ABSTRACT “WHOSE THIS PEECE SHOULD BE”: ELIZABETH DRURY’S ROLE AS ALCHEMICAL MODEL FOR SALVATION IN JOHN DONNE’S ANNIVERSARIES

John Donne’s two Anniversary poems (1611-12) historically have received negative criticism because of their hyperbolic praise of Elizabeth Drury. They have also been examined as either complementary or as distinct in a failed series. This study, using close reading analysis, examines the Anniversaries using the alchemical imagery found within the eulogy sections of both poems to reinterpret the nature and function of Elizabeth Drury in each poem and to argue for the poems ’ complementary nature. Donne’s use of alchemical imagery, throughout his canon, is well documented. When Louis Martz, in 1947, concluded that the Anniversaries followed the Ignatian meditation format of Introduction, Body (with sections comprised of meditation, eulogy, refrain/moral), and Conclusion, he invited further investigations of the separate sections. Donne’s use of alchemical imagery in other works supports the premise that he satirized exoteric, physical alchemy, but supported esoteric, or spiritual, alchemy. Analysis of both poems, focusing on the eulogy sections, five in FirAn and seven i