The texts reprinted in this new Norton Critical Edition have been scrupulously edited and are from the Westmoreland manuscript where possible, collated against the most important families of Donne manuscripts—the Cambridge Belam, the Dublin Trinity, and the O’Flahertie—and compared with all seven seventeenth-century printed editions of the poems as well as all major twentieth-century editions. “Criticism” is divided into four sections and represents the best criticism and interpretation of Donne’s writing: “Donne and Metaphysical Poetry” includes seven seventeenth-century views by contemporaries of Donne such as Ben Jonson, Thomas Carew, and John Dryden, among others; “Satires, Elegies, and Verse Letters” includes seven selections that offer social and literary context for and insights into Donne’s frequently overlooked early poems; “Songs and Sonnets” features six analyses of Donne’s love poetry; and “Holy Sonnets/Divine Poems” explores Donne’s struggles as a Christian through four authoritative essays. A Chronology of Donne’s life and work, a Selected Bibliography, and an Index of Titles and First Lines are also included.
