false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172439231m/175980.jpg 175980 3 <I>Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions and Death's Duel</I>, one of the handsome series of Vintage Spiritual Classics, contains a rich collection of extraordinary writings, any one of which would be worth the price of the whole book. Andrew Motion's clear, accessible, entertaining, and erudite introduction explains the situation of both <I>Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions</I>--written in 1624, when Donne was feeble with a fever that doctors believed might kill him--and <I>Death's Duel</I>--Donne's final sermon at St. Paul's Cathedral, preached only a month before his death at age 59. Also included is Izaak Walton's <I>The Life of Dr. John Donne</I>, a spry and penetrating biography of the poet, written in 1640. And then there is the meat: both <I>Devotions</I> and <I>Death's Duel</I> show Donne at his very best--theatrical, humble, faithful, and doubting all at once. This is a book of severe and joyful mortality. Here is a foretaste from <I>Devotions</I>: "Death is in an old man's door, he appears and tells him so, and death is at a young man's back, and says nothing.... There is scarce anything that hath not killed somebody; a hair, a feather hath done it; nay, that which is our best antidote against it hath done it; the best cordial hath been deadly poison." <I>--Michael Joseph Gross</I> 170019 1959 Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions and Death's Duel total:45|5:24|4:14|3:6|2:1|1:0| 45 196 70 6 5 1 false false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sat Jul 18 19:19:47 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 08:48:38 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Mar 23 22:45:06 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 22:45:29 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jan 18 13:13:16 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 13:13:32 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Dec 18 06:20:30 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 06:22:34 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Feb 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 19 20:28:34 -0800 2007 Tue Feb 26 07:58:26 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sat Sep 20 16:30:28 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 12 02:25:02 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Nov 11 10:16:43 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 10:16:48 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Nov 06 08:41:08 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 06 08:41:08 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Fri Oct 23 04:41:23 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 04:41:23 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Oct 21 14:45:14 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 14:45:14 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Sep 29 06:42:24 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 06:42:24 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Sep 23 17:47:13 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 17:47:13 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Sep 21 12:34:30 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 12:34:30 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Sep 20 06:13:38 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 06:13:38 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Aug 14 08:03:01 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 08:03:01 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Aug 07 17:43:13 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 07 17:43:13 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jul 29 08:23:21 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 08:23:21 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 03 12:28:03 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 12:28:03 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jun 27 16:00:45 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 16:00:45 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jun 17 09:09:34 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 09:09:34 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=175980