The Poems of John Donne (Volume 1); Miscellaneous Poems (Songs and Sonnets) Elegies. Epithalamions, or Marriage Songs. Satires. Epigrams. the Progress of the Soul. Notes

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1895. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... NOTES. The following notes consist mainly of what Donne well calls "those unconcerning things, matters of fact." I have made little attempt to throw light on the obscurities of Donne's verse, or to direct attention to its beauties. The attentive reader who is also a lover of poetry does not require a commentator to explain what his own wit may solve, or to point out what he may already have observed. The notes for the most part serve only to elucidate remote allusions, and to give brief accounts of the occasions on which some of the poems were written, as well as of the personages to whom some of them were addressed. By showing the relation of his poems to the course of his life, their value becomes apparent as material for the biography of Donne's perplexed and intricate soul. Page 5. Song. This song is sometimes ascribed to Francis Beaumont and printed in his works. Page 7. The Undertaking. "It were but madness now t' impart The skill of specular stone," etc. That is, it were mere folly to instruct in an art of which the material is no longer to be found. Under the term ' specular stone " various sorts of translucent stone, such as alabaster and mica, seem to have been included. The lapis specularis was used in the time of Augustus for the filling of windows, and Harrison, in his excellent description of England, printed in Holinshed's Chronicles, 1577, says, "I find obscure mention of the specular stone also to have been found and applied to this use i. e., to use like glass for windows in England, but in such doubtful sort as I dare not affirm it for certain." Book ii, ch. 10. Psu?e 9. The Sun-rising. "Whether both the Indias of spice and mine." "The use of the word mine specifically for mines of gold, silver, or precious stones, is, I believe, peculiar to D...