JohnDonne(1572-1631)wasthemostoutstandingoftheEnglishMetaphysicalPoetsandachurchmanfamousforhisspellbindingsermons.Donne'spoetryembracesawiderangeofsecularandreligioussubjects.Hewrotecynicalverseaboutinconstancy,poemsabouttruelove,Neoplatoniclyricsonthemysticalunionoflovers'soulsandbodiesandbrilliantsatiresandhymnsdepictinghisownspiritualstruggles.ThetwoAnniversaries-AnAnatomyoftheWorld(1611)andOftheProgressoftheSoul(1612)--areelegiesfor15-year-oldElizabethDrury.Whateverthesubject,Donne'spoemsrevealthesamecharacteristicsthattypifiedtheworkofthemetaphysicalpoets:dazzlingwordplay,oftenexplicitlysexual;paradox;subtleargumentation;surprisingcontrasts;intricatepsychologicalanalysis;andstrikingimageryselectedfromnontraditionalareassuchaslaw,physiology,scholasticphilosophy,andmathematics.Obsessedwiththeideaofdeath,Donnepreachedwhatwascalledhisownfuneralsermon,Death'sDueljustafewweeksbeforehediedinLondononMarch31,1631.

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