John Donne
Carew’s elegy was written following the death of the great English poet John Donne. In 1621, Donne was appointed the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London, hence the other part of the title. Donne was the acknowledged master of a loose confederation of writers known as the metaphysical poets; a group which also included George Herbert and Andrew Marvell. Donne was also one of the pre-eminent preachers of the day whose sermons, benefitting from writing talent, put him among the most popular preachers of the period as well.
Anacreon
Anacreon was an ancient Greek master of lyric poetry. He is referenced by Carew as one of the poets whom lesser writers of Donne’s age were satisfied to merely mimic rather than seek out new and innovative ground.
Pindar
Pindar is another of the Greeks alluded to as idols to be mimicked by the less talented. Pindar is also referenced by Carew in this poem about poets and the writing of verse because of his role in literary history as one of the first craft poetry about poets and poetry.
Apollo
The poem ends with Carew asserting that Donne was Apollo’s “first.” Apollo is, among other things, the god of poetry within the ancient Greco-Roman mythological universe.
