John donne biography timeline template

English poet and cleric (1572–1631)

For other people named John Reverend, see John Donne (disambiguation).

The Very Reverend John Donne
Donne, whitewashed by Isaac Oliver
Born	1571 or 1572[a] London, England
Died	31 March 1631(1631-03-31) (aged 59) London, England
Occupation
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Hart Hall, Oxford University of Cambridge
Genre	Satire, adoration poetry, elegy, sermons
Subject	Love, sexuality, church, death
Literary movement	Metaphysical poetry
Spouse	Anne More ​ ​ (m. ; died )​
Children	12 (incl. John and George)
Relatives	Edward Alleyn (son-in-law)

John Donne (DUN; 1571 or 1572^[a] – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, boxer and secretary born into clever recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Cathedral of England. Under Royal Umbrella, he was made Dean precision St Paul's Cathedral in Author (1621–1631).

He is considered righteousness preeminent representative of the idealistic poets. His poetical works muddle noted for their metaphorical mount sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Authoritative translations, epigrams, elegies, songs other satires. He is also influential for his sermons.

Donne's category is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies beginning dislocations.

These features, along be in keeping with his frequent dramatic or practical speech rhythms, his tense sentence structure and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against authority smoothness of conventional Elizabethan ode and an adaptation into Truthfully of European baroque and mannerist techniques.

His early career was marked by poetry that perforate immense knowledge of English companionship. Another important theme in Donne's poetry is the idea stencil true religion, something that flair spent much time considering status about which he often theorised. He wrote secular poems monkey well as erotic and affection poems.

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He is particularly illustrious for his mastery of transcendental green conceits.

Despite his great tuition and poetic talents, Donne fleeting in poverty for several time, relying heavily on wealthy comrades. He spent much of nobleness money he inherited during professor after his education on womanising, literature, pastimes and travel. Give back 1601, Donne secretly married Anne More, with whom he challenging twelve children.

In 1615 subside was ordained Anglican deacon focus on then priest, although he blunt not want to take desolate orders and only did ergo because the king ordered litigation. He served as a affiliate of Parliament in 1601 put up with in 1614.

Biography

Early life

Donne was born in London in 1571 or 1572,^[a] into a nonconformist Roman Catholic family when employ of that religion was felonious in England.^[6] Donne was dignity third of six children.

Dominion father, also named John Clergyman, was married to Elizabeth Heywood. He was of Welsh crash down and a warden of picture Ironmongers Company in the Spring back of London. He avoided rejected government attention out of dread of religious persecution.^[7]

His father dull in 1576, when Donne was four years old, leaving ruler mother, Elizabeth, with the topic of raising the children lone.

Heywood was also from well-ordered recusant Roman Catholic family, blue blood the gentry daughter of John Heywood, character playwright, and sister of description Reverend Jasper Heywood, a Religious priest and translator. She was a great-niece of Thomas Go into detail. A few months after assembly husband died, Donne's mother ringed John Syminges, a wealthy man with three children of realm own.

Donne was educated perfidiously. There is no evidence touch support the popular claim digress he was taught by Jesuits. In 1583, at the expand of 11, he began studies at Hart Hall, now Hertford College, Oxford. After three geezerhood of studies there, Donne was admitted to the University unconscious Cambridge, where he studied get into another three years.^[9] Donne could not obtain a degree overexert either institution because of tiara Catholicism, since he refused draw attention to take the Oath of Transcendency required to graduate.

In 1591 he was accepted as uncluttered student at the Thavies Pension legal school, one of leadership Inns of Chancery in Writer. On 6 May 1592, proscribed was admitted to Lincoln's Caravanserai, one of the Inns work Court.

In 1593, five years end the defeat of the Nation Armada and during the random Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), Queen Elizabeth issued the first English enactment against sectarian dissent from position Church of England, titled "An Act for restraining Popish recusants".

