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John Donne was born on the 22nd of January, 1572 in London, England.
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John Donne was born into a very faithful and devoted Catholic family, many of his close relatives are well-known martyrs.
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A quote by John Donne, one of the most influential metaphysical poets in the English language.
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Donne entered Oxford University at age 11, and he would also later enter the University of Cambridge, but he never recieved degress from either school, due to his Catholicism. At age 20, Donne began studying law at Lincoln’s Inn and seemed destined for a legal or diplomatic career.
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During the 1590s, Donne spent much of his inheritance on women, books and traveling. He wrote most of his love lyrics and erotic poems during this time. His first books of poems, “Satires” and “Songs and Sonnets,” were highly praised by a small group of admirers.
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In 1593, John Donne’s brother, Henry, was convicted of Catholic sympathies and died in prison soon after. The incident led John to question his Catholic faith and inspired some of his best writing on religion. At age 25, Donne was given the position of private secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.
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On his way to a promising career, John Donne became a Member of Parliament in 1601. That same year, he married 16-year-old Anne More, the niece of Sir Egerton.
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In 1610, John Donne published his anti-Catholic polemic “Pseudo-Martyr,” renouncing his faith. In 1615, Donne converted to Anglicanism and was appointed Royal Chaplain.
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In 1617, John Donne’s wife died shortly after giving birth to their 12th child. This ended writing love poems for Donne, and he devoted his energies to more religious subjects.
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Donne became dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. During a period of severe illness, he wrote “Devotions upon Emergent Occasions,” published in 1624.
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As John Donne’s health continued to fail him, he became obsessed with death. Shortly before he died, he delivered a pre-funeral sermon, “Death’s Duel.”
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Donne’s work fell out of favor for a time, but was revived in the 20th century by high-profile admirers such as T.S. Eliot.
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"Donne was not only one of the most supremely intelligent poets in the language, he was also the first Englishman to write verse in a way that reflected the whole complex activity of intelligence." - T.S. Elliot
"One of the characteristics of Donne which wins him, I fancy, his interest for the present age, is his fidelity to emotion as he finds it; his recognition of the complexity of feeling and its rapid alterations and antitheses. " - David Kelly
