John Donne

Lore & Background

Donne secretly married Anne More in 1601, against the wishes of her family, which ruined his career and led to his imprisonment. After release, he lived in poverty, relying on wealthy friends, and Anne bore twelve children in sixteen years. Donne served as a member of Parliament in 1601 and 1614. In 1615, at the king's insistence, he was ordained an Anglican deacon and priest. He became a Royal Chaplain, reader of divinity at Lincoln's Inn, and in 1621 was made Dean of St Paul's. His poetry features abrupt openings, paradoxes, ironies, and metaphysical conceits, and his later work explores the idea of true religion.

Reader's Guide

John Donne is significant as the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets, a group known for intellectual wit, elaborate metaphors, and philosophical themes. His style, characterized by abrupt openings, paradoxes, and dramatic speech rhythms, reacted against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and adapted European baroque and mannerist techniques into English. Donne's work spans secular, erotic, love, and religious poems, as well as sermons. His early career reflected immense knowledge of English society, while his later poetry focused on true religion. Despite his education and talents, Donne lived in poverty for years due to his secret marriage, relying on patrons. His legacy includes his mastery of metaphysical conceits and his influence on later poetry. His life as a recusant-turned-Anglican cleric and his exploration of faith and doubt continue to resonate.

Did You Know?

• Donne could not obtain a degree from Oxford or Cambridge because he refused to subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles required to graduate.
• His brother Henry died in Newgate Prison of bubonic plague after being arrested for harboring a Catholic priest.
• Donne's secret marriage to Anne More led to his dismissal from his post and imprisonment in Fleet Prison.
• He wrote but did not publish Biathanatos, a defense of suicide, during a period of despair.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"John Donne (22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was a Jacobean metaphysical poet. His works include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, and sermons." — John Donne "Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls; For, thus friends absent speak." — John Donne "And seeing the snail, which everywhere doth roam,Carrying his own house still, still is at home,Follow (for he is easy paced) this snail,Be thine own palace, or the world’s thy gaol." — John Donne "I sing the progress of a deathless soul." — John Donne