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Donne, John, 1572-1631
from Literature Online biography
Published in Cambridge, 2000, by Chadwyck-Healey (a Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company)
John Donne 's early life was shaped by the restrictive expectations of his devoutly Catholic family. The poet described by Ben Jonson as 'the first [...] in the World in some things' was born in Bread Street, London, in the first half of 1572. His father, John, a successful businessman and member of the Ironmongers' Company, died when his son was only four years old, leaving Donne's mother to marry the prominent Catholic physician, Dr. John Syminges. Syminges was a man well into his fifties and with three grown children of a former marriage. Yet the choice of her second husband was perhaps to be expected of Donne's mother: Elizabeth Heywood was the youngest daughter of poet and playwright John Heywood , a devout Catholic who had fled into exile in 1564. Similarly, her mother was Joan Rastell, the niece of that most infamous of dissenting voices, Sir Thomas More .
Donne's birthright, therefore, was that of a child born into one of the most notable English Catholic families of the age. Although most of his early years were spent in London, his education centred around the family home and was conducted under the supervision of Catholic tutors. As a result, his early life was enveloped by the larger spiritual isolation experienced by most Catholics in post-Reformation England.
At the age of eleven, well before the usual age for enrolment at University, John and his brother Henry entered Oxford. The Act of Supremacy demanded that all students over the age of sixteen subscribed to the Thirty-nine Articles. Matriculating at such an early age allowed the Donnes to circumvent this requirement. Moreover, their chosen college, Hart Hall, was favourable to Catholics because it had no chapel, which meant that their refusal to participate in the services of the established church of England was less likely to attract attention.
Despite the three years he spent at Oxford, Donne left without a degree, and what followed is a period of ambiguity as far as his biography is concerned. Between 1589 and 1591, very little is known of Donne's life. He may well have attended Cambridge University between 1588 and 1589, and he may well have subsequently travelled extensively throughout Europe. In 1592, he was again in London to be admitted into Lincoln's Inn: thus beginning what John Carey has described as 'the most obscure period of Donne's life'.
Even with the lack of documentary evidence relating to Donne's early adulthood, it accounts for probably the most significant phase of his poetic development. The lively world of the Inns of Court colour his life and writing, for though it is clear that Donne probably never intended to practise the law (his entry into Lincoln's Inn followed the tradition of his family), his life there provided a suitable gateway into a larger world. It was here that Donne made many of the friends that would guide his future such as Thomas and John Egerton, sons of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. It was also during his time at Lincoln's Inn that Donne began to write verse.
Ben Jonson believed Donne 'to have written all his best pieces err he was 25 years old', and certainly during his time at the Inn, he made his first experimental excursions into verse and tested the range of his poetic voice. He most probably wrote his finest love poetry together with some of his Satires during this time. However, his new experiences as a law student were not the sole influence on his poetry. The generation of Donne's unconventional poetics during this period was accompanied by, and perhaps grew from, his mature reappraisal and criticism of the religious orthodoxies that had, in his opinion, limited his freedom as an adolescent. Not only did life in the heart of the City give him access to some of the leading intellects of his generation, it also stimulated the development of a keen Renaissance sensibility, which galvanised some of the doubts he began to feel about his Catholic upbringing. The staunch (often truculent) physicality of his love poetry stands in defiant juxtaposition with his self-conscious engagement with themes of religious, moral and political betrayal. Even lyrics such as The Triple Fool , opening with the memorably self-deprecating pose of the humble suitor, demonstrate how Donne's higher doubts filter their way down into the most secular of his verse:
I am two fools, I know,
For loving, and for saying so
In whining poetry
The Metaphysical poets (of which Donne is considered the greatest) tend to reflect a cynical approach to the conventions of love and an enlightened awareness of the real world in which the frailties of bodily existence are reluctantly accepted. This resignation to the physical weaknesses of the human condition was intensified in Donne's case by the fact that his own personal world was ravaged by illness. Donne's years at the Inns of Court were heavily disrupted by the plague, and poems such as The Fever , or The Apparition , bring the body into close proximity with the conventionally nobler theme of love. These works foreshadow the literary techniques that Donne would later employ in his Divine Meditations where his own ailing physicality becomes a metaphor for spiritual irresolution.
