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Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions and Death's Duel
John Donne (1572-1631) is best known as the greatest English metaphysical poet. But there was another dimension to Donne's life and writing that, if less well known, is no less profound and beautiful.
Born into an aristocratic Catholic family, Donne joined the Church of England at the age of twenty-one out of fear of persecution. At the age of forty-three, he gave up his preoccupations with secular prestige and devoted himself utterly to religion. It was eight years later when, battered with fever, the deaths of his beloved wife, several of his children, and many dear lifelong friends, he composed Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. There is both trauma and great drama in this extended meditation on the meaning of mortality, the possibility of salvation, and the true nature of the passage of eternal life. With a new introduction by poet and biographer Andrew Motion, one of the most revered books of Christian devotion speaks to us again of the higher aspirations of man and the always-present possibility of a relationship with God.
This long out of print edition also contains Donne's last sermon, "Death's Duel" as well as the short colorful biography of him written by his contemporary Izaak Walton.
Born into an aristocratic Catholic family, Donne joined the Church of England at the age of twenty-one out of fear of persecution. At the age of forty-three, he gave up his preoccupations with secular prestige and devoted himself utterly to religion. It was eight years later when, battered with fever, the deaths of his beloved wife, several of his children, and many dear lifelong friends, he composed Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. There is both trauma and great drama in this extended meditation on the meaning of mortality, the possibility of salvation, and the true nature of the passage of eternal life. With a new introduction by poet and biographer Andrew Motion, one of the most revered books of Christian devotion speaks to us again of the higher aspirations of man and the always-present possibility of a relationship with God.
This long out of print edition also contains Donne's last sermon, "Death's Duel" as well as the short colorful biography of him written by his contemporary Izaak Walton.
234 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1630
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About the author
John Donne
875 books700 followersJohn Donne was an English poet, preacher and a major representative of the metaphysical poets of the period. His works are notable for their realistic and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially as compared to that of his contemporaries.
Despite his great education and poetic talents, he lived in poverty for several years, relying heavily on wealthy friends. In 1615 he became an Anglican priest and, in 1621, was appointed the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London.
Despite his great education and poetic talents, he lived in poverty for several years, relying heavily on wealthy friends. In 1615 he became an Anglican priest and, in 1621, was appointed the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
April 28, 2020
„Meditacije u kriznim trenucima” su jedna klaustrofobična knjiga o bolesti, ležanju u krevetu i prihvatanju sopstvene smrtnosti, nastala kao esejističko-memoarska knjiga o Donovoj borbi sa tifusom tokom 23 dana. U skladu sa hrišćanskim učenjem, da je bolest uvek Bogom data, „Meditacije” su i razgovori sa Bogom, pa i držanje liturgije u bolesničkom krevetu, gde se rečima gradi jedna barokna crkva, sa jasnom kompozicijom, ali koju graditelj barokno izuvija; crkva sa dalekim i dragocenim metaforama, zastorima od alegorija, balkonima trećih nebesa od hiperbola, zidova skladnog besedništva, povučenih i uzdržanih izraza, hodnika zapovedničkih uverenja, gde se pripovedno „ja” erotički juri sa Bogom, koji uvek izmiče kao „golub u letu”. Ovoj jurnjavi sigurno treba dodati i prevodioca, a potom i čitaoca kao četvrtog člana jurnjave, gotovo kao u priči unuk za babu, baba za dedu a deda za repu...
December 31, 2017
One should not pick up a book like this, slight though it be, lightly. When the premier theologian and thinker of his day sets out to contemplate his own death, the result won't be--can't be light reading. While he lived four hundred years before our time, we cannot expect to trip lightly through his thoughts--smelling the roses as we pass.
It was heavy going. It took persistence. In fact, it took a dogged determination to return to Donne again and again, but I've finally read the whole.
I do not recommend this book for the pleasure of reading, or even for the philosophical insight, but for the opportunity to look into the soul of another--opened honestly for his own examination during his final illness--to see reflected there the state of our own soul.
Worth the effort.
It was heavy going. It took persistence. In fact, it took a dogged determination to return to Donne again and again, but I've finally read the whole.
I do not recommend this book for the pleasure of reading, or even for the philosophical insight, but for the opportunity to look into the soul of another--opened honestly for his own examination during his final illness--to see reflected there the state of our own soul.
Worth the effort.
