The Songs and Sonnets of John Donne [Hardcover]

Theodore Redpath (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1983

John Donne (1572-1631) was an English Jacobean poet, preacher and a major representative of the metaphysical poets of the period. His works are notable for their realistic and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially as compared to those of his contemporaries. It suggests a healthy appetite for life and its pleasures, while also expressing deep emotion. He did this through the use of conceits, wit and intellect - as seen in the poems The Sunne Rising and Batter My Heart. Some scholars believe that Donne's literary works reflect the changing trends of his life, with love poetry and satires from his youth and religious sermons during his later years. Despite his great education and poetic talents he lived in poverty for several years, relying heavily on wealthy friends. In 1615 he became an Anglican priest and, in 1621, was appointed the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 374 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 2nd edition (October 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312744900
• ISBN-13: 978-0312744908
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,398,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extensively annotated edition for the general reader., June 29, 2001

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This review is from: The Songs and Sonnets of John Donne (Hardcover)

THE SONGS AND SONETS [sic] OF JOHN DONNE. Edited by Theodore Redpath. 156 pp. London : Methuen, 1976 (1956) and Reissued.

Donne is a difficult poet, and one of the main objects of this edition of the 'Songs and Sonets' (not 'Sonnets' because we are here given the original spelling) is to try to clarify any and all points where the meaning would not be perfectly clear to a reader of reasonable intelligence.

The text is a modern recension, based largely on the text of Grierson's 1912 edition of Donne's 'Poetical Works,' and makes use of variants recorded in that edition and in manuscript material which has since come to light.

Redpath's notes are full, detailed, and extensive, and in addition offer full commentaries on every poem. He tells us that his aim was to create "an edition for the general reader, which would bring these remarkable poems to readers both in England and abroad, neither merely as a sometimes exasperatingly obscure plain text, nor as part of a bulky specialist volume or series of volumes" (p.vii).

The poems are preceeded by an interesting 35-page Introduction, and the book is rounded out with a series of Appendices, a Select Bibliography, and an Index of First Lines. At just 156-pages it's a slim book and pleasant to handle, and it's also quite easy to use as most notes run alongside the text on facing pages.

In a book of this nature the editor's problem is always that of trying to strike a balance between giving the reader too much help or too little. Although Redpath may have given some readers a bit more help than they need, on the whole he seems to have struck a nice balance, and most readers will probably find most of his notes and commentary to be both helpful and illuminating.

So for those who have discovered the beauty of Donne's poems, but who may be still scratching their head over their many difficulties and obscurities, the present book will go a good way towards resolving most problems. It will enable anyone to read these poems with far greater understanding and appreciation of their nuances, and hence with far greater enjoyment.

Redpath's is an excellent edition, and strongly recommended.