Read it through once

The true metaphysical poets are, in this as in other things, not merely French or Italian, but have a long history in English literature. The essential quality of their poetry is a life of thought and feeling fused and directed by an intelligence, not, as in the case of the conventional love-poet, two things which are only juxtaposed. Their object is not to show that emotion can be ornamented by thought, but that thought and emotion can be one. Donne’s temperament, indeed, is not merely metaphysical; he is impassioned and sensuous also. But the passional element in him is controlled, chastened and made precise by the intellectual and moral energy which belongs to the metaphysical tradition.