April 26, 2011
John Donne, Anne Donne, Un-donne - This is one of the most famous comments on marriage, from the husband of the pair himself. Donne wasn't referring to his wife, but instead, referring to the cost of the marriage, for he and Anne married without permission, resultling in a brief imprisonment and povetry. John Donne's marriage was such a scandel that his first real biographer, Izaak Waltonsaw it as a huge error and glossed over both it and Donne's love poetry as if in shame. Even today, when Donne's love poetry is more accepted, most people still know Donne for his Holy Sonnets. His love poetry, beautiful and powerful, gets treated totally seperately with the suggestion, unspoken, in some classes that it was written by a different person or, worse, critics try to shoehorn it into devotional poetry. To disregard, downplay, or slight Donne's marriage does a disservice to both the couple and the whole opus of Donne's work. Donne's marriage cost both him and his wife much. Much is made of his frustrated ambitions that occured in the years following his marriage, but she to must have suffered, constantly in childbirth, including one horrific still birth that occured when her husband was a way. Yet Donne wrote love poetry to his wife, including some, like "The Cannonization" that must have been written after his marriage.
It is important to know this about Donne when reading his holy work such as his sonnets or his book. The reason why this holy work stands the test of time, how it has contributed so many quotes to the world is because Donne is the most human of holy writers. One reads Saint Augustine and is seperated but a vast difference in time and culture. One reads Donne and that difference seems so slight for in many ways Donne was ahead of his time. For instance, he says in Devotions
If man had been left alone in this world at first, shall I think that he would not have fallen? If there had been no woman, would not man have served to have been his own tempter?"
There is no hubris in Donne, just questing that tells the reader that even holy man suffer the same up and downs, the same feelings and fears as everyone.
It is important to know this about Donne when reading his holy work such as his sonnets or his book. The reason why this holy work stands the test of time, how it has contributed so many quotes to the world is because Donne is the most human of holy writers. One reads Saint Augustine and is seperated but a vast difference in time and culture. One reads Donne and that difference seems so slight for in many ways Donne was ahead of his time. For instance, he says in Devotions
If man had been left alone in this world at first, shall I think that he would not have fallen? If there had been no woman, would not man have served to have been his own tempter?"
There is no hubris in Donne, just questing that tells the reader that even holy man suffer the same up and downs, the same feelings and fears as everyone.
July 30, 2015
My own fascination with John Donne reminds me of the attempts by others to reassure their friends and family regarding death. Socrates did so in the Phaedo by describing his life as one long attempt to prepare for death. His view was echoed and enhanced by Montaigne who, In his essay titled “That to Study Philosophy is to Learn to Die,” turns to mortality and points to the understanding of death as a prerequisite for the understanding of life, for the very art of living.
"[L]et us learn bravely to stand our ground, and fight him. And to begin to deprive him of the greatest advantage he has over us, let us take a way quite contrary to the common course. Let us disarm him of his novelty and strangeness, let us converse and be familiar with him, and have nothing so frequent in our thoughts as death. "(Montaigne, Essays)
But one more example from my reading can be found in Rainier Maria Rilke's beautiful novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. Through Rilke's fascination with faces and appearances the importance of constructing an authentic life is emphasized. This becomes a prerequisite for the prospect of a unique personal death. Death itself is a character in the novel, a "terrible rival", which may seem stronger than the living in its tolling.
The tolling of the bell in Rilke's novel signalling death brings us back to Donne who penned these famous lines:
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." (Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 17)
"[L]et us learn bravely to stand our ground, and fight him. And to begin to deprive him of the greatest advantage he has over us, let us take a way quite contrary to the common course. Let us disarm him of his novelty and strangeness, let us converse and be familiar with him, and have nothing so frequent in our thoughts as death. "(Montaigne, Essays)
But one more example from my reading can be found in Rainier Maria Rilke's beautiful novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. Through Rilke's fascination with faces and appearances the importance of constructing an authentic life is emphasized. This becomes a prerequisite for the prospect of a unique personal death. Death itself is a character in the novel, a "terrible rival", which may seem stronger than the living in its tolling.
The tolling of the bell in Rilke's novel signalling death brings us back to Donne who penned these famous lines:
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." (Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 17)
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April 9, 2020VARIABLE, and therfore miserable condition of Man; this minute I was well, and am ill, this minute. I am surpriz’d with a sodaine change, and alteration to worse, and can impute it to no cause, nor call it by any name. We study Health, and we deliberate upon our meats, and drink, and ayre, and exercises, and we hew, and wee polish every stone, that goes to that building; and so our Health is a long and regular work; But in a minute a Canon batters all, overthrowes all, demolishes all; a Sicknes unprevented for all our diligence, unsuspected for all our curiositie; nay, undeserved, if we consider only disorder, summons us, seizes us, possesses us, destroyes us in an instant.
