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Poems
John Donne's love poetry is a magnetic mix of the soul singing, intellectual rigor, and the lascivious prod. Seductions abound, but go hand in hand with metaphors of science, discovery, and conquest: "License my roving hands, and let them go, / Behind, before, above, between, below. / O my America! my new-found-land, / My kingdom, safeliest when with one man manned ..." In "The Flea," the speaker even uses a revolting parasite to persuade his young woman to bed. Since the flea has bitten both of them already, he urges, why should they not commingle on a larger scale? But in one of Donne's trademark reversals, the argument fails when the woman squashes the offending insect.
"The Good Morrow" is a good deal more romantic, opening: "I wonder by my troth, what thou and I / Did, till we loved?" Lines such as "And now good morrow to our waking souls, / Which watch not one another out of fear; / For love all love of other sights controls, / And makes one little room an everywhere" have even made the poem a wedding standard. ("The Sun Rising" is another nuptial favorite.) As usual, however, the poet adds a tincture of imperfection to the vision: the persona's excuse (charming but dubious), "If ever any beauty I did see, / Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee." Though readers might concentrate on the love songs and sonnets, John Carey's edition of the Selected Poetry offers much more, including satires, epigrams, and Donne's brilliant holy sonnets. As rugged, brilliantly contorted, and fraught with feeling as his more diurnal poetry, they are also equally concerned with inconstancy--Donne was born a Catholic, but converted to Anglicanism in 1593. "Batter my heart, three-personed God" ends: "Take me to You, imprison me, for I / Except You' enthrall me, never shall be free, / Nor ever chaste, except You ravish me."
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1633
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216 people want to read
About the author
John Donne
874 books700 followersJohn Donne was an English poet, preacher and a major representative of the metaphysical poets of the period. His works are notable for their realistic and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially as compared to that of his contemporaries.
Despite his great education and poetic talents, he lived in poverty for several years, relying heavily on wealthy friends. In 1615 he became an Anglican priest and, in 1621, was appointed the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London.
Despite his great education and poetic talents, he lived in poverty for several years, relying heavily on wealthy friends. In 1615 he became an Anglican priest and, in 1621, was appointed the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 9, 2018
love, all alike, no season knows, nor clime,
nor hours, days, months, with are the rags of time
amore, uguale a sé, non sa stagioni,
né ore, giorni, mesi, del tempo mozziconi
mozziconi è una traduzione di Patrizia Valduga, rags sta per stracci, per brandelli... mozziconi è quasi una forzatura, anche se fa rima con stagioni e rende benissimo il tempo degli innamorati, di coloro che non sanno aspettare, che fumano incessantemente nell'attesa di essere ripagati, come se di fronte a loro non ci fossero la malattia e la morte...
ed è così che al netto dell'amore consumato, quello che mozza il respiro (non è sempre quella l'etimologia?), Donne scrisse i suoi versi, altri mozziconi della vita
nor hours, days, months, with are the rags of time
amore, uguale a sé, non sa stagioni,
né ore, giorni, mesi, del tempo mozziconi
mozziconi è una traduzione di Patrizia Valduga, rags sta per stracci, per brandelli... mozziconi è quasi una forzatura, anche se fa rima con stagioni e rende benissimo il tempo degli innamorati, di coloro che non sanno aspettare, che fumano incessantemente nell'attesa di essere ripagati, come se di fronte a loro non ci fossero la malattia e la morte...
ed è così che al netto dell'amore consumato, quello che mozza il respiro (non è sempre quella l'etimologia?), Donne scrisse i suoi versi, altri mozziconi della vita
January 12, 2023
Le poesie più misogine che io abbia mai letto. Lui incel totale ma vabbè.💀
Diamo tre stelle al Dr. Donne perché apprezziamo il suo impegno esoterico.
Diamo tre stelle al Dr. Donne perché apprezziamo il suo impegno esoterico.
May 7, 2024
Read excerpts for class
October 6, 2025
I hope to revisit this book several years down the road and be able to love it.
December 3, 2022
John Donne est LE poète métaphysique par excellence. En témoignent les « conceits », métaphores dont le rapport lointain entre thème et phore saute aux yeux.
Et puis le puritanisme : Donne était contre. En comparant avec les vingtième et vingt-et-unième siècles, on se dit que l'époque était bien libre, car certains poèmes sont très explicites (érotiques), tandis que d'autres défendent l'inconstance.
Je n'oublie pas les épigrammes, très courtes et très drôles, qui le rapprochent du poète Robert Herrick.
