By the end of his life, John Donne had become Dean of St. Paul's and one of the greatest preachers of seventeenth century England. He was, however, virtually unknown as a poet. Most of the poems that are today considered to be his greatest works were written before he entered the ministry and were circulated primarily among friends and the literary circles of the English court.
Although they were published posthumously in 1633, it was almost three centuries before his achievement was adequately appreciated and understood.
The famous eighteenth-century English critic Samuel Johnson created the term metaphysical poets to describe Donne and the poets he influenced, a group that included George Herbert and Andrew Marvell.
While these poets varied in success and talent they did have common characteristics: their poetry often employed fabulous and paradoxical images, wit, and sophisticated and learned arguments.
This collection contains all of John Donne's greatest and most famous poems. Included in its entirety is the group of poems entitled Songs and Sonnets which is comprised of such masterpieces as A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning, The Sun Rising, and The Canonization.
Also well-represented are his religious sonnets including the superb Death be Not Proud.
CONDITION: Hard Cover with DJ, one tear to back of DJ, all else very good. Appears to be a first edition/ first printing. 223 pages, 1994
