John Donne and English Puritanism, 1650–1700

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent decades, it has become clear that John Donne’s seventeenth-century readership is larger and more varied than was once believed. One audience that has not been given much scholarly attention, however, is English puritans on both sides of the Atlantic. This article brings to light several possible avenues for the transmission of Donne’s works to these readers and then identifies explicit references and poetic allusions to Donne by writers of these theological and ecclesiastical persuasions.