Et puis le puritanisme : Donne était contre. En comparant avec les vingtième et vingt-et-unième siècles, on se dit que l'époque était bien libre, car certains poèmes sont très explicites (érotiques), tandis que d'autres défendent l'inconstance.
Je n'oublie pas les épigrammes, très courtes et très drôles, qui le rapprochent du poète Robert Herrick.
August 3, 2015
My favourite and most memorable line of this book was in the introduction when James VI of Scotland and I of England said the poetry of John Donné was like the peace of God - it passeth all understanding! I certainly got where he was coming from with that quip. no real memorable poems except for the famous "Death be not Proud" poem. I would not rush to study his poetry again.
July 30, 2016
I love listening to poetry read by the author however I found the choice of readers in this audiobook did not help with my understanding or enjoyment of the poetry. I think also that some poetry is better read and especially that written in a style of language that comes less easily perhaps. I did enjoy the commentary on Donne's life.
October 18, 2020
[...] Sembriamo ambiziosi di disfare l'intera opera di Dio: dal nulla egli ci fece, e noi a nostra volta ci sforziamo di riportarci indietro al nulla, e facciamo tutto il possibile per farlo in fretta come lui.
January 27, 2008
bought it in a small second hand book shop in canberra, aus. from a thai woman whose face on the left side was covered with liverspots
August 1, 2022
Actually ordered this on accident, but read through it and was really pleasantly surprised!
August 7, 2023
Love Jon Donne
April 21, 2024
“John Donne: Everyman’s Poetry”, edited by D.J. Enright [9780460879019]
Thorough collection of the poems of Donne, including a helpful chronology of dates. From the introduction we read, “.. in Donne, where passion and reason are in step .. so persuasively ..” (p.xix) “And humour is a pervasive ingredient in Donne’s speculative, fierce and intellectually unremitting habit of mind.” (p.xx)
Poems include:
“Go and Catch a Falling Star” - Anthropomorphic metaphors
“The Sun Rising” - Opens with “Busy old fool, unruly son…” ABBA CDCD EE. Deflating the overrated, elevating the worthy. This guy feels the world in a sensational perspective.
“The Canonization”: Great poem! This is another 5 star rating for his poems, such as Batter My Heart, Three-Person’d God; A Valediction; The Ecstasy. “Call us what you will, we are made such by love..”
“Air and Angels” - “Twice or thrice had I loved thee / Before I knew thy face or name ..” Beautiful
“The Flea” - Another poem of lovers’ plea. “… our two bloods mingled be;” “.. with one blood made of two,” Emily Bronte MUST have been influenced by Donne!
“The Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy’s Day” - Reminded me of allusions to pagan mythology, “But I am by her death, (which word wrongs her) / Of the first nothing, the Elixer grown;” “.. oft a flood / Have wee two wept, and so / Drownd the whole world, us two..” I love how this guy thinks, how he feels.
“The Bait” - “Come live with me and be my love..” “… of golden sands, and crystal brooks, With silken lives, and silver hooks.”
“The Apparition” - Vivid descriptions. Intense.
“The Broken Heart” - (Again) Wow! This is my kind of poetry!
“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” - “So let us melt …” Farewell at the death of a soul-mate. Surely this had been read by Emily Bronte and influenced her poetic expressions and novel ‘Wuthering Heights’, e.g. “Our two souls therefore, which are one..”
“The Ecstasy” - Again, like ‘Valediction’, this poem must have influenced Emily Bronte.
“The Funeral” - Yet again… surely Emily Bronte savoured this poem (as evident in her fictional character, Heathcliff, and in her poem ‘Honour’s Martyr’. Awesome!)
“Whate’er she meant by it bury it with me / For since I am Love’s martyr, it might breed idolatry…” “That since you would save none of me, I bury some of you.”
OMG how cool is that writing!
“The Relic” - How can this not be an influence for ‘Wuthering Heights’? Look at this poem! It opens with:
“When my grave is broke up again
Some second guest to entertain,
(For graves have learn'd that woman head,
To be to more than one a bed)
And he that digs it, spies
A bracelet of bright hair about the bone,
Will he not let'us alone,
And think that there a loving couple lies,
Who thought that this device might be some way
To make their souls, at the last busy day,
Meet at this grave, and make a little stay?”
“To His Mistress Going to Bed” - Wow. Tender, honest, spiritual, marital. Also titled Elegy XIX. “Ill spirits walk in white, / we easily know, / By this these Angels from an evil sprite..”
“Satire III” - Rich with stunning contrasts.
Holy Sonnet 4 [IV] - Aww, come on! This guy kills me. Sooo good!
