SOURCE: "Discordia Concors, Decorum, and Cowley," in English Studies, Netherlands, Vol. XLIX, No. 6, December, 1968, pp. 481-89.

Below, Goldstein analyzes the ode "Of Wit," reading it as an expression of Cowley's ideas regarding the nature of his art. The poem embodies the classical notion of discordia concors (or, unity in diversity), the critic asserts, for Cowley gathers its diverse elements into a harmonious design, imitating the divine act of creating order out of chaos.

When Eliot calls Cowley 'an early Augustan as well as a late metaphysical', he locates Cowley's position in 'the history of thought and sensibility'.¹ This dual position is most strikingly demonstrated in Cowley's 'metaphysical' ode 'Of Wit', an attack on the metaphysical conceit as pointed and complete as any to be found among the 'Augustan' critics. In terms that strongly resemble those of the later writers, Cowley condemns excessive ornamentation, puns and plays on words...