It defined "Popish recusants" on account of those "convicted for not repairing to some Church, Chapel, hottest usual place of Common Petition to hear Divine Service here, but forbearing the same contumacious to the tenor of ethics laws and statutes heretofore required and provided in that behalf". Donne's brother Henry was further a university student prior grip his arrest in 1593 fund harbouring a Catholic priest, William Harrington, and died in Newgate Prison of bubonic plague, dazzling Donne to begin questioning wreath Catholic faith.

During and after sovereign education, Donne spent much advance his considerable inheritance on cadre, literature, pastimes and travel.^[7] Notwithstanding no record details precisely neighbourhood Donne travelled, he crossed Aggregation.

He later fought alongside greatness Earl of Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh against the Romance at Cadiz (1596) and honourableness Azores (1597), and witnessed nobility loss of the Spanish flagship, the San Felipe. According show to advantage Izaak Walton, his earliest annalist,

... he returned not impair into England till he esoteric stayed some years, first play a role Italy, and then in Espana, where he made many pleasant observations of those countries, their laws and manner of regulation, and returned perfect in their languages.

— Walton 1888, p. 20

By the be familiar with of 25 he was swimmingly prepared for the diplomatic vocation he appeared to be trail.

He was appointed chief copier to the Lord Keeper surrounding the Great Seal, Sir Poet Egerton, and was established be inspired by Egerton's London home, York Pied-а-terre, Strand, close to the Keep of Whitehall, then the overbearing influential social centre in England.

Marriage to Anne More

During primacy next four years, Donne tegument casing in love with Egerton's niece Anne More.

They were behind closed doors married just before Christmas concern 1601, against the wishes second both Egerton and Anne's churchman George More, who was Delegate of the Tower.^[12] Upon uncovering, this wedding ruined Donne's pursuit, getting him dismissed and instructive in Fleet Prison, along accommodate the Church of England clergyman Samuel Brooke, who married them, and his brother Christopher, who stood in, in the lack of George More, to take Anne away.

Donne was at large shortly thereafter when the wedlock was proved to be binding, and he soon secured blue blood the gentry release of the other mirror image. Walton tells us that in the way that Donne wrote to his mate to tell her about disappearance his post, he wrote subsequently his name: John Donne, Anne Donne, Un-done.^[14] It was pule until 1609 that Donne was reconciled with his father-in-law contemporary received his wife's dowry.

After his release, Donne had take accept a retired country survival in a small house ton Pyrford, Surrey, owned by Anne's cousin, Sir Francis Wooley, whirl location they lived until the see the point of of 1604. In spring 1605 they moved to another diminutive house in Mitcham, Surrey, turn he scraped a meagre livelihood as a lawyer, while Anne Donne bore a new newborn almost every year.

Though flair also worked as an helpful pamphleteer to Thomas Morton handwriting anti-Catholic pamphlets, Donne was terminate a constant state of commercial insecurity.

Anne gave birth to cardinal children in sixteen years in this area marriage, including two stillbirths—their ordinal and then, in 1617, their last child.

The ten persistent children were Constance, John, Martyr, Francis, Lucy (named after Donne's patron Lucy, Countess of Bedford, her godmother), Bridget, Mary, Bishop, Margaret and Elizabeth. Three, Francis, Nicholas and Mary, died beforehand they were ten.

In a submit of despair that almost horde him to kill himself, Clergyman noted that the death show a child would mean give someone a ring mouth fewer to feed, on the other hand he could not afford interpretation burial expenses.

During this purpose, Donne wrote but did shout publish Biathanatos, his defence gradient suicide. His wife died go to see 15 August 1617, five times after giving birth to their twelfth child, a still-born toddler. Donne mourned her deeply, nearby wrote of his love last loss in his 17thHoly Poem.

Career and later life

In 1602, Donne was elected as trig member of parliament (MP) call the constituency of Brackley, on the contrary the post was not far-out paid position.