By 1593 Donne had severed his ties to the Inns. It is likely that his decision to leave was influenced principally by continuing eruptions of the plague but it may also have been precipitated by the death of his brother Henry, who had been imprisoned in Newgate Prison on the charge of harbouring a priest. This episode might well have been key to Donne's later life, for these years broadly contain the period of his conversion to Anglicanism. Exact dates are unknown, and most probably unknowable, since the conversion probably took place over a period of theological speculation whilst at Lincoln's Inn. However, the doubts that he held towards his Catholic faith at this time can be illustrated by the fact that much of his early poetry, some of his love lyrics, his Satires and most of his elegies avow a strongly critical attitude towards the moral restraints of a Catholic upbringing. The depth of this feeling underlies his Satire III , where he dismisses the central Catholic belief that there is only one 'right' church:
Seek true religion. O where? Mirreus
Thinking her unhoused here, and fled from us,
Seeks her at Rome, there, because he doth know
That she was there a thousand years ago,
He loves the rags so, as we here obey
The statecloth where the Prince sate yesterday.
Written most probably in 1596, the poem expresses much of the doubt that would have preoccupied him to that date. The energy of the Satire also suggests that Donne was finding luxurious escape from questions of faith in worldly activity. Whatever metaphysical doubts he held would soon be partly subsumed by the excitement he would feel when volunteering to join the expedition led by the Earl of Essex to sack Cadiz. It was an adventure Donne would repeat a year later when he joined Raleigh 's quest to raid Spanish treasure ships off the coast of the Azores. His poems 'The Storm' and 'The Calm' serve as recollections of the second voyage.
By November 1597, Donne had returned to London where he found employment as private secretary to the Lord Keeper, Sir Thomas Egerton. He had known Egerton's sons whilst at Lincoln's Inn, but had also served with the elder son, Thomas, on the Raleigh expedition. His time with Egerton was spent mainly in legal business and his fifth Satire partly reveals the feelings that he had towards his duties. It was during this time that Donne fell in love with Ann More, the niece of Lady Egerton. Ann was not yet sixteen, and Donne embarked on a romance that for a time would remain secret. Under Egerton's patronage, Donne was elected MP for Brackley, Northants in 1601. Brackley was an Egerton seat, but whatever ambitions his patron held for him would soon be dashed, as, in December that year, Donne secretly married Ann. As Ann was then still a minor (she was seventeen), the marriage was thought scandalous. Donne was dismissed from his post as Egerton's secretary and briefly imprisoned. With his chances of a political career ruined, he set out to find a new way of supporting his growing family. He would spend the next fourteen years attempting to redress this failure of his political judgement.
The next few years were characterised by both movement and by the birth of Donne's children. After The Court of Audiences confirmed the legality of Donne's marriage in April 1602, the couple moved to Pyrford, Surrey, where they lived as guests of Ann's cousin, Sir Francis Wolley. In 1603, Ann Donne gave birth to their first child, Constance, followed a year later by a son, John. In all, Ann would give birth to twelve children, though only seven of them survived into maturity. In 1605, Donne possibly undertook travels in France and Italy. His son George was also born. In 1606, Donne returned to England and the family moved to Mitcham, approximately seven miles outside London. Shortly after, Donne took lodgings on the Strand from where he sought employment in the Queen's household.
In 1610, Donne received an honorary M.A. from Oxford. By this time he was helping Thomas Mortan to produce polemics against the Church of Rome. Donne himself was also publishing some of his most vicious attacks on the Papacy. His deeply anti-Catholic Pseudo-Martyr (1610) was followed by Ignatius his Conclave a year later. The work emerged from a period of concentrated activity for Donne. Despite the hardship brought about by his marriage to Ann and his dismissal from Egerton's service, Donne studied theology and produced a variety of pieces including sermons, love lyrics, and religious verse.
Although it was clear to others that Donne was suited to the clergy, he continued to seek office outside the church. In 1612 he moved into a house owned by his new patron, Sir Richard Drury. Donne would write the Anniversaries about Drury's daughter, Elizabeth, who had died in 1610. In 1614 Donne was again sitting in Parliament, this time as MP for Taunton and serving on different committees. His daughter Mary died in May of that year, and his son Francis in November.
Despite the accession of a new monarch to the English throne (Donne's previous seat was in the Parliament of Elizabeth) the political climate had changed little as far as his opportunities for secular advancement were concerned. Although his Pseudo-Martyr had brought him to the attention of James I , by 1614 the King was still refusing Donne a place in court, believing that he was suited to no position outside the Church. Under pressure from James , Donne relinquished his desire for secular office and dedicated himself to taking holy orders. On 23rd January 1615 he was ordained deacon and priest at St. Paul's Cathedral.
