John Donne: An Annotated Bibliography of Modern Criticism, 1979-1995

1979

1. Adams, Robert M. “John Donne,” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature , gen. ed. M. H. Abrams, 1:1059–112. 4th ed. New York: W. W. Norton. 1st ed., 1962; 2nd ed., 1968; 3rd ed., 1974; 5th ed., 1986; 6th ed., 1996. Contains a biographical and critical introduction (1059–62), followed by selections from Donne’s poetry (1062– 104) and selections from Devotions and one sermon (1105–12), with notes. Endorses the concept of “two Donnes”—Jack and John—and calls the reading of Donne’s poetry “an imaginative struggle and intellectual struggle” and “an all-absorbing experience ” (1059). Sees the poetry as radically different from that of Donne’s predecessors and contemporaries, stressing in particular the unique nature of Donne’s conceits and his use of colloquial rhythms. Rejects the notion of a “metaphysical school” of poetry; comments briefly on the critical reception of Donne’s poetry, especially in the twentieth century; and notes the importance of recognizing Donne as a coterie poet. 2. Asals, Heather. “John Donne and the Grammar of Redemption.” ESC 5: 125– 39. Argues that the sermons offer “a provocative corpus of literary criticism” useful in the analysis of Donne’s Holy Sonnets as well as seventeenth century religious poetry in general. Stresses in particular Donne’s concept of the relationship between the Divine Word and the words of men, which is based on the logology of the Church Fathers, especially that of St. Augustine and St. Basil. Maintains that the sermons argue “the presence of the Word in words,” while the poetry “demonstrates (or represents) the Word in words” (125). Discusses in detail HSSpit, HSScene, and HSRound to show that “the practice of the grammar of redemption” is “the meaning” of these poems and others (128), poems in which Donne explores and examines “the possibilities of language as reflections of God’s promises in his Word” (136). 3. Barker, Arthur E. The Seventeenth Century : Bacon Through Marvell. Goldentree Bibliographies in Language and Literature , ed. O. B. Hardison, Jr. Arlington Heights, Ill.: AHM Publishing Co. xi, 132p. Selected, unannotated listing of studies on seventeenth century English poetry and prose to 1975 (excluding Milton, Dryden, the dramatists, and dissertations). Includes 39 authors, aids to research, major anthologies, general studies of literary history and criticism, and studies in background information. Lists for Donne 42 modern editions, 7 bibliographies, 1 concordance , and 373 items of criticism, divided into four parts: comprehensive studies, studies of topics, studies of the poems, and studies of the prose. All of these items are fully annotated in Roberts 1 (1973) or in Roberts 2 (1982). 1979 1 2 1979 4. Bartine, David. “Rhetorical Dimensions of Primary Performatives,” in Rhetoric 78: Proceedings of Theory of Rhetoric, an Interdisciplinary Conference, ed. Robert L. Brown, Jr., and Martin Steinmann , Jr., 1–8. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Studies in Language, Style, and Literary Theory. Argues that the complexity of HSDeath results from “three simultaneous functions of personification”: the personification of death “carries clues to the speaker’s state of mind,” “serves to constitute the audience” of the poem, and “functions as a central principle of structure for the entire utterance .” Maintains, in other words, that in the poem the speaker’s “ongoing constitution of the audience” and the “continuing shaping and clarification” of that audience occur “simultaneously with an increasingly complex accumulation of clues about the speaker’s state of mind” (5). 5. Beardsley, Monroe. “Verbal Style and Illocutionary Style,” in The Concept of Style, ed. Berel Lang, 149–68. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press. Comments briefly on ValMourn in a theoretical discussion of the nature of verbal style or style of language, noting , for instance, the “scientific air of some key words” (158) in the poem. 6. Bloom, Edward A., and Lillian D. Bloom. “Sacramentum Militiae: Religious Satire,” in Satire’s Persuasive Voice, 160–201. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. Maintains that Donne effectively uses satire in Sat1 in order to explain allegorically how faith is needed to attain “the finality of human apprehension.” Claims that Donne’s injunction, “Doubt wisely,” is “the soul and core” of the poem and is “a call for rational examination,” noting that the satire represents “an important stage” in Donne’s religious development as he was leaving Catholicism behind him and was turning to his conscience as his “highest authority” in the mid1590s (171). Notes also that “if wise doubt can be the satirist’s appeal to conscience...