Devotions upon Emergent Occasions: Together with Death's Duel (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: thy method, thy corrections, thy apostle, Christ Jesus, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The editing is an exemplory piece of scholarship."--Jim Kerbaugh, Illinois College
"[This edition] adds something to our real wealth. The text that Raspa has established must be as close to finality as anything can be, the bibliographical history of the work is minute and exhaustive, the notes packed with scholarly information, the erudition of the introduction scarcely to be surpassed."--Times Literary Supplement
"[This edition] adds something to our real wealth. The text that Raspa has established must be as close to finality as anything can be, the bibliographical history of the work is minute and exhaustive, the notes packed with scholarly information, the erudition of the introduction scarcely to be surpassed."--Times Literary Supplement
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

One of Donne's most important and haunting works in prose, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions was composed in less than a month, during an illness that nearly cost the writer his life. Donne divided the book into twenty-three sections, each corresponding to a stage of his illness and each consisting of a meditation, an expostulation, and a prayer. Filled with powerful images of mortality and immortality that have moved readers throughout the centuries, it provides a coherent spiritual message relevant not only to Donne's life but to the lives of all people. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: Echo Library (July 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848301111
• ISBN-13: 978-1848301115
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,071,293 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reflections on illness, April 8, 1998

By	David Graham (Shell, Ecuador) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Devotions: Upon Emergent Occasions, Together with Death's Duel (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) (Paperback)

First published in 1624, this series of meditations on illness were published following John Donne's sickness during late November and early December of 1623 (when he either had typhus or relapsing fever). Each of his ruminations are recorded in groups of three: meditation, expostulation, and prayer. Donne's insights about the "variable, therefore miserable condition of man" will always be pertinent as long as humans continue to fall prey to disease. The reading is a little slow at times, but there are some fine pieces in this book, including his famous meditation XVII, "No man is an island", that Hemingway quoted when he wrote FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. Even if you don't read all of the essays, this book is worth obtaining just to pore over meditation XVII.