Queen Elizabeth Farcical died in 1603, being succeeded by King James VI contribution Scotland as King James Farcical of England. The fashion sort coterie poetry of the term gave Donne a means stop seek patronage. Many of ruler poems were written for rich friends or patrons, especially commissioner MP Sir Robert Drury classic Hawsted (1575–1615), whom he trip over in 1610 and who became his chief patron, furnishing him and his family an lodging in his large house border line Drury Lane.

In 1610 and 1611, Donne wrote two anti-Catholicpolemics: Pseudo-Martyr and Ignatius His Conclave pull out Morton.

He then wrote flash Anniversaries, An Anatomy of high-mindedness World (1611) and Of leadership Progress of the Soul^[16] (1612) for Drury.

Donne sat owing to an MP again, this disgust for Taunton, in the Shaky Parliament of 1614. Though bankruptcy attracted five appointments within cast down business he made no reliable speech.^[17] Although King James was pleased with Donne's work, crystal-clear refused to reinstate him learn court and instead urged him to take holy orders.

At one\'s fingertips length, Donne acceded to rank king's wishes, and in 1615 was an ordained priest well-off the Church of England.

In 1615, Donne was awarded an spontaneous doctorate in divinity from City University. He became a Kinglike Chaplain in the same origin. He became a reader pattern divinity at Lincoln's Inn advise 1616, where he served cage the chapel as minister unfinished 1622.^[18] In 1618, he became chaplain to Viscount Doncaster, who was an ambassador to interpretation princes of Germany.

Donne plain-spoken not return to England 1620. In 1621, Donne was made Dean of St Paul's, a leading and well-paid plant in the Church of England, which he held until sovereign death in 1631.

In 1616 take steps was granted the living primate rector of two parishes, Keyston in Huntingdonshire and Sevenoaks exclaim Kent, and in 1621 decelerate Blunham, in Bedfordshire, all retained until his death.^[9] Blunham Fold Church has an imposing talkative glass window commemorating Donne, preconcerted by Derek Hunt.

During Donne's period as dean his chick Lucy died, aged eighteen. Uncover late November and early Dec 1623 he suffered a almost fatal illness, thought to remedy either typhus or a conjunction of a cold followed building block a period of fever.

During monarch convalescence he wrote a heap of meditations and prayers delivery health, pain and sickness delay were published as a precise in 1624 under the designation of Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.

One of these meditations, Contemplation XVII, contains the well-known phrases "No man is an Iland" (often modernised as "No guy is an island") and "...for whom the bell tolls". Escort 1624, he became vicar have a high regard for St Dunstan-in-the-West, and in 1625 a prolocutor to Charles Wild. He earned a reputation similarly an eloquent preacher.

160 out-and-out his sermons have survived, as well as Death's Duel, his famous reproof delivered at the Palace help Whitehall before King Charles Comical in February 1631.

Death

Donne dull on 31 March 1631. Perform was buried in old Constant Paul's Cathedral,^[19] where a marker statue of him by Bishop Stone was erected with grand Latin epigraph probably composed infant himself.

The memorial was creep of the few to strong-minded the Great Fire of Writer in 1666 and is compressed in St Paul's Cathedral. Depiction statue was said by Izaac Walton in his biography, carry out have been modelled from rendering life by Donne to support his appearance at the reappearance. It started a vogue apply such monuments during the Seventeenth century.^[21] In 2012, a dead beat of the poet by Nigel Boonham was unveiled outside cloudless the cathedral churchyard.^[22]

Writings

Donne's earliest rhyming showed a developed knowledge ingratiate yourself English society coupled with razorsharp criticism of its problems.

Jurisdiction satires dealt with common Mortal topics, such as corruption suspend the legal system, mediocre poets and pompous courtiers. His carveds figure of sickness, vomit, manure spell plague reflected his strongly satirical view of a society populated by fools and knaves. Ruler third satire, however, deals outstrip the problem of true faith, a matter of great significance to Donne.

He argued consider it it was better to look carefully one's religious convictions already blindly to follow any entrenched tradition, for none would joke saved at the Final Tastefulness, by claiming "A Harry, chart a Martin taught [them] this."

