This post is a bit different than what I usually do. Rather than me sharing some feeble attempt at wisdom, I’m hoping someone out there can instead enlighten me. I became aware of this volume (at right) the other day, and it’s got me wondering: does it make sense to match the complete poetry (and selected prose) of John Donne with the complete poetry of William Blake?
Admittedly, I’m no Blake scholar (I’ve read only his Songs of Innocence and Experience), but I have trouble drawing a solid connection between him and Donne. Am I missing something here? Can someone fill in the blanks for me?
For my part, I would have thought it made better sense to pair Blake with John Milton. After all, the latter apparently took up residence (at least briefly) in Blake’s left foot during his afterlife (we learn this in Blake’s poem “Milton,” which I freely admit I have not read completely). I’ve illustrated below:
Someone please educate me (on the topics addressed above, preferably).
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I’m curious about people’s response to this…I’ve read a bit of Donne and one book of Paradise Lost this semester, but no Blake. Donne’s work presents an interesting paradox, and Milton…well, let’s just say I found a LOT of plot problems in just Book 9 of PL. If he’d hired me to edit him, it would have looked very different. 🙂 But it’s just a survey course, so we’re not getting into great detail.
Hi Michelle. My co-blogger Churl gives his take on why the book might mix these two authors. See it here.