This book proposes the poetic link between Donne and Crashaw during the English Reformation. In the first half of this work, Donne's Songs and Sonets, Verse Letters, religious works and Anniversaries are discussed as they reflect increasingly covert reverence for a holy mother figure. In the second half, Crashaw's juvenile poems and epigrams, verse in honour of the Virgin and Child, and mature contemplative verse are seen to express mystical homage to Mary and growing admiration for feminine powers of faith.

This book proposes the poetic link between Donne and Crashaw during the English Reformation. In the first half of this work, Donne's Songs and Sonets, Verse Letters, religious works and Anniversaries are discussed as they reflect increasingly covert reverence for a holy mother figure. In the second half, Crashaw's juvenile poems and epigrams, verse in honour of the Virgin and Child, and mature contemplative verse are seen to express mystical homage to Mary and growing admiration for feminine powers of faith.