Based on an exhaustive study of the manuscripts and printed editions in which these poems have appeared, the fifth volume in the series of The Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne presents newly edited critical texts of the five canonical satires and "Metempsychosis" and details the genealogical history of each accompanied by a thorough prose discussion. The analysis contained in the volume shows that Donne revised each of the poems and explains how readings from the competing versions were intermingled in the early editions and transmitted to subsequent generations. The volume also presents a comprehensive organized digest of the critical-scholarly commentary on these poems from Donne s time through 2001."

This book presents a comprehensive digest of general and topical commentary on John Donne's Songs and Sonets from the early 17th century through 1999. Arranged chronologically within sections, the material in the present volume is organized under the following chapter headings: General Commentary; Autobiography and Persona; Critical Reception; Dating, Publication History, and Manuscript Tradition; Donne's Originality: Praise and Blame; Dramatic Elements; T. S. Eliot; Imagery; Language and Rhetoric; Love and Sexual Imagery; Mannerism and Baroque; Medievalism; Paradox; Petrarchism; Platonism; Psychological Analysis; Religion; Science and the New Learning; Versification; Wit and Metaphysical Conceit; Women. This book was begun under the direction of Albert C. Labriola, who served as the Volume Commentary Editor until his death in March 2009. Completed by his students and colleagues with the Variorum project, the volume is dedicated to Professor Labriola's memory.