This collection of specially written essays offers a comprehensive introduction to John Donne - the pre-eminent metaphysical poet, and one of the greatest lyric poets of all time, whose intellect and irreverent wit has left a mark and influence on English poetry. An invaluable guide for both student and teacher, the essays offer the most up-to-date scholarship and introduce students to the current thinking and debates about Donne. Special features include a chronology; a meditation on Donne by the contemporary novelist A. S. Byatt; and an extensive bibliography of editions and criticism.

Chronology; 1. Donne's life: a sketch Jonathan F. S. Post; 2. The text of Donne's writings Ted-Larry Pebworth; 3. The social context and nature of Donne's writing: occasional verse and letters Arthur F. Marotti; 4. Literary contexts: predecessors and contemporaries Andrew Hadfield; 5. Donne's religious world Alison Shell and Arnold Hunt; 6. Donne's political world Tom Cain; 7. Reading and rereading Donne's poetry Judith Herz; 8. Satirical writing: Donne in shadows Annabel Patterson; 9. Erotic poetry Achsah Guibbory; 10. Devotional writing Helen Wilcox; 11. Donne as preacher Peter McCullough; 12. Donne's language: the conditions of communication Lynne Magnusson; 13. Gender matters: the women in Donne's poems Ilona Bell; 14. Facing death Ramie Targoff; 15. Donne's afterlife Dayton Haskin; 16. Feeling thought: Donne and the embodied mind A. S. Byatt; 17. Select bibliography L. E. Semler.