John Donne: The Poems

by Joe Nutt

John Donne's poems are some of the most challenging and stimulating in the English literary heritage. This book looks at the entire range of his poetic output, from the erotic to the divine, from satires to sonnets. Through detailed analysis of a large number of individual poems, Donne's intellectual vitality and unique poetic voice is entertainingly explored. The practical techniques are explained clearly, and when applied to the work of other poets, will enable the reader to feel confident in understanding and discussing even the most demanding verse.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published September 3, 1999

About the author

Joe Nutt's writing career really began when he published an essay on Anthony Powell as a postgraduate student at The University of Warwick, (after his tutor had graded it B) and then followed that up by winning first prize in the university's short story competition. His academic books are used by some of the leading schools in the UK. He wrote a fortnightly column for the Times Educational Supplement between 2015 and 2019 and has written for The Spectator, Spiked and Areo magazines. His most recent book, 'The Point of Poetry,' was published by Unbound in March 2019. He is writing a new book for John Catt, 'Teaching English for the Real World.'

Reviews

[Eleni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nutt focuses on 3-6 poems to illustrate each sub-category into which he has put Donne's poems for analysis, some categories indicating genre (elegies; satires) and others what Nutt feels is a predominate mood that the Song and Sonnets and Divine poems can be divided into (mortality; confusion and doubt). After reading this book, I have an appreciation for some of Donne's lesser known poems and am considering including them in my upcoming course.

[Mared Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I'm now finished with studying John Donne, I thought I'd add a few books that I've found incredibly helpful this year. This was probably the most helpful out of them all, because it analyses so many of his poems in quite a bit of depth.

[Sailorina Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best poems ever! <3