Donne, Marvell, Memento Mori

		On this day in 1631 John Donne died at the age of fifty-eight. Although his earlier poems and life were decidedly joie de vivre, Donne’s last years were all memento mori – his famous “for whom the bell tolls” Meditation was published in 1624, his final sermon was described by contemporaries as his own funeral oration, and his final weeks were spent sleeping beside his funeral shroud.

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