Poet John Donne: biography, creativity and personal life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

John Donne was born in London in 1572 (between 01/23 and 06/19). His father was a prosperous merchant. He died when John was less than four years old. The daughter of the playwright and poet D. Heywood was his mother. She also had T. Mora among her ancestors.

Training period, resignation

At the age of 12, John Donne entered Oxford University (at Hart Hall). Three years later he moved to Cambridge. Donn did not receive a degree from any university. Perhaps both early enrollment there and the refusal to formally complete his studies are due to the fact that Donn did not want to swear allegiance to the influential Church of England. From the applicant for any academic degree, an oath to her was required at that time. However, for a Catholic, this was unthinkable.

Travel around different countries

Donn, leaving the university, traveled for some time in Spain and Italy. Little is known of his life before he joined a legal corporation called the Tavis Inn in 1591. A year later, Donn moved to another - Lincoln's Inn, where he remained for about three years.

John in 1596-97 was one of the "gentleman volunteers" who were representatives of the "golden youth" and went after the Earl of Essex, popular among the people, on a pirate expedition against Cadiz. Then they sailed to the Azores, on the ill-fated "Island Campaign". The campaign was started by them to intercept Spanish ships returning with treasures from America.

John becomes famous

Donn's career was successful for the next 4 years. He was even elected a Member of Parliament in 1601. Donne was known as a poet without having printed a single line. Written in prose, "Paradoxes and Problems" aroused the admiration of contemporaries, as did his attempts to revive the classical forms (epigram, poetic message, satire, love elegy).

Secret marriage and its aftermath

John Donne in January 1602 secretly married Ann More, a seventeen-year-old girl. Her father tried to make sure that the newly minted son-in-law was sent to jail. He had to serve time in Fleet prison, and also lose his place in the service of the keeper of the seal. Donn, having come out of prison, was out of work. Almost completely dried up his once solid legacy. The period from 1602 to 1615 is hopeless and harsh years. Donn looked in vain for his talents.

Twelve children were born to him by Ann, of whom seven survived their mother, who died in 1617. The Donnas spent the first 2-3 years with their wife's relatives in Surrey. In 1605 they moved to a house in Mitcham, near London.

Unsuccessful attempts to apply their talents

Fundamentally and for a long time, John Donne studied theology, ecclesiastical law and church history. In 1605-07, he helped T. Morton, who later became the Bishop of Durham, in the creation of polemical writings directed against Catholicism. Morton, not later than 1607, promised a good arrival to Donne if he decided to take holy orders. However, John still expected to pursue a worldly career. He unsuccessfully tried to take the place of secretary - first in Ireland, then - in Virginia. Donn also tried to get the post of ambassador in Venice or The Hague. At the same time, many masterpieces of love lyrics were created, the main part of religious poems, as well as sophisticated complimentary epistles.

The essay that got Donna promoted

In 1610, John's first published work, The Mock Martyr, appeared. It was dedicated to King James. The book was a brilliant defense of his oath of allegiance to the English crown, which was imposed on Catholics after the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. John Donne was rewarded for this work with a Master of Arts degree from the prestigious Oxford University. The King has since openly stated that he will promote John's career if he decides to choose the ecclesiastical field. Donn in the same year finally found a patron. They became R. Drury. Between November 1611 and August 1612 he traveled abroad with him. After Donnreturned, he moved his family to a house located on Drury Lane. Here John lived until 1621.

Priest ordination, teaching activities

"Experiments in Theology", written between 1611 and 1615, gives the impression that they were written by a man who can be called quite prepared for church service. Donne was ordained a priest and deacon on January 23, 1615. King James made him one of the chaplains. He also ensured that Donn was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Cambridge. One of the most honorary chairs in London was granted to him in 1616. Donn was supposed to teach theology to the foremen of Lincoln's Inn, a law firm.

Illness and a book based on new experiences

The King at the end of 1621 appointed John rector of St. Paul's Cathedral. Donne produced little poetry during his church ministry. But in 1624 he published "Supplications and Requests for Urgent Cases", psychologically insightful and full of tension. This is an account of an almost fatal illness he suffered in 1623. Illness became a mirror of the spiritual state for John Donne. He saw his dependence on God's mercy. John Donne died March 31, 1631 in London.

The sermons and poems of John Donne

He bequeathed over 160 sermons to his son. The son published them in 3 volumes. John Donne, preaching, preferred calls and exhortations for the moral purification of people to reasoning aboutexisting contradictions in the doctrine that separate the Anglican Church from the Roman Catholic Church. Despite the careful scholarly analysis of various passages from Scripture, and sometimes the Latinized vocabulary and syntax, one can recognize in his sermons the same rich imagery and lively rhythms characteristic of his poems. Donne's sermons, along with the Supplications, ensured his enduring fame, making him one of the greatest masters of English prose.

Very few poems have dared to be published by John Donne. His poems were intended for a select circle. They are characterized by a very personal intonation, many hints, as well as other techniques that are characteristic of the lively speech of a secular interlocutor. All this allows us to say that John Donne addressed sonnets and other poems to a narrow circle of people. Today, his work is available to everyone.

John Donne is very famous in our country. Brodsky, for example, dedicated his "Great Elegy" to him. His name, however, is captured not only in Russian literature. The Moscow pub "John Donne" (Taganka) is very famous today. As you can see, this English writer and poet enjoys versatile popularity in our country.