Sackbut of Israel: John Donne and English Nonconformity, 1650-1700

This essay considers John Donne's influence in English puritan and nonconformist circles between 1650 and 1700, focusing especially on John Bunyan. Scholars in recent years have largely passed over Donne's readers in these circles; now is a good time to bring them back into focus. Puritans writing during the latter half of the seventeenth century show familiarity with Donne's sermons, letters, and poetry, especially his Holy Sonnets. Based on the ways Bunyan and others engaged with Donne's works, it appears that Donne could provide devotional resources to puritan readers in times of spiritual, emotional, or physical loss or struggle, and his metaphysical poetics are visible in Bunyan in particular and puritan meditation more diffusely. This study deepens scholarly understanding of literary and intellectual history by exploring continuities between authors often framed as standing not only on opposite sides of political and cultural divides, but also on different sides of a literary and epistemic revolution. [K.C.]