June 17, 2017
John Donne was a late-16th, early-17th century English poet and preacher. At one point, he became quite ill, and most of those around him though he would die. He eventually recovered. This book is a series of devotions written during that illness. Each devotion consists of three parts: a meditation, in which he reflects on the stage of the disease, and draws application from it; an expostulation, in which he remonstrates with himself to learn the lessons of the disease; a prayer, drawn from the meditation and expostulation. This is the work from which "for whom the bell tolls" and "no man is an island" come. This edition includes the final sermon preached by Donne, titled "Death's Duel," which really works well as a funeral sermon. The book is prefaced by a biographical sketch by Izaak Walton. This would not be easy reading, but it is full of profound theology, beautifully expressed.
January 20, 2024
The main text of this book, being a book of reflections in the time of a nearly-fatal sickness, is by a very different Donne to the ecstatic love poet discussing alchemy and the female orgasm of twenty-something years; this is the anglican priest Donne of fifty years, who had so miraculously survived a violent illness almost certain to kill him that he, for the remainder of his life, referred to his recovery as supernatural. Neverthless, it is still the same man - the book is structured in 23 sections, each with a 'meditation', 'expostulation' and prayer. The meditations are very much what you might expect of a thirty-years-older variant of the poet of 'The Ecstasy', being terse and extremely anxious analyses of the cruelty of immanence, the way man's stature as the supreme animal is continually undone, short philosophical prose poems suggesting a nihilist viewpoint. It is with these mediations' subsequent expostulations that Donne presents his solutions, ingenious reinterpretations of the same problems but with a mind to God, arriving generally at the conclusion that it is man's fallen state in the immanent world that produces these nightmarish problems, and that faith in Christ Jesus & God's love are the only worthy things to be found; and these are themselves appended with short, psalm-like prayers begging not for improved worldly, but rather spiritual, conditions.
What's interesting about this book of devotions is that it appears, to me, to elaborate the general idea of Donne's poetry, or rather worldview, writ large; in those early poems, Donne presented fascinating but generally incoherent philosophical elenchus that attempted to prove the transcendental character of his love affair. A lot of shit is written about Donne that I don't care to read, but I think TS Eliot's viwepoint, that Donne as a poet was non-philosophical and invoked these ideas for to generate extreme conditions congenial to poesie, is probably the prevailing sentiment (because it permits literary criticism that can disperse with hard philosophical problem, no doubt), at least among the early-mid 20th century 'Donne revival;. These reflections, conversely, suggest to me that Donne was concerned from a young age with the problem of a general worldview, possessed of the intelligence to see the indeterminate nature of the various philosophies available to a 17th century intellectual, and understood early in life the necessity of finding & achieving something truly transcendental. In his youth he had hoped the power of love was the key to that transcendence over the many metaphors that fail to comprise it, but by old age he had realized that only the power of Christ could do so.
So, by this approach, we can trace a path from Donne's anxiety about the false order of the Cosmic Chain Of Being™ and the seeming ineffability of the Soul from his youth, where astral lovers would unite in the stars, to his age, where liberated souls would rejoice in heaven. A particularly potent moment in the Devotions is his recognition that the nihilism of the immanent world is a false image, as God is capable of bearing witness to non-being; this is the same fascination of his Nocture on St Lucy's Day, where the young poet had claimed his love had made him so potent as to possess this same divine power. Why Donne switched in his viewpoint from the erotic to the divine is not particularly discussed here; the only time he speaks on women is in a terse meditation upon his aporia about women, that without Eve man would not have been fallen, but at the same time without Eve Adam would have been all alone. I think the more interesting analog here is Donne's feeling about mankind as a whole: this book contains his famous "for whom the bell tolls" quotation, which is the climactic section of a series of bell-themed meditations written in connection to the sick Donne's hearing of funeral bells, at first despairing that they signify his death, and then realizing that they signify another's death, and ultimately realizing that he and this dead other are cursed in the same share of death; but the tolling of the bells signify something greater for Donne, namely, that the pains of immanence seem to exist as cruel signs haranguing all mankind and that, as ensouled beings, they are all doomed to the same struggle in which they should, though tragically do so rarely, peacefully collaborate. Indeed, this text is filled with many complaints, irrelevant to the argument at hand but always clearly sincere, that his high stature as a high-ranking priest means that disproportionately many doctors will attend him while leaving the poor and ignominious to die unattended - for Donne, this is simply another of the tragic inevitabilities of the immanent world.