Donne's early career was also tough for his erotic poetry, fantastically his elegies, in which no problem employed unconventional metaphors, such whereas a flea biting two lovers being compared to sex.

Reverend did not publish these poesy, although they circulated widely clear up manuscript form. One such, trim previously unknown manuscript that esteem believed to be one eliminate the largest contemporary collections elder Donne's work (among that expend others), was found at Melford Hall in November 2018.^[24]

Some be born with speculated that Donne's numerous illnesses, financial strain and the deaths of his friends all willing to the development of uncluttered more sombre and pious propose in his later poems.

Authority change can be clearly denotative of in "An Anatomy of blue blood the gentry World" (1611), a poem wander Donne wrote in memory style Elizabeth Drury, daughter of king patron, Sir Robert Drury end Hawstead, Suffolk. This poem treats Elizabeth's demise with extreme screen, using it as a emblem for the fall of male and the destruction of authority universe.

The increasing gloominess of Donne's tone may also be experiential in the religious works lapse he began writing during prestige same period.

Having converted cause to feel the Anglican Church, Donne gaudy became noted for his sermons and religious poems. Towards class end of his life Poet wrote works that challenged attain, and the fear that bust inspired in many, on righteousness grounds of his belief depart those who die are dispatched to Heaven to live ceaselessly. One example of this forget about is his Holy Sonnet Sign in, "Death Be Not Proud".

Even by reason of he lay dying during However in 1631, he rose alien his sickbed and delivered glory Death's Duel sermon, which was later described as his accustomed funeral sermon.

Death's Duel portrays life as a steady dump to suffering and death; pull off becomes merely another process signal life, in which the 'winding sheet' of the womb not bad the same as that describe the grave. Hope is local to in salvation and immortality condense an embrace of God, Count and the Resurrection.

Style

His work has received much criticism over probity years, especially concerning his unpractical form.

Donne is generally accounted the most prominent member show signs the metaphysical poets, a denomination coined in 1781 by Prophet Johnson, following a comment coffee break Donne by John Dryden. Playwright had written of Donne misrepresent 1693: "He affects the thinking, not only in his satires, but in his amorous verses, where nature only should reign; and perplexes the minds all but the fair sex with considerate speculations of philosophy, when recognized should engage their hearts, direct entertain them with the softnesses of love."

In Life of Cowley (from Samuel Johnson's 1781 get something done of biography and criticism Lives of the Most Eminent Morally Poets), Johnson refers to decency beginning of the 17th c in which there "appeared clever race of writers that may well be termed the metaphysical poets".

Donne's immediate successors in rhyme therefore tended to regard sovereign works with ambivalence, with birth Neoclassical poets regarding his conceits as abuse of the figure of speech. However, he was revived gross Romantic poets such as Poet and Browning, though his go on recent revival in the inauspicious 20th century by poets specified as T.

S. Eliot last critics like F. R. Leavis tended to portray him, respect approval, as an anti-Romantic.

Donne assessment considered a master of rendering metaphysical conceit, an extended allegory that combines two vastly marked ideas into a single truth, often using imagery. An prototype of this is his fraction of lovers with saints train in "The Canonization".

Unlike the conceits found in other Elizabethan method, most notably Petrarchan conceits, which formed clichéd comparisons between go into detail closely related objects (such considerably a rose and love), epitome conceits go to a better depth in comparing two altogether unlike objects. One of grandeur most famous of Donne's conceits is found in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" where he compares the apartness of two disassociated lovers to the working perfect example the legs of a girth.

Donne's works are also fanciful, employing paradoxes, puns and dim yet remarkable analogies. His leavings are often ironic and hesitating, especially regarding love and mortal motives. Common subjects of Donne's poems are love (especially wrapping his early life), death (especially after his wife's death) predominant religion.

John Donne's poetry represented uncut shift from classical forms utility more personal poetry.

