The Sermons of John Donne, Volume IX

*The Sermons of John Donne, edited by Evelyn M. Simpson and George R. Potter, Volume IX, gathers Donne’s last dated sermons of 1629–1630 along with a group of later undated discourses, many preached during the closing years of his ministry. Here Donne returns insistently to the opening chapters of Genesis, meditating on creation, the image of God in humanity, and the Spirit moving upon the waters. These late sermons combine an elemental simplicity with a poet’s grandeur: the East and West become figures of Christ’s light and man’s mortality, while the primordial waters serve both as emblem of chaos and of baptismal grace. Preaching before King Charles at Whitehall, before citizens at Paul’s Cross, and to his own flock at St. Paul’s, Donne speaks with new directness about human frailty, repentance, and the indwelling Spirit. Though mortality shadows these sermons—Donne was approaching his final illness—the tone is less morbid than in earlier volumes. He stresses instead the joy of forgiveness, the hope of resurrection, and the treasure of grace already present in the faithful heart.

The undated sermons collected here, including a long series on Psalm 32, reveal Donne as pastor and confessor, guiding his hearers through the disciplines of penitence, confession, and amendment of life. They show his characteristic blend of searching self-examination, theological depth, and psychological acuity, always rooted in Scripture and the Fathers yet addressed to the anxieties of his London congregations. Donne does not flinch from exposing sin—whether pride, covetousness, or irreverence in worship—but he insists with equal force on the abundance of divine mercy and the joy that springs from reconciliation with God. Volume IX thus stands at the threshold of Donne’s final preaching, culminating soon after in *Deaths Duell*. It presents a preacher who, even as his strength waned, continued to interpret creation, sin, and redemption with undiminished intensity, speaking as both poet of the eternal and pastor of souls.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1958.