Near the end, Donne presents his new image of the world - no longer a thin veil of alchemical and astrological symbols in which the lover is supreme, but rather now an ocean, overflowing with the basest animal (the fish) and whereupon Christ can walk, but man can only swim or boat for a short time before succumbing to death. It was with this mind that Donne, as an old man, commissioned a large painting for his church of Christ crucified on not a cross but an anchor - the only sign of stability within a world in perpetually choppy motion, like an ocean.
Also included in this slim but excellent volume is Donne's final sermon, where he disputes the existence of death as such and argues that 'life' is a temporary pilgrimmage away from God, something much more like death than the ceasing of a heart; he went home and laid down to die after delivering it. Whereas Donne in the Devotions was an almost excessively convoluted writer, full of page-long sentences and elaborate rhetorical sections, Donne as a sermonist is much more breezy and direct; both, to be sure, beautiful to read. There is also a biography of Donne by his friend the famous fisherman Izaak Walton here, which includes a number of tales (such as included in this review) and some illuminating comments on his love poetry, which, Walton claims, was written mostly before age TWENTY(!) and was written with the chief aim of justifying the sexual immorality of his youth.
Altogether, this volume of two-hundred-twenty pages is a great read and, to my view, essential for a complete appreciation of Donne altogether; I recommend it to anyone. It is also printed with a beautiful linen cover, which is like ASMR for the hands.
What's interesting about this book of devotions is that it appears, to me, to elaborate the general idea of Donne's poetry, or rather worldview, writ large; in those early poems, Donne presented fascinating but generally incoherent philosophical elenchus that attempted to prove the transcendental character of his love affair. A lot of shit is written about Donne that I don't care to read, but I think TS Eliot's viwepoint, that Donne as a poet was non-philosophical and invoked these ideas for to generate extreme conditions congenial to poesie, is probably the prevailing sentiment (because it permits literary criticism that can disperse with hard philosophical problem, no doubt), at least among the early-mid 20th century 'Donne revival;. These reflections, conversely, suggest to me that Donne was concerned from a young age with the problem of a general worldview, possessed of the intelligence to see the indeterminate nature of the various philosophies available to a 17th century intellectual, and understood early in life the necessity of finding & achieving something truly transcendental. In his youth he had hoped the power of love was the key to that transcendence over the many metaphors that fail to comprise it, but by old age he had realized that only the power of Christ could do so.
So, by this approach, we can trace a path from Donne's anxiety about the false order of the Cosmic Chain Of Being™ and the seeming ineffability of the Soul from his youth, where astral lovers would unite in the stars, to his age, where liberated souls would rejoice in heaven. A particularly potent moment in the Devotions is his recognition that the nihilism of the immanent world is a false image, as God is capable of bearing witness to non-being; this is the same fascination of his Nocture on St Lucy's Day, where the young poet had claimed his love had made him so potent as to possess this same divine power. Why Donne switched in his viewpoint from the erotic to the divine is not particularly discussed here; the only time he speaks on women is in a terse meditation upon his aporia about women, that without Eve man would not have been fallen, but at the same time without Eve Adam would have been all alone. I think the more interesting analog here is Donne's feeling about mankind as a whole: this book contains his famous "for whom the bell tolls" quotation, which is the climactic section of a series of bell-themed meditations written in connection to the sick Donne's hearing of funeral bells, at first despairing that they signify his death, and then realizing that they signify another's death, and ultimately realizing that he and this dead other are cursed in the same share of death; but the tolling of the bells signify something greater for Donne, namely, that the pains of immanence seem to exist as cruel signs haranguing all mankind and that, as ensouled beings, they are all doomed to the same struggle in which they should, though tragically do so rarely, peacefully collaborate. Indeed, this text is filled with many complaints, irrelevant to the argument at hand but always clearly sincere, that his high stature as a high-ranking priest means that disproportionately many doctors will attend him while leaving the poor and ignominious to die unattended - for Donne, this is simply another of the tragic inevitabilities of the immanent world.
Near the end, Donne presents his new image of the world - no longer a thin veil of alchemical and astrological symbols in which the lover is supreme, but rather now an ocean, overflowing with the basest animal (the fish) and whereupon Christ can walk, but man can only swim or boat for a short time before succumbing to death. It was with this mind that Donne, as an old man, commissioned a large painting for his church of Christ crucified on not a cross but an anchor - the only sign of stability within a world in perpetually choppy motion, like an ocean.
