Madrigal Mystery Tour ; Was John Donne the Cole Porter of His Time? the Discovery That His Poems Were Set to Popular Music Suggests He Was, Says Ian Irvine. and Now He's Making a Musical Comeback

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John Donne's reputation has had its ups and downs. Today, we think of him as the leading 'metaphysical' poet " and the description seems neutral. But when the term was first coined it was meant to be abusive: John Dryden said that Donne 'affects the metaphysics' and meant he though the poems wilfully arcane. Samuel Johnson blasted the 'whole race of metaphysical poets': 'The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions; their learning instructs, and their subtlety surprises; but the reader commonly thinks his improvement dearly bought, and, though he sometimes admires, is seldom pleased.' …