He loves her ragges so, as wee here obey

The statecloth where the Prince sate yesterday. Crantz to such brave Loves will not be inthrall'd, But loves her onely, who at Geneva is call'd Religion, plaine, simple, sullen, yong, Contemptuous, yet unhansome.

This gibe at the expense of Rome indicates that Donne is by no means disposed to accept Papal authority, while the very appropriate description of the Calvinistic doctrine, then comparatively young,' shows how its harsh exclusiveness repels him. The Church of England was evidently too artificial a compromise to suit his mood.

Graius stayes still at home here, and because

Some Preachers, vile ambitious bauds, and lawes
Still new like fashions, bid him thinke that shee
Which dwels with us, is onely perfect, hee
Imbraceth her, whom his Godfathers will
Tender to him, being tender, as Wards still
Take such wives as their Guardians offer, or
Pay valewes.

After describing an indifferent man,

Carelesse Phrygius doth abhorre

All, because all cannot be good,

and a man uncritical of creeds,

Gracchus loves all as one, and thinks that so
As women do in divers countries goe
In divers habits, yet are still one kinde,

So doth, so is Religion; and this blind-
nesse too much light breeds,

Donne states his own position and attitude in a passage which, at any rate in parts, deserves the epithet noble.

But unmoved thou

Of force must one, and forc'd but one allow;
And the right; aske thy father which is shee,
Let him aske his; though truth and falshood bee
Neare twins, yet truth a little elder is;

Be busie to seeke her, beleeve mee this,

Hee's not of none, nor worst, that seekes the best.
To adore, or scorne an image, or protest,
May all be bad; doubt wisely; in strange way
To stand inquiring right, is not to stray;
To sleepe, or runne wrong, is. On a huge hill,
Cragged, and steep, Truth stands, and hee that will
Reach her, about must, and about must goe;
And what the hills suddennes resists, winne so;
Yet strive so, that before age, deaths twilight,
Thy Soule rest, for none can worke in that night.
To will, implyes delay, therefore now doe:
Hard deeds, the bodies paines; hard knowledge too
The mindes indeavours reach, and mysteries
Are like the Sunne, dazling, yet plaine to all eyes.
Keepe the truth which thou hast found; men do
not stand

In so ill case here, that God hath with his hand
Sign'd Kings blanck-charters to kill whom they
hate,

<Nor are they Vicars, but hangmen to Fate.

Foole and wretch, wilt thou let thy Soule be tyed
To mans lawes, by which she shall not be tryed
At the last day ? Oh, will it then boot thee

To say a Philip, or a Gregory,

A Harry, or a Martin taught thee this?

Is not this excuse for mere contraries,

Equally strong? cannot both sides say so?

That thou mayest rightly obey power, her bounds know;

Those past, her nature, and name is chang'd; to be Then humble to her is idolatrie.

The first sixteen lines of this extract combine dignity and strength, the latter rather enhanced than lessened by the metrical abruptness. The man who writes

Beleeve mee this,

Hee's not of none, nor worst, that seekes the best cannot be set aside as a trifler. From the beginning of the passage can be felt the tension of emotion, which was the one thing that would free from trammels Donne's power of expression. Accordingly, here at the climax he gives us in the description of Truth one of those bright flashes of pure poetry with which he rewards those who pursue him.

On a huge hill,

Cragged, and steep, Truth stands.

III

IT was noted earlier in this book that the most striking feature of Donne's life was the constant warring of the diverse elements of his character. We have just seen him resolving, with a sincerity which cannot be doubted, upon a search for spiritual truth; a while ago he was stripping the life about him of its

shams and seeing it as it was, not as it would fain appear. Both of these attempts were, at least in part, the outcome of an intense curiosity, though it is true that behind the former lay something else which was later to become prominent. This overwhelming desire for knowledge and experience of every kind was typical of the Renaissance, and Donne with his great vitality was not likely to stand entirely aloof from the opportunities for amorous ad venture which would come to him from every side. And in considering his attitude to this aspect of life it must be remembered that the pagan element was peculiarly strong in these Renaissance men, of whom probably none had such a store of eager energy as distinguished Donne. The fact cannot be put aside, although attempts at doing so have not been lacking, that the highly sensual poetry which Donne produced at this period of his life was based upon actual experience. No one can read it with any care and doubt this, for there is present in much of it a most convincing sincerity. But the picture must not be too heavily coloured. Amorous adventure, although naturally it was the focusing-point of his power of expression, formed but a small part of Donne's life. We have already seen him as a curious observer of manners and as an intellectual searcher after truth. In addition he studied law with voracity. Walton expressly notes the fact: "he gave great testimonies of his wit, his learning, and of

his improvement in that profession." In after years it was said of Donne that he "knew all laws," and Walton states that at a later date "he acquired [in law] such a perfection, as was judged to hold proportion with many who had made that study the employment of their whole life."

Of Donne's life for the next three years no single detail is actually known. Whether or not he travelled, his success as a student, the exact circle in which he moved-all is obscurity, except that we know that he was acquainted with Ben Jonson, and that certain of his friends, who will be mentioned later, were extremely well connected. Did Donne frequent the Mermaid Tavern? Did he know Shakespeare? are questions which spring at once to the mind, but to which there is at present no answer.

These

Our only source of information is a body of undated and unarranged poetry, dealing with one phase only of his life. After long and careful consideration of the "Songs and Sonnets" (that is to say, lyrics,' for there is not one formal sonnet among them) and "The Elegies," Sir Edmund Gosse came to the conclusion that certain episodes can be clearly traced in them. The only alternative to this conclusion is that Donne wrote a series of love-poems based on an imaginary intrigue. To the mind of the present writer this almost proves the original proposition, for the violence of personal passion in the poems makes the second unthinkable. More