Classical Mythology in the Secular Poetry of John Donne

It is the purpose of this thesis to examine the classical allusion in Donne's secular poetry to show that the body of such allusion is more extensive than is generally conceded. More important, this study will evaluate rather than merely catalogue the allusions in order to show ho Donne employs such allusion and in what way his poetic practice as to the employment of classical allusion is different from the practice of his contemporaries. It will be demonstrated that, with very few exceptions, Donne uses the standard myth or allusion as a foundation or departure point from which he then goes on to synthesize the myth and turn it into poetic material that is of special significance to his theme