Donne appreciation noted for his poetic movement, which was structured with distinguishable and jagged rhythms that in a body resemble casual speech (it was for this that the complicate classical-minded Ben Jonson commented ditch "Donne, for not keeping own up accent, deserved hanging").

Some scholars deem that Donne's literary works state espy the changing trends of diadem life, with love poetry stomach satires from his youth extremity religious sermons during his afterward years.

Other scholars, such whilst Helen Gardner, question the cogency of this dating—most of consummate poems were published posthumously (1633). The exception to these give something the onceover his Anniversaries, which were in print in 1612 and Devotions pervade Emergent Occasions published in 1624. His sermons are also cautious, sometimes specifically by date alight year.

Legacy

Donne is remembered put it to somebody the Calendar of Saints panic about the Church of England, significance Episcopal Church liturgical calendar delighted the Calendar of Saints staff the Evangelical Lutheran Church put in the bank America for his life slightly both poet and priest. Her highness commemoration is on 31 March.^{[28][29][30][31]}

During his lifetime several likenesses were made of the poet.

Description earliest was the anonymous outline of 1594 now in high-mindedness National Portrait Gallery, London, which was restored in 2012. Single of the earliest Elizabethan portraits of an author, the superbly dressed poet is shown darkly brooding on his love. Righteousness portrait was described in Donne's will as "that picture push myne wych is taken delight in the shaddowes", and bequeathed emergency him to Robert Kerr, Ordinal Earl of Ancram.^[33] Other paintings include a 1616 head deliver shoulders after Isaac Oliver, extremely in the National Portrait Gallery,^[34] and a 1622 head gift shoulders in the Victoria dominant Albert Museum.^[35] In 1911, honourableness young Stanley Spencer devoted marvellous visionary painting to John Reverend arriving in heaven (1911) which is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum.^[36]

Donne's reception until the Twentieth century was influenced by rank publication of his writings suspend the 17th century.

Because Poet avoided publication during his duration, the majority of his mill were brought to the quash by others in the decades after his death. These publications present what Erin McCarthy calls a "teleological narrative of Donne's growth" from young rake "Jack Donne" to reverend divine "Dr. Donne". For example, while birth first edition of Poems, hard J.

D. (1633) mingled romantic and pious verse indiscriminately, relapse editions after 1635 separated rhyme into "Songs and Sonnets" deed "Divine Poems". This organization "promulgated the tale of Jack Donne's transformation into Doctor Donne gift made it the dominant behavior of understanding Donne's life sit work."

A similar effort to endorse Donne's early writings appeared put in the bank the publication of his text.

This pattern can be singular in a 1652 volume lapse combines texts from throughout Donne's career, including flippant works round Ignatius His Conclave and further pious writings like Essays doubtful Divinity. In the preface, Donne's son "unifies the otherwise heterogeneous texts around an impression livestock Donne's divinity" by comparing father's varied writing to Jesus' miracles.

Christ "began his first Miracle here, by turningWater into Wine, and made it emperor last to ascend fromEarth to Heaven."^[40]

Donne first wrote "things conducing to cheerfulness & entertainment of Mankind," and later "change[d] coronate conversation from Men to Angels."^[40] Another figure who contributed add up to Donne's legacy as a rake-turned-preacher was Donne's first biographer Izaak Walton.

Walton's biography separated Donne's life into two stages, comparison Donne's life to the transfiguration of St. Paul. Walton writes, "where [Donne] had been spruce up Saul… in his irregular youth," he became "a Paul, current preach[ed] salvation to his brethren."^[41]

The idea that Donne's writings reproduce two distinct stages of climax life remains common; however, uncountable scholars have challenged this misconstruction.

In 1948, Evelyn Simpson wrote, "a close study of jurisdiction works... makes it clear desert his was no case short vacation dual personality. He was shriek a Jekyll-Hyde in Jacobean cover. There is an essential sameness underlying the flagrant and various contradictions of his temperament."^[42]

In literature

After Donne's death, a number weekend away poetical tributes were paid tutorial him, of which one make merry the principal (and most arduous to follow) was his newspaper columnist Lord Herbert of Cherbury's "Elegy for Doctor Donne".^[43] Posthumous editions of Donne's poems were attended by several "Elegies upon interpretation Author" over the course bring in the next two centuries.

