Weekly Classics Discussions

John Donne

"Be thine own palace, or the world's thy jail."

––John Donne.

John Donne, born in John Donne on 22 January 1572 into a recusant family, was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary, who later became a cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His poetical works are noted for their metaphorical and sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, and satires. He is also known for his sermons.

Despite his great education and poetic talents, Donne lived in poverty for several years, relying heavily on wealthy friends. He spent much of the money he inherited during and after his education on womanising, literature, pastimes, and travel. In 1601, Donne secretly married Anne More, with whom he had twelve children. In 1615 he was ordained Anglican deacon and then priest, although he did not want to take holy orders and only did so because the king ordered it. He also served as a member of Parliament in 1601 and in 1614.

Donne is considered a master of the metaphysical conceit, an extended metaphor that combines two vastly different ideas into a single idea, often using imagery. An example of this is his equation of lovers with saints in "The Canonization". Unlike the conceits found in other Elizabethan poetry, most notably Petrarchan conceits, which formed clichéd comparisons between more closely related objects (such as a rose and love), metaphysical conceits go to a greater depth in comparing two completely unlike objects. Donne's works are also witty, employing paradoxes, puns, and subtle yet remarkable analogies. His pieces are often ironic and cynical, especially regarding love and human motives. Common subjects of Donne's poems are love (especially in his early life), death (especially after his wife's death), and religion.

Donne's style is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. These features, along with his frequent dramatic or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and an adaptation into English of European baroque and mannerist techniques. His early career was marked by poetry that bore immense knowledge of English society. Some scholars believe that Donne's literary works reflect the changing trends of his life, with love poetry and satires from his youth and religious sermons during his later years.

Some of the best poems he has written includes: "Go and Catch a Falling Star", "The Good Morrow", "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning", "The Canonization", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Death Be Not Proud" and "Sunne Rising."

Donne died on 31 March 1631 and was buried in old St Paul's Cathedral, where a memorial statue of him by Nicholas Stone was erected with a Latin epigraph probably composed by himself.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. The poetry of John Donne juxtaposes physical love with the sacredness of religion through a series of occult resemblances. How can we draw the distinctions between Donne's writing style to that of the Elizabethan age?

2. Which work or quotation by John Donne is your top pick??

Always open to additional comments and discussions on John Donne and his works.

If there is another author you would like to see a discussion on, please post your suggestion in the comments below for a chance to be featured in a future chapter!

Resources:

WIKIPEDIA: JOHN DONNE
BRITANNICA: JOHN DONNE