Bust

John Donne bust

Erection date: 14/6/2012

Inscription

{On the front of the plinth:}
John Donne, poet and divine, 1572 - 1631.

{On the vertical bronze edge of the statue's base:}
Hence is’t that I am carried towards the west,
This day, when my soul’s form bends to the east.

{There are compass points around the base of the plinth, and on the stone ground at the 4 points are inscribed, clockwise from north:}
dean - St Paul's Cathedral
reader - Lincoln's Inn
married - Anne More of Losely
birthplace - Bread Street

{On a plaque stamped into the back of the bust:}
City of London, 2012
Alderman Robert Hall - patron
Nigel Boonham FRBS - sculptor
Andrew Whittle - lettering

{On the back of the left shoulder two lines of poetry are stamped, in script:}
True virtu is soule
allways in all deeds all

The poetry on the base of the statue is from Donne’s 1613 poem ‘Good Friday—Riding Westward’. That on the shoulder is from 'A Letter to the Lady Carey, and Mistress Essex Rich, from Amiens' and makes sense to us in this version: "True virtue's soul's always in all deeds all." It was probably written in 1612 and is the only verse in English that survives in Donne's hand. 

Site: John Donne bust (1 memorial)

EC4, St Paul's Churchyard

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
John Donne bust

Subjects commemorated i

John Donne

Poet and clergyman.  Born in Bread Street into a literate Catholic family (co...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
John Donne bust

Created by i

Corporation of the City of London

The municipal governing body of the City of London. Officially the 'Mayor and...

Read More

Alderman Robert Hall

Resigned as Alderman on reaching the age of 70, as is traditional.

Read More

Andrew Whittle

Lettering artist.  Born Weymouth.  Inspired by the work of David Kindersley (...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Bloomsbury House - Friedrich Froebel

Bloomsbury House - Friedrich Froebel

WC1, Bloomsbury Square, 2-3

Bloomsbury House was built in 1887 for the College of Preceptors.  Designed by by F. Pinches it is Listed Grade 1.  The College, now call...

1 subject commemorated
National Portrait Gallery - Holbein

National Portrait Gallery - Holbein

WC2, Charing Cross Road

This building, 1896, designed by Ewan Christian, has 18 busts contained in medallions around the top of the facades. Starting at the east...

1 subject commemorated
Hoe Street - medallion of a hatless man

Hoe Street - medallion of a hatless man

E17, Hoe Street, 105

This shop front has, like a lot of shop fronts of this period, atop the flanking pillars, decorative capitals and corbels.  On this shop ...

Grosvenor Hotel - head 05

Grosvenor Hotel - head 05

SW1, Buckingham Palace Road, Grosvenor Hotel

This 1860 building, by architect James Knowles Snr, is studded with many portrait busts of which we believe only these 14 are representat...

ICI - 2 - Mendeleeff

ICI - 2 - Mendeleeff

SW1, Millbank, 9, Imperial Chemical House

For an idea of what this area used to be like see this 1894ish map. It was all redeveloped following the 1928 flood. This block was desig...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator