Image 1: John Donne Portrait Unknown Artist – National Portrait Gallery, London
John Donne’s canon features two vastly different themes. One might argue that they are diametrically opposed; his earlier works focus on sensual debauchery. His later works take the theme of spirituality.
Early Life and Education
John Donne was born on June 19, 1572, into a wealthy Catholic family during the period of English history that saw the rise of anti-Catholicism. His father, John Donne, Sr., was a successful, prosperous iron worker. Donne’s mother was related to Sir Thomas More; her father was the noted playwright John Heywood. Donne’s father died in 1576, while the future poet was only four years of age. His mother struggled to raise John, Jr. and his two siblings.
When Donne was 11 years old, he and his younger brother Henry entered school at Hart Hall at Oxford University. John continued his studies at Hart Hall for three years, and then he enrolled in Cambridge University.
Donne rejected taking the mandatory supremacy oath that declared King Henry VIII the head of the church; this declaration remained an abomination in the eyes of truly devout Catholics. And because of this refusal to take that mandated oath, Donne was not permitted to graduate. Donne then studied law as a member of Thavies Inn and Lincoln’s Inn. The influence of the Jesuits remained with Donne throughout his student years [1].
Marriage to Anne More
In 1601, Donne secretly married Anne More, who was only 17 years old at the time. This marriage put an end to Donne’s career in government positions. Anne’s father arranged to have Donne arrested and imprisoned [2] along with Donne’s fellow compatriots who assisted Donne in keeping secret his courtship with Anne.
After losing his government position, Donne remained without gainful employment for nearly a decade. His growing family, including twelve children, struggled with poverty during this period.
Donne quipped about those lean years, “John Donne, Anne Donne, Undone.” The family depended greatly on family and friends for their sustenance. A cousin of Anne’s supplied them with a residence at Pyrford in Surrey. Friends, including Lady Magdalen Herbert, mother of George Herbert, and the Countess of Bedford assisted the family. Those individuals had also assisted Donne in his literary career.
Despite the largess of family and friends, the family struggled bitterly during those years. Donne’s pride was bruised; he was well aware that his intellectual capacity far exceeded those responsible for his poverty. In 1609, Donne’s father-in-law, Sir George More, finally relented and consented to a reconciliation with his son-in-law and his family, whereupon Sir More paid his daughter’s dowry.
Questioning Catholicism
John Donne began to question his Catholic faith after his brother Henry died in prison. The brother had been arrested and sentenced to prison for assisting a Catholic priest [3]. Donne’s first collection of poems titled Satires addresses the issue of the efficacy of faith.
At age forty, Donne composed and published two treatises that denounced the Catholic Church. These publications served as the final statement regarding of his severance from his earlier faith. His polemic titled Pseudo-Martyr asserted that Catholics in England should be permitted to pledge allegiance to the king, James I, without being accused of disavowing their loyalty to the Pope. This publication won Donne favor with King James.
During these same years, Donne was composing his love/lust poems, Songs and Sonnets, from which many of his most widely anthologized poems are taken; three example poems are “The Apparition,” “The Flea,” and “The Indifferent.” John Donne, going by the informal moniker of “Jack,” spent a significant portion of his youth and a sizable amount of an inherited fortune on travel and womanizing. He traveled with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex on a naval expedition to Cádiz, Spain.
Donne later journeyed with another expedition to the Azores; from that trip, he was inspired to compose his piece, “The Calm.” After his return to England, he accepted a position as a private secretary to Thomas Egerton, whose status was Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
Image 2: John Donne Monument Effigy Wenceslaus Hollar – National Portrait Gallery, London
Renunciation of Catholicis
Although Donne had renounced Catholicism, King James insisted that Donne could receive no government employment unless it was church related. Donne had continued to refuse to take Anglican orders. However, in 1615, Donne finally entered the ministry and accepted the post of Royal Chaplain.
After completing the doctorate in divinity, he was appointed to the post of Reader in Divinity at Lincoln’s Inn. Donne’s elaborate style of oratory filled with spiritual metaphors and other religious symbols earned for him the reputation as one of the greatest ministers of that period.
Although Donne had also practiced law for several years, his family had remained living at the substance level. Then after he accepted the position of Royal Chaplain, life for the Donnes seemed to be improving [4].
Anne’s Death
However, tragedy struck the family when Anne at age 33 died on August 15, 1617, after giving birth to their twelfth child, who was stillborn. Only seven of the couple’s children survived. The poet mourned his wife’s death in Holy Sonnet XVII: “Since she whom I lov’d hath paid her last debt.”
According to Donne’s most important biographer and friend Izaak Walton [5], after Anne’s death Donne became “crucified to the world.” Although Donne continued to compose his poems, he focused entirely upon the theme of spirituality and the search for meaning.
Poems and Faith
John Donne is often grouped with the Metaphysical poets. However, according to T. S. Eliot, Donne’s poems along with other Metaphysicals such as Henry Vaughan, George Herbert, and Andrew Marvell do not, in fact, possess the attributes of the metaphysical label any “more than other serious poets” [6].
The death of John Donn’e wife Anne exerted a strong influence on his poetic achievement. He started composing his poems of faith, collected in The Holy Sonnets, including “Hymn to God the Father,” “Batter my heart, three-person’d God,” and “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee”—three of the most widely anthologized holy sonnets.
Donne also composed a collection of private meditations, published in 1624 as Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. His collection of private meditations, a classic spiritual work, features “Meditation 17,” from which two of his most famous quotations have been taken: “No man is an island” and “Therefore, send not to know / For whom the bell tolls, / It tolls for thee.”
In 1621, Donne was appointed Dean of St. Paul’s, and in 1624, he took up the position as vicar of St Dunstan’s-in-the-West [7],where he continued to serve as a minister until his death on March 31, 1631. Interestingly, a mythology has grown up around the claim that he preached his own funeral sermon “Death’s Duel” only a few weeks before his death.
Sources
[1] Anniina Jokinen. “The Life of John Donne.” Luminarium. Accessed February 18, 2023.
[2] Editors. “John Donne.” Academy of American Poets. Accessed February 18, 2023.
[3] Editors. “Who Was John Donne?” Biography. Last Updated: November 12, 2021.
[4] Editors. “John Donne – Biography.” HumanitiesWeb.org. Updated: October 28, 2012.
[5] Izaak Walton. “The Life of Dr. John Donne.” Anglican History: Project Canterbury. Accessed February 18, 2023.
[6] T. S. Eliot. “Review of Metaphysical Lyrics and Poems of the Seventeenth Century: Donne to Butler.” University of Wyoming. Accessed February 23, 2023.
[7] Editors. “John Donne in the Archives.” City of London. Date updated: May 15, 2022.
Commentaries on Poems by John Donne
Reading of “Death’s Duel”
Image 3: John Donne Luminarium
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