ABSTRACT
Mr Gosse assumes that the lyrics in stanzaic form, and the amatory poems in heroic measure, which he assigns to this period, are autobiographical. There are some grounds for thinking so, no doubt, but the case is not proved, and it is one in which we should be glad to give Donne the benefit of the doubt, and take the alternative possibility. For under Mr Gosse’s ingenious treatment the poems are so woven into the history of Donne’s life as to give a very definite picture to the ‘irregularities’ of his lay life, of which he naturally thinks when he is about to enter upon his ministerial life.
