John Donne's Poetry (Norton Critical Editions) [Paperback]

John Donne (Author), Donald R. Dickson (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393926486 | ISBN-13: 978-0393926484 | Publication Date: January 4, 2007

“Donald Dickson's John Donne's Poetry is the best text of Donne now available. It is scrupulously edited, and equally useful for students and for scholars.”—Harold Bloom, Yale University

The texts reprinted in this new Norton Critical Edition have been scrupulously edited and are from the Westmoreland manuscript where possible, collated against the most important families of Donne manuscripts—the Cambridge Belam, the Dublin Trinity, and the O’Flahertie—and compared with all seven seventeenth-century printed editions of the poems as well as all major twentieth-century editions. “Criticism” is divided into four sections and represents the best criticism and interpretation of Donne’s writing: “Donne and Metaphysical Poetry” includes seven seventeenth-century views by contemporaries of Donne such as Ben Jonson, Thomas Carew, and John Dryden, among others; “Satires, Elegies, and Verse Letters” includes seven selections that offer social and literary context for and insights into Donne’s frequently overlooked early poems; “Songs and Sonnets” features six analyses of Donne’s love poetry; and “Holy Sonnets/Divine Poems” explores Donne’s struggles as a Christian through four authoritative essays. A Chronology of Donne’s life and work, a Selected Bibliography, and an Index of Titles and First Lines are also included.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Donald R. Dickson is Professor of English at Texas A&M University. He is the author of Tessera of Antilia: Utopian Brotherhoods & Secret Societies in the Early Seventeenth Century and The Fountain of Living Waters: The Typology of the Waters of Life in Herbert, Vaughn, and Traherne. He is co-editor of Of Paradise and Light: Essays on Henry Vaughn and John Milton in Honor of Alan Rudrum, and The Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne: The Anniversaries, Epicedes, and Obsequies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (January 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393926486
• ISBN-13: 978-0393926484
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book So Good It Almost Deserves Canonization... Laaaaaame pun., July 14, 2005

By 

Michael L. Kauffmann (Wayne, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Donne's Poetry (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

***I've noticed that a second edition of Donne's poetry has been released and amazon has just been forwarding the reviews from the first. This review was written for the first edition.

When I made the decision that I wanted to study John Donne this book was the first place I turned. Norton Critical Editions tend to be the most thorough studies of any particular writing with generous helpings of criticism and well annotated authoritative texts and this one is no different.

The criticism in particular is phenomenal. They are especially brilliant when reconciling the difficult contradictions between what can appear as base as lust in Donne's love poetry and the higher love that Donne aspires to. The essays dealing with the various categorizing and readings of Donne's religious poetry are also invaluable. Most every piece of criticism included in this edition helps to illuminate Donne's works and aid new readers attempting to grasp the various levels of activity going on in much of his poetry.

I only refrain from giving this edition a full five stars because it lacks any sort of cohesive introduction to Donne's life. The poetry of John Donne in particular reflects the man's life and without any sort of background information, even a few pages in an introduction, readers are essentially just cast adrift. However, this information is easily obtained online or at the library.

Regardless, this still remains the best edition of Donne available both as an introduction for beginners and for those who wish to have a better grasp on Donne's work. If you are at all interested in John Donne, this book is absolutely necessary!

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful, June 14, 2000

By 

NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Donne's Poetry (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

John Donne was truly a poetic master. Preeminent among the metaphysical poets, his talent shines brightly in both his early secular and later religious poetry. This volume is particularly useful in its helps with the texts and its discussion and analysis of the meaning and impact of his work. I find these aids useful indeed with a more "difficult" poet like Donne. This book is a good starting place for the study of John Donne's poetry.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the most profound and moving in the language, January 7, 2006

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: John Donne's Poetry (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

This selection of the most important of Donne's poems complemented by critical articles that provide insight into the techniques and meanings of one of the most intellectually challenging of the great English poets is first -rate.
Donne's greatness as a poet is in part in his making passionate argument of ideas, in his fusing the world of sense and idea in startling combinations. His poems of Love and of Death are among the most profound and moving in the language.