John Donne
Overview
John Donne English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets
Metaphysical poets
The metaphysical poets is a term coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century, who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating them, and whose work was characterized by inventiveness of metaphor...

. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...

s, love poetry, religious poems, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 translations, epigram
Epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....

s, elegies
Elegy
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...

, songs, satires and sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...

s. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...

, especially as compared to that of his contemporaries. John Donne's style is characterised by abrupt openings, various paradoxes, ironies, dislocations.
Quotations

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.Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

The Good Morrow, stanza 2

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,And true plain hearts do in the faces rest,Where can we find two better hemispheresWithout sharp North, without declining West?What ever dies, was not mixed equally;If our two loves be one, or, thou and ILove so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.

The Good Morrow, stanza 3

Though Truth and Falsehood be Near twins, yet Truth a little elder is.

Satyre III

Go and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me where all past years are, Or who cleft the Devil's foot, Teach me to hear mermaids singing, Or to keep off envy's stinging, And find What wind Serves to advance an honest mind.

Song (Go and Catch a Falling Star), stanza 1

And swearNo where Lives a woman true and fair. If thou find'st one, let me know, Such a pilgrimage were sweet; Yet do not, I would not go, Though at next door we might meet, Though she were true, when you met her, And last, till you write your letter, Yet she Will be False, ere I come, to two, or three.

Song (Go and Catch a Falling Star), stanzas 2-3

I have done one braver thing Than all the Worthies did; And yet a braver thence doth spring, Which is to keep that hid.

The Undertaking, stanza 1

But he who loveliness withinHath found, all outward loathes,For he who color loves, and skin,Loves but their oldest clothes.

The Undertaking, stanza 4

And dare love that, and say so too,And forget the He and She.

The Undertaking, stanza 5

Busy old fool, unruly Sun,Why dost thou thus,Through windows, and through curtains call on us?Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?

The Sun Rising, stanza 1

Love, all alike, no season knows, nor clime, Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

The Sun Rising, stanza 1

 
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