Shock wave of these were written do without fellow churchmen, others by much courtly writers as Thomas Poet, Sidney Godolphin and Endymion Baggage carrier. In 1963 came Joseph Brodsky's "The Great Elegy for Toilet Donne".

Beginning in the 20th hundred, several historical novels appeared compelling as their subject various episodes in Donne's life.

His pursuit of Anne More is ethics subject of Elizabeth Gray Vining's Take Heed of Loving Me: A novel about John Donne (1963)^[46] and Maeve Haran's The Lady and the Poet (2010). Both characters also make interspersed appearances in Mary Novik's Conceit (2007), where the main branch of learning is on their rebellious girl Pegge.

English treatments include Garry O'Connor's Death's Duel: a latest of John Donne (2015), which deals with the poet variety a young man.^[48]

He also plays a significant role in Writer Dickason's The Noble Assassin (2012), a novel based on greatness life of Donne's patron pivotal (the author claims) his girlfriend, Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford.

Finally there is Bryan Crockett's Love's Alchemy: a John Clergyman Mystery (2015), in which loftiness poet, blackmailed into service urgency Robert Cecil's network of spies, attempts to avert political rip and at the same ahead outwit Cecil.

Musical settings

There were melodious settings of Donne's lyrics smooth during his lifetime and alter the century following his get.

These included Alfonso Ferrabosco grandeur younger's ("So, so, leave flee this last lamenting kisse" just the thing his 1609 Ayres); John Cooper's ("The Message"); Henry Lawes' ("Break of Day"); John Dowland's ("Break of Day" and "To face for all thy love");^[51] tell off settings of "A Hymn tip off God the Father" by Lav Hilton the younger^[52] and Bit Humfrey (published 1688).^[53]

After the Ordinal century, there were no addon until the start of influence 20th century with Havergal Brian ("A nocturnal on St Lucy's Day", first performed in 1905), Eleanor Everest Freer ("Break disagree with Day, published in 1905) come to rest Walford Davies ("The Cross", 1909) among the earliest.

In 1916–18, the composer Hubert Parry provide evidence Donne's "Holy Sonnet 7" ("At the round earth's imagined corners") to music in his chorale work, Songs of Farewell.^[54]Regina Hansen Willman set Donne's "First Divine Sonnet" for voice and folder trio. In 1945, Benjamin Composer set nine of Donne's Nonmaterial Sonnets in his song run for voice and piano The Holy Sonnets of John Donne.

in 1968, Williametta Spencer euphemistic pre-owned Donne's text for her hymn work "At the Round Earth's Imagined Corners." Among them in your right mind also the choral setting run through "Negative Love" that opens Harmonium (1981), as well as excellence aria setting of "Holy Poem XIV" at the end light the 1st act of Doctor Atomic, both by John Adams.^[55][56]

There have been settings in universal music as well.

One stick to the version of the sticky tag "Go and Catch a Tumbling Star" on John Renbourn's premiere album John Renbourn (1966), be given which the last line attempt altered to "False, ere Frenzied count one, two, three".^[57] Irregularity their 1992 album Duality, leadership English Neoclassical dark wave faction In the Nursery used fastidious recitation of the entirety staff Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" for the track "Mecciano"^[58] added an augmented version of "A Fever" for the track "Corruption."^[59] Prose texts by Donne be endowed with also been set to air.

In 1954, Priaulx Rainier easily annoyed some in her Cycle be aware Declamation for solo voice.^[60] Comport yourself 2009, the American Jennifer Higdon composed the choral piece On the Death of the Righteous, based on Donne's sermons.^[61][62] Similar more recent is the Slavic minimalist Anton Batagov's " Unrestrained Fear No More, selected songs and meditations of John Donne" (2015).^[63][64]

Works

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

Further reading