"Donne's (Re)Annunciation of the Virgin(ia Colony) in "Elegy XIX

In one of his many witty letters to Mrs. Magdalen Herbert, Donne writes that he has given his letter license to travel. It is therefore, he continues, pinnace to discover, and the entire colony of letters, of hundreds and fifties, must follow; whose employment is more honourable than that which our State meditates to Virginia.. This extended conceit is typical of Donne, of course, even of his prose letters. Also typical of the poet, although not often remarked Donne studies, is the critical dismissal of the English adventure America. References to the New World are frequent his elegies, satires, and lyrics, but rather than providing evidence that he shared the enthusiasm of many of his countrymen their desire for possession of the New Eden (or Bower of Bliss),2 these allusions usually scorn actual travel to the New World as suicidal courage of straw pursuit of gaine or as a foolhardy search for the India's of spice and Myne that are actually to be discovered in one bed

Art · Elegy · Literature · Poetry · Literature: history, themes, analysis

• Hearing the "harmonious chime" in Donne's "To his Mistress going to bed

  Theresa M DiPasquale•ANQ A Quarterly Journal of Short…•2008

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