“O, my black soul, now thou art summoned
Or wash thee in Christ’s blood, which hath this might
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.” ****
Death, Be Not Proud, Holy Sonnet X - “Death, thou shalt die.” ***
Batter My Heart, Three-Person’d God, Holy Sonnet XIV - One of my all-time favourite poems, an anthem, a mantra “.. you ravish me.” *****
Holy Sonnet 17 [XVII] - Gosh!! His love for his late wife, and his affection towards (& jealous of) heaven! ****
Good Friday 1613 Riding Westward, by John Donne - Wow! Genuine revelation of the wonderful cross and Donne’s place in Christ’s salvation story. “Burn off my rusts, and my deformity..”
Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness - More of a contextual attempt to reconcile Eastern and Western cultures and spirituality within his own thinking.
Thorough collection of the poems of Donne, including a helpful chronology of dates. From the introduction we read, “.. in Donne, where passion and reason are in step .. so persuasively ..” (p.xix) “And humour is a pervasive ingredient in Donne’s speculative, fierce and intellectually unremitting habit of mind.” (p.xx)
Poems include:
“Go and Catch a Falling Star” - Anthropomorphic metaphors
“The Sun Rising” - Opens with “Busy old fool, unruly son…” ABBA CDCD EE. Deflating the overrated, elevating the worthy. This guy feels the world in a sensational perspective.
“The Canonization”: Great poem! This is another 5 star rating for his poems, such as Batter My Heart, Three-Person’d God; A Valediction; The Ecstasy. “Call us what you will, we are made such by love..”
“Air and Angels” - “Twice or thrice had I loved thee / Before I knew thy face or name ..” Beautiful
“The Flea” - Another poem of lovers’ plea. “… our two bloods mingled be;” “.. with one blood made of two,” Emily Bronte MUST have been influenced by Donne!
“The Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy’s Day” - Reminded me of allusions to pagan mythology, “But I am by her death, (which word wrongs her) / Of the first nothing, the Elixer grown;” “.. oft a flood / Have wee two wept, and so / Drownd the whole world, us two..” I love how this guy thinks, how he feels.
“The Bait” - “Come live with me and be my love..” “… of golden sands, and crystal brooks, With silken lives, and silver hooks.”
“The Apparition” - Vivid descriptions. Intense.
“The Broken Heart” - (Again) Wow! This is my kind of poetry!
“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” - “So let us melt …” Farewell at the death of a soul-mate. Surely this had been read by Emily Bronte and influenced her poetic expressions and novel ‘Wuthering Heights’, e.g. “Our two souls therefore, which are one..”
“The Ecstasy” - Again, like ‘Valediction’, this poem must have influenced Emily Bronte.
“The Funeral” - Yet again… surely Emily Bronte savoured this poem (as evident in her fictional character, Heathcliff, and in her poem ‘Honour’s Martyr’. Awesome!)
“Whate’er she meant by it bury it with me / For since I am Love’s martyr, it might breed idolatry…” “That since you would save none of me, I bury some of you.”
OMG how cool is that writing!
“The Relic” - How can this not be an influence for ‘Wuthering Heights’? Look at this poem! It opens with:
“When my grave is broke up again
Some second guest to entertain,
(For graves have learn'd that woman head,
To be to more than one a bed)
And he that digs it, spies
A bracelet of bright hair about the bone,
Will he not let'us alone,
And think that there a loving couple lies,
Who thought that this device might be some way
To make their souls, at the last busy day,
Meet at this grave, and make a little stay?”
“To His Mistress Going to Bed” - Wow. Tender, honest, spiritual, marital. Also titled Elegy XIX. “Ill spirits walk in white, / we easily know, / By this these Angels from an evil sprite..”
“Satire III” - Rich with stunning contrasts.
Holy Sonnet 4 [IV] - Aww, come on! This guy kills me. Sooo good!
“O, my black soul, now thou art summoned
Or wash thee in Christ’s blood, which hath this might
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.” ****
Death, Be Not Proud, Holy Sonnet X - “Death, thou shalt die.” ***
Batter My Heart, Three-Person’d God, Holy Sonnet XIV - One of my all-time favourite poems, an anthem, a mantra “.. you ravish me.” *****
Holy Sonnet 17 [XVII] - Gosh!! His love for his late wife, and his affection towards (& jealous of) heaven! ****
Good Friday 1613 Riding Westward, by John Donne - Wow! Genuine revelation of the wonderful cross and Donne’s place in Christ’s salvation story. “Burn off my rusts, and my deformity..”
Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness - More of a contextual attempt to reconcile Eastern and Western cultures and spirituality within his own thinking.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews