Description
Book SynopsisAn invaluable guide for both student and teacher, this collection of specially written essays offers the most up-to-date scholarship and introduces students to the current thinking and debates about John Donne - the pre-eminent 'metaphysical' poet, and one of the greatest lyric poets of all time.
Trade Review'… important … the first comprehensive guide to Donne's work …' The Times Literary Supplement
' … important…. the first comprehensive guide to Donne's works …' Contemporary Review
'… libraries serving the humanities should have this book on their shelves as it is sure to be consulted by students and teachers - and general readers - who are eager to find out more about one of the most rewarding of our poets.' Reference Reviews
'The volume is refreshing in its inclusion of a sociolinguistic exploration of the works, as well as an electrifying final piece by A. S. Byatt … This companion more than deserves to be on our libraries' shelves, enjoying pride of place next to its older siblings on Jonson, Marlowe, Shakespeare and Spenser'. English Studies
Table of ContentsChronology; 1. Donne's life: a sketch Jonathan F. S. Post; 2. The text of Donne's writings Ted-Larry Pebworth; 3. The social context and nature of Donne's writing: occasional verse and letters Arthur F. Marotti; 4. Literary contexts: predecessors and contemporaries Andrew Hadfield; 5. Donne's religious world Alison Shell and Arnold Hunt; 6. Donne's political world Tom Cain; 7. Reading and rereading Donne's poetry Judith Herz; 8. Satirical writing: Donne in shadows Annabel Patterson; 9. Erotic poetry Achsah Guibbory; 10. Devotional writing Helen Wilcox; 11. Donne as preacher Peter McCullough; 12. Donne's language: the conditions of communication Lynne Magnusson; 13. Gender matters: the women in Donne's poems Ilona Bell; 14. Facing death Ramie Targoff; 15. Donne's afterlife Dayton Haskin; 16. Feeling thought: Donne and the embodied mind A. S. Byatt; 17. Select bibliography L. E. Semler.
