Book description
Regarded by many as the greatest of the Metaphysical poets, John Donne
(1572-1631) was also among the most intriguing figures of the
Elizabethan age. A sensualist who composed erotic and playful love
poetry in his youth, he was raised a Catholic but later became one of
the most admired Protestant preachers of his time. The Selected Poems
reflects this wide diversity, and includes his youthful Songs and
Sonnets, epigrams, elegies, letters, satires, and the profoundly moving
Divine Poems composed towards the end of his life. From joyful poems
such as 'The Flea', which transforms the image of a louse into something
marvellous, to the intimate and intense Holy Sonnets, Donne breathed new
vigour into poetry by drawing lucid and often startling metaphors from
the world in which he lived. His poems remain among the most passionate,
profound and spiritual in the English language.
John Donne (1572-1631) was the most outstanding of the English
Metaphysical Poets and a churchman famous for his spellbinding sermons.
Ilona Bell is Professor of English Literature at Williams College,
Massachusetts. She has published widely on Renaissance literature and
is the author of several books on Donne, his courtship, and his love poetry.
