John Donne
1572–1631
John Donne (1572–1631) was an English poet and cleric, born in London into a Catholic family. After a career marred by a secret marriage, he converted to the Church of England and became Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, famous as a preacher.
Donne is the leading Metaphysical poet: his love poems and religious verse use bold conceits, argument and colloquial speech. “The Flea”, “The Sun Rising”, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and the Holy Sonnet “Death, be not proud” are among the best known, and his prose meditation “No man is an island” is still widely quoted.
Best-known poems
-
The Flea
Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, … -
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
As virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say, … -
The Sun Rising
BUSY old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us? … -
The Good-Morrow
I WONDER by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? were we not wean'd till then?
But suck'd on country pleasures, childishly? … -
The Canonization
FOR God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love;
Or chide my palsy, or my gout;
My five gray hairs, or ruin'd fortune flout; … -
A Hymn to God the Father
Wilt Thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin through which I run, …
All poems (42)
A 2
B 1
D 3
S 1
T 31
- That Time and Absence provesRather helps than hurts to lovesAbsence, hear thou my protestation
- The BaitCOME live with me, and be my love,
- The BaitCome live with me, and be my love,
- The Blossom (Donne)LITTLE think'st thou, poor flower,
- The Broken Heart (Donne)He is stark mad, whoever says,
- The CanonizationFOR God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love;
- The ComputationFor my first twenty years, since yesterday,
- The Curse (Donne)WHOEVER guesses, thinks, or dreams, he knows
- The DampWHEN I am dead, and doctors know not why,
- The DissolutionSHE's dead; and all which die
- The Dream (Donne)DEAR love, for nothing less than thee
- The EcstasyWhere, like a pillow on a bed,
- The ExpirationSO, so, break off this last lamenting kiss,
- The FleaMark but this flea, and mark in this,
- The FuneralWhoever comes to shroud me, do not harm
- The Funeral (Donne)WHOEVER comes to shroud me, do not harm,
- The Good-MorrowI WONDER by my troth, what thou and I
- The IndifferentI CAN love both fair and brown;
- The Legacy (John Donne)When last I died, and, dear, I die
- The Paradox (Donne)No lover saith, I love, nor any other
- The Primrose, Being at Montgomery Castle, Upon the Hill, on Which It Is SituateUPON this Primrose hill,
- The ProhibitionTAKE heed of loving me;
- The Relic (Donne)WHEN my grave is broke up again
- The Sun RisingBUSY old fool, unruly Sun,
- The Sun RisingBusy old fool, unruly Sun,
- The TokenSEND me some tokens, that my hope may live
- The Triple FoolI am two fools, I know,
- The UndertakingI HAVE done one braver thing
- The WillBEFORE I sigh my last gasp, let me breathe,
- The WillBefore I sigh my last gasp, let me breathe,
- Twickenham GardenBlasted with sighs, and surrounded with tears,
