Quote #193599
I still read Donne, particularly his love poems.
Carol Ann Duffy
About This Quote
This quote needs no introduction—at least for now. We're working on adding more context soon.
Interpretation
Duffy’s remark signals an ongoing, living relationship with the English poetic canon rather than a purely academic one. By singling out John Donne’s love poems, she points to a tradition of erotic candor, intellectual wit, and startling metaphor that remains artistically useful in the present. The adverb “still” implies continuity across time and changing fashions: Donne’s voice continues to reward rereading and to offer technical and emotional resources for contemporary poetry. The comment also quietly aligns Duffy’s own interests—love, desire, intimacy, and the dramatic speaking voice—with Donne’s ability to fuse argument, feeling, and inventive imagery into poems that feel immediate despite their historical distance.




