John Donne

John Donne, Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Thomas Carew and Henry Vaughan: these were some of the 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

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Born in 1572 in London England, John Donne was an English Jacobean poet of exceptional skill, whose poetry was known for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor. While Donne was well educated and his poetic talents considerable he struggled for much of his life to provide for his family. Having published only two volumes during his lifetime, he was not a professional poet. Despite this his legacy on the world of poetry is a significant...

One of the greatest metaphysical poets of all time, Donne could find as much joy in the contemplation of man's relationship to God, as he could in the conjugal significance of a flea bite. Included here: The Flea, To His Mistress Going to Bed, Elegy 16, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning, and more.

Rich selection of 73 works from the Songs and Sonnets, Elegies, Holy Sonnets and other verse forms by foremost English "metaphysical" poet. Included are "The Good Morrow," "The Canonization," "The Relic," "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," "To His Mistress Going to Bed," "Death Be Not Proud," "Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward," "Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness" and many more. Note. Alphabetical lists of titles and first lines.

Although the poet John Donne lived so long ago, some phrases from his writing still linger with us today, such as “no man is an island,” “death, be no proud,” and “for whom the bell tolls,” the last of which provided the title for one of Ernest Hemingway's novels. Donne used poems as a means of metaphysical inquiry and meditation, as well as for very sensual expression. His daringly original use of imagery and conceits to lead the mind...