Wishing to expand on the minimal scholarship on the topic of Metaphysical and Mid-Late Tang poets under the general category of Baroque, this book offers a comparative analysis of poems from the Metaphysical poets John Donne, Andrew Marvell and Richard Crashaw and a selection of Tang poetry by Meng Jiao, Li He and Li Shangyin. By following Nietzche’s definition of Baroque as a poetic “style” found in any period and country, and the concept of art as allegory, the author approaches the analysis of these poems using allegorical reading. The application of this non-traditional method of investigation and analysis has produced ground-breaking implications in the area of literary criticism, paving the way for future additions to the growing body of work on Baroque poetry. Therefore, it is likely to hold great appeal to literature researchers and scholars, as well as those studying Tang poetry, Metaphysical poetry and Comparative Studies.

These poems are done by 17th-century writers who devised a new form of poetry full of wit, intellect and grace, which we now call Metaphysical poetry. They wrote about their deepest religious feelings and their carnal pleasures in a way that was radically new and challenging to their readers. Their work was largely misunderstood or ignored for two centuries, until 20th-century critics rediscovered it.