John Donne (1572-1631) is best known for his metaphysical poetry and his sermons as Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. But Donne's writing has been influential on modern and contemporary poets such as Hart Crane, Carl Phillips and Kimiko Hahn. In this Talk Judith Herz discusses the life of John Donne, his sensual sonnets and satirical poems, and why poets continue to be drawn to his work: writing out of his words and into their own. The motto of this Talk could be, in the words of song writer Van Morrison, 'rave on John Donne, rave on.'