John Donne
John Donne
John Donnewas an English poet and a cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries. Donne's style is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations...
spirit melancholy spirit-of-god
Religion is not a melancholy, the spirit of God is not a damper.
men birth prison
Doth not a man die even in his birth? The breaking of prison is death, and what is our birth, but a breaking of prison?
men vanity sin
Great sins are great possessions; but levities and vanities possess us too; and men had rather part with Christ than with any possession.
men world littles
It is too little to call man a little world; Except God, man is a diminutive to nothing.
god autumn moon
God made sun and moon to distinguish the seasons, and day and night; and we cannot have the fruits of the earth but in their seasons. But God hath made no decrees to distinguish the seasons of His mercies. In Paradise the fruits were ripe the first minute, and in heaven it is always autumn. His mercies are ever in their maturity.
doors noise whining
I neglect God and his angles for the noise of a fly, for the rattling of a coach, for the whining of a door.
men affliction treasure
Affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by it and made fit for God.
love-is great-love long
How great love is, presence best trial makes, But absence tries how long this love will be.
love night light
Love is a growing, or full constant light; And his first minute, after noon, is night.
joy soul body
Full nakedness! All my joys are due to thee, as souls unbodied, bodies unclothed must be, to taste whole joys.
art women hate
Oh do not die, for I shall hate All women so, when thou art gone.
night history what-if
What if this present were the world's last night?
love angel names
Twice or thrice had I loved thee before I knew thy face or name, so in a voice, so in a shapeless flame, angels affect us oft, and worshiped be.
happiness joy enjoyment
Enjoyment always has a spoiling, otherwise it cannot be so.