Also included in this slim but excellent volume is Donne's final sermon, where he disputes the existence of death as such and argues that 'life' is a temporary pilgrimmage away from God, something much more like death than the ceasing of a heart; he went home and laid down to die after delivering it. Whereas Donne in the Devotions was an almost excessively convoluted writer, full of page-long sentences and elaborate rhetorical sections, Donne as a sermonist is much more breezy and direct; both, to be sure, beautiful to read. There is also a biography of Donne by his friend the famous fisherman Izaak Walton here, which includes a number of tales (such as included in this review) and some illuminating comments on his love poetry, which, Walton claims, was written mostly before age TWENTY(!) and was written with the chief aim of justifying the sexual immorality of his youth.
Altogether, this volume of two-hundred-twenty pages is a great read and, to my view, essential for a complete appreciation of Donne altogether; I recommend it to anyone. It is also printed with a beautiful linen cover, which is like ASMR for the hands.
November 27, 2021
Death and illness were present in those days, more in evidence and acknowledged as a part of life. They were treated as less abnormal than they are today. Each time a person died, the bell of the church tolled. Though humans are humans and the human psyche will ever resist and fight frailty and mortality, it was considered the mark of good character and virtue to live well with a sober and salutary awareness of suffering and the inevitable end (memento mori ) and, while treating death as an enemy, to make the final journey with equanimity, if it be possible.
John Donne is remembered for his handlings of death, his virtual celebration, his famous line "never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee" (which comes from these devotions), standing wrapped in a shroud as a model for his own memorial statue, rising from his deathbed to deliver his final sermon. The devotions, written "upon emergent occasions" in 1623 during the progression of a severe illness from which he recovered, are a documentary of a personal spiritual and extremely existential process by which he struggled towards coming to terms with mortality. Exquisitely written and important enough, he felt, that it should be presented for the edification of the future King Charles I.
We're still humans, as they were then, still mortal and still vulnerable to sickness. Though we managed to put that at a greater remove in contemporary society, in a time of pandemic and isolation, it's hard not to recognise the suffering of patients in passages like this...
"As sickness is the greatest misery, so the greatest misery of sickness is solitude; when the infectiousness of the disease deters them who should assist from coming..."
The work (bracketed in this version by Isaak Walton's biographical sketch and Donne's famous last sermon, Death's Dual or, A Consolation to the Soul Against the Dying Life and Living Death of the Body) follows the unfolding of the sickness and its treatment. The course is charted via 23 Latin headings and their translations. My favourite is this: "XII. Spirante columba supposita pedibus, revocantur ad ima vapores. They apply pigeons, to draw the vapours from the head." The mind boggles as to how the pigeons were applied.
Under each major heading are three subheadings: meditation, expostulation and prayer. I suspect these reflect a teaching / preaching method (preacher as he was). But in experiential terms, they represent the way Donne processes each new outcome in the progress of his illness.
'Meditation' is his examination of the event as he lays out the situation. It can contain confusion (and often lament), warts (or should I say spots) and all - usually with a strong emphasis on an intellectual dealing, but an emotional wrestling often seeps through and is an ever-present subtext.
In 'expostulation', the struggle and elements of lament come to the fore. He addresses God and hones in more deeply, beginning to draw out and find meaning, mining for deeper spiritual truths. For example, the pigeon episode mentioned earlier turns to thoughts of the dove of the Holy Spirit. Usually there is a transitional ('and yet') movement towards the end.
In 'prayer', he reflects his discoveries back to God and recommits himself (surrenders) to the divine.
Regardless of the specific theological details (or indeed the 16th and 17th centuries' particular unique and intriguing take on the world), I find this to be a fascinating internal process that surely has wider implications for how life is lived and our own internal processing of life events. The psalms of the Bible often carry this same trajectory. Further more, it carries some interesting parallels to how Walter Brueggemann maps out the prophetic imagination: truth-telling, grief, hope. And of course hope may be the final word when all is said and done and the emergence (a little resurrection) from the illness occurs.
It can be tiring work going with Donne on this journey - it's not exactly a box of laughs... though not without wit, the pleasure of Donne's masterful pen, the enjoyment of the quirks of the historical context, and moments of profundity and insight.
As for the expected happy end - his deliverance from sickness, and the joys and new lease on life that might entail... Well, it's not as tidy as all that for Donne. Biographically it appears, at least as far as Isaak Walton's telling is concerned, he arrived at eventual peace and equanimity. But he's not there yet. The final meditation deals with the anxiety of relapse, and the lesson put forward is with regard to our struggle with sin.
Instead, the final flourish and courageous statement of hope in this volume is provided in his final sermon, delivered before Charles I for Lent on 25 February 1631, eight years after his recovery from the illness recounted in the devotions. With the repeated refrain "Domini Domini sunt exitus mortis, to God the Lord belong the issues of death" comes the sense of divine order and framing of the human state within the realms of God, and a grand narrative of resurrection and God's triumph over death, which leads to an existential place of acceptance and possibility (albeit via a cynical view of earthly life and facing the ugly existential reality of death). And with that, perhaps a definitive sense of personal peace.
