The Complete Poems of John Donne

The Complete Poems of John Donne is a one-volume paperback edition of the poems of John Donne (1572-1631). This collection is based on a comprehensive re-evaluation of his work from composition to circulation and reception. Donne’s output is tremendously varied in style and form, demonstrating his ability to exercise his rhetorical capabilities according to context and occasion. This edition aims to present the text of all his known poems, from the epigrams, songs and satires written for fellow young men about town, to the more mature verse-epistles and memorial elegies written for his patrons.

The Longman Annotated English Poets series traditionally presents poems in chronological order; however, in this edition, the principle has been observed only within generic sections. This organisation reproduces the manner in which Donne’s original readers first encountered the poems in the various manuscripts of his elegies and satires that circulated during his lifetime. Volume One contains the Epigrams, Verse Letters to Friends, Love Lyrics, Love Elegies, and Satires. Volume Two contains the religious poems, Wedding Celebrations, Verse Epistles to Patronesses, Commemorations, and the Anniversaries.

The lyrics have been arranged alphabetically for ease of reference as, in all but a few cases, the precise date of composition is impossible to determine. Each poem is accompanied by extensive editorial commentary designed to equip the twenty-first-century reader with all that is necessary fully to appreciate Donne’s work. A substantial headnote sets each poem in its historical and literary context, while the annotations provide detailed guidance on the wealth of classical and religious allusions, offering full representation of the literary, historical, and philosophical culture from which the poems emerged. In keeping with the traditions of the series, Donne’s own text has been modernised in punctuation and spelling, except where to do so would alter or disrupt a rhyme.