This 1992 book seeks the reason for the central importance of wit in the thinking of the metaphysical poets.

A. J. Smith is Associate Pastor for Worship and Administration at Seven Springs Baptist Church, Calera, Alabama, and an Adjunct Professor of Church History for Liberty Theological Seminary's Distance Learning Program. He taught at Simmons College of Kentucky from 2004 to 2006 and has spoken before professional societies on Baptist history, systematic theology, and patristic theology. He has authored an article that appears in the new Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Drastic devices; 2. Mirror of creation; 3. Courtly conceits; 4. Intelligible images; 5. Arts of ingenuity; 6. Metaphorical wit; 7. Metaphysical wit; 8. Sacred earth; Notes; Index.