John Donne's Pulpit Voice

Abstract

Three sermons delivered at old St. Paul's Cathedral reveal John Donne's extraordinary skill as a preacher. Insufficient attention has been paid to Donne's physical voice as he attempted to reveal the Word of God in the cathedral, while efforts to depict Donne as a performer have obscured Donne's self-presentation as a contrite sinner who fully shares the sinful nature of his auditors. In his Christmas sermon in 1621, Donne positions himself as a moderate, sacramentalist Protestant. In the Second Prebend sermon in 1626, he urges his listeners to take comfort in the holy joy of the Holy Spirit and thus to anticipate the joy of heaven. In the Cokayne funeral sermon, also in 1626, Donne ponders the resurrection of Lazarus and proclaims the joyful resurrection of the dead in Christ. The printed texts of the sermons allow us to imagine the power of their initial delivery from the pulpit of St. Paul's.