Selected Poetry

In his day it seemed to his admirers that Donne had changed the literary universe, and he is now widely regarded as the founder of the metaphysical 'school'. Donne's poetry is highly distinctive and individual, adopting a multitude of rhythms, images forms, and personae from irresistible seducer to devout believer. His greatness stems from the subtleties and ambivalences of tone that convey his remarkably modern awareness of the instability of the self.