John Donne**Pronounced like “done”

A visual biography

John Donne Born Jan – June 1572 in London, England

Parents: John Donne & Elizabeth Heywood

• Welsh descent • Was Warden in the

Ironmonger’s Company • Respected Roman

Catholic• Died when John (Jr.) was

4 years old

• Daughter of respected playwright John Heywood

• Great-niece of Sir Thomas More

• Married Dr. John Syminges (who had 3 children) months after husband’s death

Donne’s Early Life

• 3rd of 6 children• 3 sisters and father died by the time John

was 10• Was educated by Jesuits which gave him

a deep knowledge of religion

John Donne’s family were

staunch Catholics in a country that

was torn between

the newly formed

Church of England

(Anglican) and Catholics

At the age of 12, Donne entered Oxford and later Cambridge but left without

degrees because he wouldn’t take the oath of allegiance

In 1592, Donne entered Lincoln’s Inn, to study law. When his brother died of the plague, he began to question his faith.

While spending his inheritance, he took part in expeditions to Cadiz and the Azores

(islands in the mid-Atlantic) in 1596-97. His biographer claims he also stayed in Italy

and became fluent in the languages

Cadiz, Spain

1597-98 He became

secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton,

keeper of the Royal Seal of England and

had the promise of a diplomatic

career

From 1601-02, Donne served as an Member of Parliament

(MP)

However, Donne fell in love with Sir Egerton’s niece, Anne More and they eloped. Her father had him incarcerated along with the priest who married them and the witness.

After his fall from grace, he supported his

wife and growing family in the country

The family struggled financially; Donne practiced law and worked

as an assistant pamphleteer. Anne bore him 11 (or 12)

children. 7 survived.

After 16 years of marriage, Anne died five days after giving

birth to their last child (a still born

baby). Donne never remarried which was unusual for the time

and for someone with such a large family to raise.

At some point by 1610, Donne left the Catholic Church and was

in communication with King James

I. The King urged him to become an

Anglican priest.

Later Life

• Donne made good on the promises of his youth. He – Became a Royal

Chaplain in 1615– Became a Reader of

Divinity at Lincoln’s Inn in 1616

– Received a Doctor of Divinity degree from Cambridge in 1618

Donne’s Priestly Service

• Donne served as an embassy chaplain in Germany

• He became the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral where his sermons drew large crowds

Donne commissioned this portrait a few months

before his death in 1631. It was

how he expected to look

when he rose from the grave

at the Apocalypse.

Renaissance Love Poetry• Relied heavily on

conventions:– Predictable nature of

the love affair– Idealized qualities and

appearance of the woman

– Subservient role of the poet

– Courtly language in which the poet addressed the woman

Donne’s Love Poetry

• He’s considered an innovator. He broke the conventions by – Direct, dramatic style– Colloquial language– Approach to the

physical aspects of love

– Broken rhythms of real speech

– Giving women complex (and therefore real) emotions

Donne’s Writing

In his early

writings, he often takes the persona of the “randy young man”

Donne’s WritingIn the second

phase of his writing,[probably after his

marriage] he sees love /

commitment as a positive

and often as a

religious experience

.

Donne’s Writing

In this final period, after the

death of his wife, his poetry turns to religion

and death

3 Categories of Donne’s Love Poetry

• Lightly cynical “evaporations”

• Protestations of a rather conventional platonic nature

• Exalted and idealistic expressions of constant love