Does the phrase “No man is an island” ring a bell? Or “Death be not proud”? What
about “never send for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”? No, they’re not
Shakespeare, but from a contemporary he may (or may never) have known.
John Donne’s poetry would fall into obscurity for two centuries, but its startling
metaphors, thrilling use of language, and powerful ambiguities restored it to
fashion in the 20th century. The greatest of the “Metaphysical Poets” had an
exciting life, too: as a soldier in wars with Spain and Italy, a lover who married his
wife in secret and was sent to prison by her enraged father, a mostly unemployed
father of 12 (7 of whom survived to adulthood) for more than a decade, a member
of parliament, and eventually a (reluctantly) ordained Church of England priest.
“Story Time for Grownups” will explore this poet’s remarkable history, as well as
readings of his greatest poems — erotic and devotional — plus excerpts from his
no-less-startling sermons as Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Portland actor and writer David Loftus is currently appearing in the Oregon
Children’s Theatre production of “The Journal of Ben Uchida,” a play about the
Japanese-American concentration camps during World War II ... where his mother
and her family were imprisoned in 1942-1945.