Then die he did of course, just over a month after preaching this final sermon, and the bell tolls for John Donne. "...that body," says Isaak Walton, "which once was a temple of the Holy Ghost, and is now become a small quantity of Christian dust: — But I shall see it re-animated."
Donne's memorial statue still stands, reinstated in Wren's St Paul's having survived undamaged the Great Fire of 1666, and later when Nazi bombs rained down all around.
And there his dust has lain some 390 years and counting (as I once read, not without pathos, on the headstone of a 27 year old buried in 1876 in a country cemetery, a single word inscription) 'waiting'.
---
Now that I've read the devotions of Lancelot Andrewes and John Donne, I think I may have done my dash with that genre of what is sometimes known as the golden age of English literature. Their emphasis on human frailty and unworthiness is both potentially corrective and unsettling. Their formidable intellect, their mastery of language and their poetic engagement with the majesty of God is the gold and flourishing of their work.
John Donne is remembered for his handlings of death, his virtual celebration, his famous line "never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee" (which comes from these devotions), standing wrapped in a shroud as a model for his own memorial statue, rising from his deathbed to deliver his final sermon. The devotions, written "upon emergent occasions" in 1623 during the progression of a severe illness from which he recovered, are a documentary of a personal spiritual and extremely existential process by which he struggled towards coming to terms with mortality. Exquisitely written and important enough, he felt, that it should be presented for the edification of the future King Charles I.
We're still humans, as they were then, still mortal and still vulnerable to sickness. Though we managed to put that at a greater remove in contemporary society, in a time of pandemic and isolation, it's hard not to recognise the suffering of patients in passages like this...
"As sickness is the greatest misery, so the greatest misery of sickness is solitude; when the infectiousness of the disease deters them who should assist from coming..."
The work (bracketed in this version by Isaak Walton's biographical sketch and Donne's famous last sermon, Death's Dual or, A Consolation to the Soul Against the Dying Life and Living Death of the Body) follows the unfolding of the sickness and its treatment. The course is charted via 23 Latin headings and their translations. My favourite is this: "XII. Spirante columba supposita pedibus, revocantur ad ima vapores. They apply pigeons, to draw the vapours from the head." The mind boggles as to how the pigeons were applied.
Under each major heading are three subheadings: meditation, expostulation and prayer. I suspect these reflect a teaching / preaching method (preacher as he was). But in experiential terms, they represent the way Donne processes each new outcome in the progress of his illness.
'Meditation' is his examination of the event as he lays out the situation. It can contain confusion (and often lament), warts (or should I say spots) and all - usually with a strong emphasis on an intellectual dealing, but an emotional wrestling often seeps through and is an ever-present subtext.
In 'expostulation', the struggle and elements of lament come to the fore. He addresses God and hones in more deeply, beginning to draw out and find meaning, mining for deeper spiritual truths. For example, the pigeon episode mentioned earlier turns to thoughts of the dove of the Holy Spirit. Usually there is a transitional ('and yet') movement towards the end.
In 'prayer', he reflects his discoveries back to God and recommits himself (surrenders) to the divine.
Regardless of the specific theological details (or indeed the 16th and 17th centuries' particular unique and intriguing take on the world), I find this to be a fascinating internal process that surely has wider implications for how life is lived and our own internal processing of life events. The psalms of the Bible often carry this same trajectory. Further more, it carries some interesting parallels to how Walter Brueggemann maps out the prophetic imagination: truth-telling, grief, hope. And of course hope may be the final word when all is said and done and the emergence (a little resurrection) from the illness occurs.
It can be tiring work going with Donne on this journey - it's not exactly a box of laughs... though not without wit, the pleasure of Donne's masterful pen, the enjoyment of the quirks of the historical context, and moments of profundity and insight.
As for the expected happy end - his deliverance from sickness, and the joys and new lease on life that might entail... Well, it's not as tidy as all that for Donne. Biographically it appears, at least as far as Isaak Walton's telling is concerned, he arrived at eventual peace and equanimity. But he's not there yet. The final meditation deals with the anxiety of relapse, and the lesson put forward is with regard to our struggle with sin.
