In the seventeenth century Donne's Metempsychosis was distinguished by the attention of Ben Jonson and Andrew Marvell. In our time it has been neglected both by scholars and by poets, with rare exceptions such as The Double Journey of John Donne by D. C. Allen, What was the Soul of the Apple? by W. A. Murray,' or a text, Make my darke heavy Poeim and light, chosen by Hart Crane for his motto. Professor Grierson set the pattern for its rejection. But its Epistle, dated 16 August 1601, indicates that it was one of Donne's most ambitious undertakings, and despite, or perhaps because of, its incompleteness, it deserves some consideration of its place in Donne's corpus. Moreover, both in itself and in its relation to his other work, its importance challenges such indifference and justifies our refusal to be intimidated by this sullen writ. In its final threat, expressed in a concluding postscript, certainly this poem has been more successful than he could have desired.