The Sermons of John Donne, Volume X

The Sermons of John Donne, Volume X, edited by Evelyn M. Simpson and George R. Potter, brings to completion the monumental sequence of Donnes preaching, concluding with his final and most famous sermon, *Deaths Duell*, delivered before King Charles I in February 1631. This final volume emphasizes the unity-in-diversity of Donnes achievement, revealing a more balanced Donne: a preacher of careful structure, plain counsel, pastoral sympathy, and theological depth. The early undated sermons retain the imaginative flourish of his middle period, while the later ones convey an aged preacher intent on plainness, reconciliation, and consolation. *Deaths Duell* epitomizes this dual movement, with Donne preaching both his own farewell and a meditation on Christs Passion, closing with words of hope in the Resurrection. Read together, these sermons display Donne as an artist in prose whose variety of moods parallel the mosaics of Christian art, each figure distinct yet part of a greater pattern.

Format: Hardback
Length: 500 pages
Publication date: 29 April 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

The Sermons of John Donne, edited by Evelyn M. Simpson and George R. Potter, Volume X, completes the monumental sequence of Donnes preaching, culminating with his final and most famous sermon, "Deaths Duell," delivered before King Charles I in February 1631. Spanning the breadth of his ministry, this concluding collection situates Donne's work in its full arc, from his late and hesitant ordination, through his triumph as Dean of St. Paul's, to the physical decline and spiritual intensity of his last years. What emerges is not only the record of a preacher of extraordinary rhetorical power but also the unfolding of a life increasingly surrendered to the office he had once resisted. This final volume emphasizes the unity-in-diversity of Donne's achievement. While anthologies often favor his morbid or rhetorical extremes, the full sermons reveal a more balanced Donne: a preacher of careful structure, plain counsel, pastoral sympathy, and theological depth. Here we find sermons of controversy, defending the English Church against both Roman Catholics and Separatists; sermons of civic and parochial duty, rooted in his life as Vicar of St. Dunstans; and sermons of profound spirituality, where images of light, peace, and resurrection dominate. The early undated sermons retain the imaginative flourish of his middle period, while the later ones—though marked by prolixity and repetition—convey an aged preacher intent on plainness, reconciliation, and consolation. "Deaths Duell" epitomizes this dual movement: Donne, visibly dying, preaches both his own farewell and a meditation on Christ's Passion, closing with words of hope in the Resurrection. Read together, these sermons display Donne as an artist in prose whose variety of moods—quiet, argumentative, imaginative, oratory—parallel the range of his sermons.

Weight: 896g
Dimension: 158 x 236 x 39 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520372979