The Complete English Poems

John Donne created new forms of lyric, satire, elegiac, and religious verse. His independence of view, compact manner of expression encompassing conflicting moods, impassioned paradox, outbreaks of cynicism, and wry humor make his work particularly appealing to the twentieth-century mind. His poetry reflects every stage of his development from the piratical Jack Donne who sailed with Ralegh against the Spaniards and spent riotous nights in the London streets, to the penitent John Donne who be…