John Donne, one of the greatest English poets and preachers of the 1600’s, greatly impacted the writing field through his works. In the first half of 1572 (actual date is unknown) he was born in London to John Donne, a merchant, and Elizabeth Heywood Donne, the daughter of the poet and playwright John Heywood. His father died when Donne was about four years old. His younger brother, Henry, also died in John Donne’s early life. John Donne was raised in a Catholic family. Both of his parents were devout Roman Catholics. During Donne’s early adult life he converted to Anglicanism.
The education of John Donne is somewhat confusing because the records are incomplete. There is record of his attending Cambridge and Oxford, but he never received a degree from either. At the time Donne was still a Roman Catholic. A requirement of graduation was to swear the oath of allegiance to the Protestant Queen. Because of being Catholic he was not able to meet this requirement (Pi 178). He continued his education at Lincoln’s Inn and The Inns of Court where he studied law. Having completed school, Donne began to work for the Earl of Essex by sailing on board the ships. This led to him working for Sir Thomas Egerton, “the lord keeper of the Great Seal and a member of Elizabeth’s Privy Council,” (Langstaff 347) as secretary. During this time Donne converted to Anglicanism and was made lord keeper. Donne also began writing but no poetry yet. He began writing his Paradoxes and Problems. He also fell in love with Egerton’s second wife’s niece, Anne More. Anne More’s father, Sir George More was the chancellor of the garter (Pi 178). The two secretly got married. John Donne did not tell her father for months after they were married. Th...
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...reat poets such as Coleridge, Eliot, and Browning. Donne’s poetry is not for all tastes and times (“John Donne” 1), but it greatly influenced the writing field. His influential and passionately delivered sermons and devotions have long lived him and are considered some of the greats. Again like his poems his sermons are not for everyone at all times. His sermons are very formal and convincing and reflect aspects from his poems.
Works Cited
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Langstaff, Richard W. “Donne, John.” Collier’s Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York, NY: P.F. Collier, 1996. 346-49. Print.
Pi, P. G. “Donne, John.” The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. Vol. 4. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2002. 177-79. Print.
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When readers reflect on the poetry of the seventeenth century, poets such as John Donne and the
Ronald L. Akers. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved December 04, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://ep.fmcc.edu:5149/EBchecked/topic/1340874/Ronald-L-Akers .
Donne, John. “Holy Sonnet 5, Holy Sonnet 6, Holy Sonnet 10.” John Donne’s Poetry: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Donald R. Dickson. W.W. Norton & Company. New York, London. 2004. (Handout)
John Donne uses poetry to explore his own identity, express his feelings, and most of all, he uses it to deal with the personal experiences occurring in his life. Donne's poetry is a confrontation or struggle to find a place in this world, or rather, a role to play in a society from which he often finds himself detached or withdrawn. This essay will discuss Donne's states of mind, his views on love, women, religion, his relationship with God; and finally how the use of poetic form plays a part in his exploration for an identity and salvation.
The metaphysical era in poetry started in the 17th century when a number of poets extended the content of their poems to a more elaborate one which investigated the principles of nature and thought. John Donne was part of this literary movement and he explored the themes of love, death, and religion to such an extent, that he instilled his own beliefs and theories into his poems. His earlier works, such as The Flea and The Sunne Rising, exhibit his sexist views of women as he wrote more about the physical pleasures of being in a relationship with women. However, John Donne displays maturity and adulthood in his later works, The Canonization and A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, in which his attitude transcends to a more grown up one. The content of his earlier works focused on pursuing women for his sexual desires, which contrasts heavily with his latter work. John Donne’s desire for physical pleasure subsides and he seeks to gain an emotional bond with women, as expressed in his later poetry.
iv[iv] Helen Gandner, ed., John Donne: A Collection of Critical Essays. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1962) 47.
In this work, Donne states the necessity to join in physical union with another “else a prince in heaven lies” (67). In other words, Donne maintains that if one never strays from God, one’s intellect will not develop. The speaker describes how the souls of the two lovers leave their bodies during sexual union—”love these mix’d souls doth mix again, and makes both one, each this and that” (34-36). In other words, through the speaker, Donne shares that sex should not be viewed in a sexual framework; instead, Donne views sex as a joint framework of sharing the soul 's knowledge, and thus journey to God. Donne further argues that the power of sexual union “interinanimates two souls”, which bring them closer to God (42). Ultimately, as seen in both poems, Donne does not reject the human body as Augustine does. Instead, he embraces the body and love’ relationship and power on the
By making many references to the Bible, John Donne's Holy Sonnets reveal his want to be accepted and forgiven by God. A fear of death without God's forgiveness of sins is conveyed in these sonnets. Donne expresses extreme anxiety and fright that Satan has taken over his soul and God won't forgive him for it or his sins. A central theme of healing and forgiveness imply that John Donne, however much he wrote about God and being holy, wasn't such a holy man all of the time and tried to make up for it in his writing.