I am now to consider the science-fiction Utopia of Francis Godwin, trying to move its date a little earlier and to grant it an influence when new; but perhaps I need first to defend my belief that so slight a narrative, so near to flippancy, is worth the reader's attention. Well, it received a great deal of attention when at last it was published, being felt to involve questions of importance; and the magical doctrines are also involved in it quite a lot. Anyway, it is a very good piece of writing, all aglow with intelligence and good humour, and taken at a spanking pace. Donne would certainly be influenced by it, if he had the chance; but the chance would only come if he read the manuscript early enough, at the time when he made an important change in the themes and outlook of his poetry. I propose that he read it, soon after it was first drafted, in 1597, preferably before going on the Islands Voyage. (That is, he read most of what we now have, but Godwin inserted a new ending and made a few other changes, to bring the moral of his story up to date, twenty years later.) Perhaps I may explain: I became interested in the dating of The Man in the Moone some time ago through a spontaneous exasperation with the absurd arguments for dating it late, and have only recently noticed that the earlier date allows of the influence on Donne. This now seems to me the main interest of the question, and I shall begin the essay with some remarks about it.