Instead, the final flourish and courageous statement of hope in this volume is provided in his final sermon, delivered before Charles I for Lent on 25 February 1631, eight years after his recovery from the illness recounted in the devotions. With the repeated refrain "Domini Domini sunt exitus mortis, to God the Lord belong the issues of death" comes the sense of divine order and framing of the human state within the realms of God, and a grand narrative of resurrection and God's triumph over death, which leads to an existential place of acceptance and possibility (albeit via a cynical view of earthly life and facing the ugly existential reality of death). And with that, perhaps a definitive sense of personal peace.
Then die he did of course, just over a month after preaching this final sermon, and the bell tolls for John Donne. "...that body," says Isaak Walton, "which once was a temple of the Holy Ghost, and is now become a small quantity of Christian dust: — But I shall see it re-animated."
Donne's memorial statue still stands, reinstated in Wren's St Paul's having survived undamaged the Great Fire of 1666, and later when Nazi bombs rained down all around.
And there his dust has lain some 390 years and counting (as I once read, not without pathos, on the headstone of a 27 year old buried in 1876 in a country cemetery, a single word inscription) 'waiting'.
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Now that I've read the devotions of Lancelot Andrewes and John Donne, I think I may have done my dash with that genre of what is sometimes known as the golden age of English literature. Their emphasis on human frailty and unworthiness is both potentially corrective and unsettling. Their formidable intellect, their mastery of language and their poetic engagement with the majesty of God is the gold and flourishing of their work.
March 22, 2010
Brilliant!
"No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."
Совершенно прекрасная вещь.
«Ни один человек не остров, замкнутый в себе, каждый человек – это кусок континента, частица единого целого; если море смывает часть суши, Европа становится меньше, как если это был бы мыс, как если это была бы усадьба твоего друга, или твоя собственная; смерть любого человека делает меня меньше, потому что я – часть человечества; и поэтому не посылай узнавать, по ком звонит колокол; он звонит по тебе»
"No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."
Совершенно прекрасная вещь.
«Ни один человек не остров, замкнутый в себе, каждый человек – это кусок континента, частица единого целого; если море смывает часть суши, Европа становится меньше, как если это был бы мыс, как если это была бы усадьба твоего друга, или твоя собственная; смерть любого человека делает меня меньше, потому что я – часть человечества; и поэтому не посылай узнавать, по ком звонит колокол; он звонит по тебе»
April 12, 2011
My favourite Donne book--even more so than his "Holy Sonnets" and other poems. Sometime in the early 1620's (1623??), Donne (Dean of St Paul's Cathedral and excellent sermon-writer/poet/clergyman) fell victim to a "relapsing fever" (typhoid??) that almost killed him. Here in 23 sections (each section divided into three parts: meditation, expostulation and prayer), Donne provides a kind of meditative journal about the course of his illness to near-death and then slowly back to wellness. Many of Donne's most famous lines are to be found in this book ("Never send for whom the bell tolls...it tolls for thee," "No man is an island...," etc.). This edition includes Walton's biography of Donne and Donne's last sermon--what would be his own funeral sermon, "Death's Duel." Amazing book.
December 29, 2016
Read this when you are sick, even just the non-lethal 21-st century winter cold kind of sick. I'm pretty sure fevers only amplify it. It's also one you can dip into and out of without losing anything, no particular reason to read straight through in order, and feels - no surprise - like poetry in places. A remarkable book.
July 20, 2009
the fact that i can't give "devotions" more than five stars makes me want to go back through my ratings and lower all my favorites to four.
February 14, 2025
It is deeply amusing to me seeing reviews from Christians who read this from a religious standpoint (and spiritual benefit). Coming from someone who read this entirely for its merits of commanding English language, I was decently satisfied with Donne's extended metaphors. They're not only fun to dissect, but provide valuable insight into his beliefs (even if I don't necessarily agree with them). His extended metaphors are also clever too, so I liked seeing where he goes with them. Enjoyed his devotions much more than his Holy Sonnets, but I do think there will always be a chasm keeping me from fully appreciating his work because of my personal disdain for a lot of his more spiritual ideology. Every time the prayers started after his meditations, I wanted to move on.
November 19, 2024
John Donnie’s reflections are layered and complex and refreshingly relatable. While of course I was drawn to this book for the “No Man is an Island” from Station 17, both Station 14’s on Time and Station 13’s on Happiness are rich and fulfilling. A book I would gladly reread!
February 3, 2021
An excellent mediation on the human response to illness.
July 5, 2016
The Devotions themselves vary between what read like actual prayers and verbal magic tricks, and are sometimes more a chore than a feast, but there are a few which are really lovely: the first, the famous one about the Bell Tolling For Thee, and the last two, in particular. Death's Duel, Donne's last sermon, is worth as many readings as you give it, and Walton's Life will make you love both Walton and Donne as well as teaching you about history. This is good strong reading, all the way through.
