"These Hymnes may worke on future wits":the search for and coveyance of knowledge in the poetry of John Donne

The aim of this study is to investigate the search for and coveyance of knowledge in the poetry of John Donne. Starting from his love poetry and continuing whith his profane and religious writings, this study will demonstrate how, through a coexistence of both retrospective and prospective images, the poet wanted to criticize and reform the culture of his time.