Death in the Life of John Donne

Death in the Life of John Donne

Professor Choi Jae Hun

2006-12-07

MA English Literature

2006201044

Yoon Hyeon Jeong

Contents

INTRODUCTION 2

I. DEATH OF HIS FAMILY MEMBERS 3

II. MARRIAGE AND HIS WIFE’S DEATH 6

III. HIS OWN DEATH 8

IV. SUICIDAL THOUGHTS 9

CONCLUSION 10

BIBLIOGRAPHY 11

Introduction

John Donne is one of the most important poets in English literature. To understand John Donne’s poems better, studying his poetic skills such as symbolism, wit, metaphor, and exaggeration are crucial, but the most important subject, death, in his poems cannot be overlooked. John Donne wrote songs and sonnets as well as divine poems and death is often mentioned in his poems. Why did he always think about death? Did he experience death or similar occasions very often in his life? For human beings, death is a depressing image. Humans are afraid of death because we are mortal, so, we often worship the immortality of gods. I think the image of death is darkness and I never thought of death when I was younger, but, John Donne seemed to think about death even when he was relatively young. Instead of researching poems, we can look into the background of John Donne’s family members’ death, his marriage life and his wife’s death, his own death and his suicidal thoughts. Most people research John Donne’s metaphors in his poems, John Donne’s image of love, John Donne’s thoughts on women and his death in his poems. However, we can examine his personal background which is linked to death, which will make us understand his poems far better and easier.

I. Death of his family members

John Donne was born in Bread street, London, in 1572. His family was a well-off Roman Catholic family. His father died suddenly in 1576 when Donne was only 4 years old. He was raised by his mother, Elizabeth Heywood. She delivered 6 children, but, 3 children died, so, 3 children, Anne, Henry, Donne were brought up together. Elizabeth Heywood’s family was strict Catholic, so, Donne was educated as a serious Catholic when he was a child. His mother was John Heywood’s daughter who was an epigrammatist and a playwright and Sir Thomas More’s niece. John Heywood (c.1497-c.1580) was an English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs. He was born in or near London, but fled to Europe to avoid religious persecution for his Catholic faith and is believed to have died in Mechelen, Belgium. Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 - 6 July 1535) was an English lawyer, author, and statesman.