"There we leave you in that blessed dependency, to hang upon him that hangs upon the cross, there bathe in his tears, there suck at his wounds, and lie down in peace in his grave, till he vouchsafe you a resurrection."
"There we leave you in that blessed dependency, to hang upon him that hangs upon the cross, there bathe in his tears, there suck at his wounds, and lie down in peace in his grave, till he vouchsafe you a resurrection."
May 29, 2013
I can't imagine a more amazing premise for writing a book than John Donne's reflections during his sickness. He manages to be both dark and hopeful at the same time, not turning his head away from death or laughing in a vain attempt to forget it's presence, but taking it head on. Death is something that actually unites people for as much as people say we die alone, and indeed, life could not exist without death. There are a lot of great quotes and metaphors in here, and I think this one is my favorite: "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."
October 14, 2020
I haven't read all of it, but what I have read was outstanding.
My wife and I read it together and finished it in 2020. It is stunning. It will take a while to read it, because it is deep, and Donne's writing is overwhelming in just about every way. Layers of meaning, sensual use of words, unusual word choices, and graphic descriptions all come together in various ways that made me stop and re-read passages or made Beverly say, "Read that again." It is wonderful and profound. Please read this. You will be glad you did.
My wife and I read it together and finished it in 2020. It is stunning. It will take a while to read it, because it is deep, and Donne's writing is overwhelming in just about every way. Layers of meaning, sensual use of words, unusual word choices, and graphic descriptions all come together in various ways that made me stop and re-read passages or made Beverly say, "Read that again." It is wonderful and profound. Please read this. You will be glad you did.
May 15, 2015
When the body is failing and the soul needs steak, this is the book for the Christian.
Some of the concepts in here were too much for me to grasp, but what I did grasp, I will carry with my through the rest of this life.
(the book is free in ibooks)
"But whether the gate of my prison be opened with an oiled key (by a gentle and preparing sickness), or the gate be hewn down by a violent death, or the gate be burnt down by a raging and frantic fever, a gate into heaven I shall have, for from the Lord is the cause of my life, and with God the Lord are the issues of death."
Some of the concepts in here were too much for me to grasp, but what I did grasp, I will carry with my through the rest of this life.
(the book is free in ibooks)
"But whether the gate of my prison be opened with an oiled key (by a gentle and preparing sickness), or the gate be hewn down by a violent death, or the gate be burnt down by a raging and frantic fever, a gate into heaven I shall have, for from the Lord is the cause of my life, and with God the Lord are the issues of death."
April 12, 2012
This is an excellent devotional, particularly during Lent. The twenty-three devotions are best read at one per day so that one may fully meditate on the powerful images Donne employs. "Death's Duel" is an excellent Good Friday mediation, which works to conclude the most difficult days of Lent (the end), and helps one remember the purpose of self-denial during Lent. This particular edition is written in a style that is easy to read for twenty-first century readers.
August 2, 2010
These meditations and prayers of John Donne are a difficult read - but worth the effort - most of us try to deny the reality of death by almost any means - here is a man struggling to accept death - struggling to find peace while life is slipping away - drawing out important spiritual lessons in the midst of suffering.
May 28, 2010
This book was written when Donne was ill, and if you're only familiar with his raunchy love poems, it'll come as a bit of a shock. It's beautiful, however, and thought provoking, and real spiritual food.
April 13, 2015
This was a lot better than I expected. This edition include Izaak Walton's biography of Donne at the beginning and Donne's sermon "Death's Duel" at the end.
Some good quotes here:
http://themundanemuse.blogspot.com/20...
Some good quotes here:
http://themundanemuse.blogspot.com/20...
August 8, 2014
Donne’s prose is better than his poetry, I think. He’s not Thomas Browne or Robert Burton, but this is a very fine book. For more, see my blog post:
http://newpsalmanazar.wordpress.com/2...
http://newpsalmanazar.wordpress.com/2...
July 12, 2009
Striking metaphors, not all that scholarly and "metaphysical" really.
December 18, 2008
I wasn't sure I would enjoy a book of devotions, but this is one of those penetrating and subtle reads that hit me after I was done.
March 26, 2010
Read for class: Lit & Medicine.
January 26, 2012
I know I didn't give this nearly enough time and attention, but his poetry struck me much more than these meditations.
February 6, 2013
Tough to get through, a bit repetitive, but a great insight into how he viewed disease and the human condition (as well as its cure: death and resurrection).
November 19, 2013
"Death's Duel" is a sermon and a powerful one. It's considered to be his last. Strong conclusion.
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