A Lecture on the Shadow

John Donne – first a rake, if we’re to believe the man himself, and then an Anglican minister of unusual verve and power – was what people have come to call a “Metaphysical Poet.”  And as soon as I say that, my readers will run for the door!  But stay with me, readers.  You aren’t a “metaphysical poet” if you write about whether “dog” is just a convenie…