ENGL 414(F) Poetry and Prose of John Donne
"Wit!-Wonder-exciting vigour, intenseness and peculiarity of thought," Samuel
Coleridge wrote, "this is the wit of Donne!" There is no greater, more daring or
more witty, writer of love poems, divine poems, or religious prose in the English
language. Donne wrote in a wide variety of classical genres: elegy, epigram, satire, love lyric, epithalamion or marriage song, verse epistle, holy sonnet, hymn,
familiar letter, meditation, sermon. Yet he constantly reinvigorates conventional
language with "new-made idiom," turning traditional forms to unpredictable
ends.
This intensive, discussion-oriented seminar will explore the following questions.
What are the characteristic marks of Donne's style, and how does his writing
evolve over the course of his career? Since Donne's poetry was not printed until
after his death, what was the impact of his coterie audience? How does Donne
conduct an amorous courtship in and through verse? To what extent are biography and history pertinent and helpful in understanding Donne's writing? What
are the religious premises and purpose of Donne's religious writing? What made
Donne so appealing to T. S. Eliot and the modernists, and more recently, the
post-modernists? What are the compelling issues in contemporary Donne criticism?
In addition to regular classroom presentations, students will write short weekly
assignments in preparation for a 15-20 final paper.
Prerequisites: a 300-level English course or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limit: 15 (expected:10). Preference given to junior and senior English majors.
(Pre-1700)