The correct answer is 4: John Milton and John Dryden because T. S. Eliot argues in his essay "The Metaphysical Poets" that these two poets, Milton and Dryden, contributed to the "dissociation of sensibility" that occurred in the seventeenth century.
Here’s the reasoning:
"Dissociation of sensibility" refers to Eliot's idea that, after the seventeenth century, poets lost the ability to combine thought and feeling seamlessly in their works. The early metaphysical poets, such as John Donne, embodied this unity—intellect and emotion were intertwined. However, later poets like Milton and Dryden emphasized reason and rhetorical precision, resulting in a split between intellectual thought and emotional expression.
Milton and Dryden's influence: Milton’s epic style in Paradise Lost and Dryden’s focus on neoclassical ideals marked a shift toward intellectualism and formalism in poetry, which Eliot saw as deepening the separation between thought and feeling in literary expression. These two poets set the stage for a more rationalistic and less emotionally unified approach to poetry, which persisted into the eighteenth century.
Why the other options are incorrect:
Ben Jonson and Abraham Cowley (Option 1) were both poets of the seventeenth century, but Eliot does not associate them directly with the dissociation of sensibility.
George Herbert and Henry Vaughan (Option 2) were metaphysical poets themselves, known for their integration of thought and feeling—precisely the quality that Eliot believes was lost.
John Donne and Andrew Marvell (Option 3) were also metaphysical poets, representing the era before the dissociation took place.
Thus, Eliot singles out Milton and Dryden as exemplars of the shift that led to the dissociation of sensibility.
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