“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so.” “Lo,” preached the newly ordained minister, quoting the Book of Lamentations at the funeral of his wife, “I am the man that hath seen affliction.” Indeed, from the death of his father to his own, John Donne witnessed much affliction. The Black Plague was repeatedly sweeping through London—three waves during his 10-year tenure as dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral—killing