From Library Journal
Donne's poems embrace Catholicism, then abandon religion, then embrace the Episcopal church. They make use of symbols and weighted images. He toys with sonnet, satire, elegy, and love poems - to list only a few recognizable forms. At times his lines seem like stream of consciousness. Philosophy overtakes subject, as in two commissioned elegies on a child's death. All told, they make for difficult reading, even harder if we're trying to get a handle on the person who wrote the poems. That's why these two tapes, mixing biography with poetry, are especially welcome. Best of all, the biography is honest. It shows us a man who risked all for love, yet constantly sought out wealthy patrons and the favor of the court. Dismissed after short terms in parliament, Donne returned to the priesthood. The narrators point to, but make no excuses for, the way all this is reflected in the poems.
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About the Author
JOHN DONNE was born in 1572. He entered a diplomatic career and served as private secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton. However, when he eloped with Egerton's underage niece, Anne More, in 1601, the couple was disinherited and they lived in poverty for many years. He died in 1631 after posing for a portrait in his funeral shroud.
