John Donne - The Major Works: including Songs and Sonnets and sermons (Oxford World's Classics)

This is one of those poets that motorra (at least my mom, who is in her 70's loves from youth! I personally very much like the poetry, sonnets and poems with regard to God that are all included (I chuckled at a few of the names). Even I loved and wrote poetry, haiku and emotional poetry into my 30's - as I read some of the great poets, (Browning, Dickensin, etc.), I see my lack of the beauty and love, despair and even the ones about hate, (at times), and am in awe of the gifts they naturally were given to share with those whom were to be meant to enjoy them.Perhaps, our children would become more literate, happier, (with MUCH better use of the English language). Just a dream - I do this for my son who is in his 20's! Imaging if your child were to actually sit down by you, and then talk to you about a problem they are having that they "KNOW" they are the very first person in world to hAve this "problem," - you could then go to some of these poets who are really easily understood, review table of contents; and if you hare personally never e xperienced what they have gone through, there have been GREAT TRUE poets who have been sharing their pain. Happiness, fear, dismay, unloved...on and on! You could share the poem with them! Of course, you will want to make SURE you havd read and understood the prose and ultimate meaning for them to understand some of them) - but think of the REWARDS! Christians use the Bible! I use it too, but I have also used poetry and / I taught him the different genre's and forms and before computers, put a dictionary in front of us; I say we began reading it when he was 3! He began attempting and, I think successfully beginning his love of writing, not only poems, although they are usually his outlet. - oh, please remember that this author is excellent! I wish thry had taught some of his works in my younger days! - LAST thing - I promise! I just get so excited about helping children with emotions, showing them others have experienced (at THEIR age), some of the hard times, despair, loneliness, cruelty by other children / that poetry is a good place to start with your kids (there IS poetry for young children) - to start or help them with the need to be able to not only think they are alone with their problems, but that others kids their age (again, I say this!), and see they are not alone in what they are suffering, PLUS, if they are scared to share them with you, you are also teaching them the tool of getting pain out / abc you get the joy at their very young age of showing them your excitement about their writing and thank them for trusting you! Huge issue!are the ones

Love the book, hate the small font size.

For anyone interested in entering througha single door into Donne's empire, this bookis as good as any I can think of.You have his poems, selections of prose,sermons.In fine: cheap and very well edited.

Why Donne's sermons aren't more widely read is a mystery. The poetry, grace, timeliness and thoughtfulness in them should be required reading of this generation of preachers-who-wanna-be-stand-up-comics!

Excellent

The Oxford edition of Donne's work is naturally fantastic! As a bonus, the book arrived a day early! Very pleased!

Great poems

John Donne's poetry, if you have done an extensive reading of it, speaks volumes about cynicism, love, religion, duty, faith, craft and Jacobean times. And if you have read him extensively, you love him, simply put. However, I have an added level to my appreciation and enjoyment: one that I share with some. I teach his works to my intermediary English literature class. Before my students take this course, I can pretty much assume that they had never heard of Donne or only had read "The Flea" and maybe a Holy Sonnet. And I am usually right. It is a pleasure to watch them read one of his poems and its complex imagery--say, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning". They scratch their heads in puzzlement at first. But when I have them read it out loud, slowly, and as I explain each image as they go along, it is a joy to see the smiles of appreciation and the nods of understanding. When they "get it", they love it.The Oxford edition is the text I learned from and the text I have used for years. The quality of Oxford books is enduring. (My textbook from my student years--I believe Donne had just died back then--still has a solid spine.) The print is larger than other paperbacks and utilizes a classic font. And the introduction by John Carey, which has been part of this edition for decades, still retains its relevance. Carey's text is clear and accessible, and gives us a look at Donne, warts and all. Oxford has done well to keep this introduction.

For anyone that wants to learn about John Donne most of the basic facts are included here. A good book covering many of the fundamentals, you may just need to top it up with other more detailed literature.

It's difficult to find a reliable and affordable edition of Donne: I've been using the Smith edition in Penguin ( The Complete English Poems (Penguin Classics)  since I was an undergraduate, but bought this as well because it includes a good selection of the non-poetic works: letters, sermons etc.Carey is, of course, a well-recognised Donne scholar, but I can't help feeling that the idea of publishing Donne's works in purely chronological order, rather than organising it, is a bit gimmicky. So in this edition we get everything mixed up: satires interspersed with elegies, dedicatory sonnets, holy sonnets etc. Only the 'Songs and Sonnets' are put together, precisely because we don't know when they were written.In the introduction, Carey discusses the problems of dating Donne's writings so this rather seems to undermine the very premise upon which the ordering is built...I'm glad to find Donne's non-poetic writings in an affordable edition and Oxford should be applauded for that. But for reading and working on the poetry I'm afraid I'll be returning to the Smith. The Complete English Poems (Penguin Classics)

Useful!

Came in perfect condition, love the book!

It’s a great collection of Donne’s poems, sermons, and letters. You will get a snapshot of Donne’s genius at its best.