One Equall Light: An Anthology of the Writings of John Donne

By John Donne

John Donne's enormous legacy to English literature is of equal significance in prose and poetry, in religious and secular writing. With popular knowledge of Donne mainly confined to his poetry, One Equall Light makss an important contribution by focusing on his prose writings which remain largely unknown. Comprise of nearly one thousand extracts, some eight hundred of these are drawn from his sermons, letters and other prose works. This anthology is preceded by introductory essays that tell something of the story of the man and his meaning for us today, of the distinctive characteristics of his writings as a poet, propagandist and preacher, and of his final years as Dean of St Paul's. It is in the anthology, however, that Donne speaks for himself. Twin themes run through this collection: humanity and divinity, the sacred and the secular, penetrating and informining each other in Donne's creative, restles imagination. In all his writings, his presence is inescapable, revealing something of what Rowan Williams in his Foreword terms as Donne's 'whilly extravagant and often dark imagination'.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1853115401
• ISBN13: 9781853115400
• Release Date: July 2011
• Publisher: Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 1.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A bright, shining light...

John Donne, in addition to being one of the leading lights in Anglican church history as well as the art of use of the English language, was once Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London - a distinction he shares with John Moses, the editor of this great volume of his work. The volume begins on an auspicious note, with a Foreword by the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who likens Donne to both a saint and sinner (which, of course, he was); his contribution to the English language is rare in both poetry and prose, and his legacy as part of the Anglican tradition and ethos is unending.John Moses begins with a three-part introduction about Donne, his life, work, and spirit. Dating events and writings are difficult, but the overall development is fairly clear. Donne's poetry is much better known than his sermons (despite the fact that some excerpts - 'For whom the bell tolls', for example - come from sermon and meditation sources), but Donne's popularity has experienced a resurgence of late. This is part of the impetus for this volume. There is an irony here, since Donne apparently was interested and well organised in preserving his sermons, but didn't seem to care much to preserve his poetry.Moses' introductory essays (which include a piece on Donne's time at St. Paul's, undoubtedly a labour of love in contrast and comparison with Moses' own experience) are only a small portion of the volume. By far the greatest portion is the collection of quotations, more than 1000 of them, organised topically. Throughout the texts, some as short as a few lines, and some which go on for pages, there is a tension between the sacred and secular, the worldly and the otherworldly. Donne's fitful life, full of passion and despair, triumph and failure, provides a very fertile field from which Donne's poetic voice and prose compositions spring. Donne married his love, Ann, against the wishes of her father, who cut them off and cost Donne his job. Years of poverty and the reliance on strangers gave Donne both a sense of grace and gratitude as well as a sense of despair and tragedy; through love and generosity, anger and passion, foolishness and sublime creativity, Donne experienced life fully, and incorporated this into his writing. Ann's relatively early death most likely inspired Donne to a deeper religious sense of vocation and connection with God. As part of the group of writers who formed the English Renaissance, Donne was a true artist, even though he didn't acknowledge his early poetry later in his life. Along with writers such as Marlowe, Spenser, Bacon, and Shakespeare, Donne's influence continues to be felt in diverse ways throughout ages of poets and writers, to the present generations. T.S. Eliot is but the brightest of twentieth century lights to owe much to Donne.Donne's Anglican sensibilities also help define the present via media of the church - living at a time between solid Roman Catholicism and solid state Anglicanism, he lear