Routledge Bodies, Politics and Transformations: John Donne's Metempsychosis

This scholarly study from Routledge reconsiders John Donne's Metempsychosis as a vital and energetic work within his literary canon, challenging the predominantly negative critical assessments that have dominated scholarship since the early twentieth century. Siobhan Collins provides a comprehensive reappraisal of the poem, examining its extraordinary openness to conflict and transformation within identity. The work situates Metempsychosis as a ludic verse deeply engaged with Elizabethan fascination with metamorphosis and its philosophical implications. By contesting the longstanding view that the poem remains incomplete, Collins demonstrates how the text functions as an alert and inventive exploration of early modern identity politics and scientific thought. This contribution to Literary and Scientific Cultures of Early Modernity bridges textual analysis with historical context, offering readers new insights into Donne's engagement with bodily transformation, philosophical inquiry, and the cultural anxieties of his era.