JOHN DONNE was the Cole Porter of his day, a writer of subtle popular songs rather than just the author of cerebral poetry, according to new research.

The discovery of four musical scores by various composers of the day reveal that Donne intended some of his words to be sung rather than read.

Jonathan Holmes, a Donne scholar who is working on a play about the poet for The Globe theatre in London, found the material among piles of unidentified manuscripts in the British Library in London and the Bodleian in Oxford. He said: “This now alters how we think of Donne. His reputation is as a poet of metaphysical, intricate poetry that you have to spend hours to get to know — but, when performed, the music is an immediate aid to understanding it.”

The first performance in 400 years of text and music together will take place on June 9 at St Paul’s Cathedral, where Donne was Dean from 1621 until his death in 1631, frequently preaching before Charles I. The performers are Emma Kirkby and Carolyn Sampson, who are early music specialists, accompanied by The Sixteen with Harry Christophers and the lutenist Matthew Wadsworth. The recital will be interspersed with performances of Donne’s sermons, letters and poetry read by the actors Mark Rylance, Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson and Harriet Walter.

Donne (1573-1631) is the foremost English poet of the metaphysical school, noted both for his secular poetry, written largely before his ordination in 1615, and his religious verse and sermons, which rank among the best of the 17th century. His most famous poems are his love lyrics in various moods.

Dr Holmes said of the scores: “The material was never lost. It was just in a place where people weren’t looking for it.” He unearthed it by sifting through collections of music scores from the period. He recognised Donne’s lyrics immediately, either in a line beneath the stave of music or at the foot of the sheet, in a stanza. They included the love poems The Bait and The Message.

Although a couple of Donne’s poems were known to have been set to music, the extent to which his work inspired composers had not been realised. Dr Holmes has identified at least seven contemporary composers who set Donne’s words to music: “No other playwright, poet or prose writer had received such attention from musicians and composers.”

Another love poem, Break of Day, was set and printed simultaneously by three composers — John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons and William Corkine. “That would only have been possible if the songs themselves were popular enough to sell well,” Dr Holmes said.

BREAK OF DAY

’Tis true, ’tis day; what though it be?
O, wilt thou therefore rise from me?
Why should we rise because ‘tis light?
Did we lie down because ‘twas night?
Love, which in spite of darkness brought us hither,
Should in despite of light keep us together.

Light hath no tongue, but is all eye;
If it could speak as well as spy,
This were the worst that it could say,
That being well I fain would stay,
And that I loved my heart and honour so
That I would not from him, that had them, go.

Must business thee from hence remove?
O! that’s the worst disease of love,
The poor, the foul, the false, love can
Admit, but not the busied man.
He which hath business, and makes love, doth do
Such wrong, as when a married man doth woo.

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