The article uses an interdisciplinary approach to selected early modern poems of JohnDonne and aims to delineate the research area which still awaits systematic exploration.The textual analysis of his elegy: The Comparison, operating within the communicationorientedtheory of genre blending, leads to the detection of its multigeneric and dialogicpatterns. It reveals the intricate manner in which features and functions of various literaryand non-literary forms are intertwined and harmonized in

more »

... poem. It is also arguedthat Donne's elegy derives its imagery from an experimental trend toward caricatures(grotesquery) followed by the 15th/16th-century portraitists and genre painters. The general conclusion is that Donne utilizes various, then available, communication channelsto ensure intermediality of his message and that his concept presupposes certain cognitiveand creative processes on the addressee's side.