Donne's rise to prominence as the greatest orator of his age may never have occurred if, two years after his ordination, his wife Ann had not died. Donne vowed never to marry again and, as a consequence of his deep grief, he further embraced the church. Over the next years, Donne's production of eloquent and powerful sermons hastened his rise. As a royal chaplain, his duties saw him preaching widely and in 1619, he travelled to Germany as royal ambassador. On 22 November 1621 he was made Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, a position which gave him command of the full authority of the church and brought an even greater force to his sermons.
In 1623, Donne fell gravely ill. During his fever, he scribbled notes that became his Devotions upon Emergent Occasions , together with a sequence of poems that probably include 'Hymne to God the Father' and 'Hymne to God my God, in my sicknesse'. The years that followed would be marked by the loss of old friends. Donne continued to preach, write, and involve himself in the politics of his position.
In the autumn of 1630 Donne was taken seriously ill. His suffering would last until the new year. In February 1631 he gave his last sermon and then took to his bed. During this time, an artist rendered his portrait which would later be used for his monument in St. Paul's. On 31st March Donne died. Shortly after he was buried in St. Paul's.
Because so little of Donne's literary output was published in his lifetime it is difficult to establish the dates of individual works. Those poems we can date include his Satires and Elegies written during his period at Lincoln's Inn, in the 1590s. Similarly, we know that his Holy Sonnets were probably written during the period of his marriage until his ordination in 1615. His treatise on suicide, Bianthanatos , appeared posthumously in 1646, and Essays in Divinity published in 1651. Donne's posthumous reputation as one of the greatest preachers of his age is signified by the fact that 160 of his sermons still survive. Izaak Walton 's biography appeared in 1658.
Donne's reputation has been increasing throughout the twentieth century, ever since T.S. Eliot revived interest with his critical writings on the Metaphysical poets. In some ways it is hard to distinguish any modern interest in Donne outside the context of his rediscovery in the Twenties. However the complex juxtaposition of Donne's early secular life with what is perceived as his later religious austerity, has found a voracious audience in a world governed by similar fascinations and doubts over religious and moral issues. Donne's reputation has been well served by an excellent biography by R.C. Bald, Donne: A Life (Oxford, 1970), together with many studies of his poetry, including John Carey 's John Donne: Life, Mind and Art (1981).
DL , 2000 |
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Donne, John, 1572-1631
from Literature Online biography
Published in Cambridge, 2000, by Chadwyck-Healey (a Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company)
John Donne 's early life was shaped by the restrictive expectations of his devoutly Catholic family. The poet described by Ben Jonson as 'the first [...] in the World in some things' was born in Bread Street, London, in the first half of 1572. His father, John, a successful businessman and member of the Ironmongers' Company, died when his son was only four years old, leaving Donne's mother to marry the prominent Catholic physician, Dr. John Syminges. Syminges was a man well into his fifties and with three grown children of a former marriage. Yet the choice of her second husband was perhaps to be expected of Donne's mother: Elizabeth Heywood was the youngest daughter of poet and playwright John Heywood , a devout Catholic who had fled into exile in 1564. Similarly, her mother was Joan Rastell, the niece of that most infamous of dissenting voices, Sir Thomas More .
Donne's birthright, therefore, was that of a child born into one of the most notable English Catholic families of the age. Although most of his early years were spent in London, his education centred around the family home and was conducted under the supervision of Catholic tutors. As a result, his early life was enveloped by the larger spiritual isolation experienced by most Catholics in post-Reformation England.
At the age of eleven, well before the usual age for enrolment at University, John and his brother Henry entered Oxford. The Act of Supremacy demanded that all students over the age of sixteen subscribed to the Thirty-nine Articles. Matriculating at such an early age allowed the Donnes to circumvent this requirement. Moreover, their chosen college, Hart Hall, was favourable to Catholics because it had no chapel, which meant that their refusal to participate in the services of the established church of England was less likely to attract attention.
Despite the three years he spent at Oxford, Donne left without a degree, and what followed is a period of ambiguity as far as his biography is concerned. Between 1589 and 1591, very little is known of Donne's life. He may well have attended Cambridge University between 1588 and 1589, and he may well have subsequently travelled extensively throughout Europe. In 1592, he was again in London to be admitted into Lincoln's Inn: thus beginning what John Carey has described as 'the most obscure period of Donne's life'.
Even with the lack of documentary evidence relating to Donne's early adulthood, it accounts for probably the most significant phase of his poetic development. The lively world of the Inns of Court colour his life and writing, for though it is clear that Donne probably never intended to practise the law (his entry into Lincoln's Inn followed the tradition of his family), his life there provided a suitable gateway into a larger world. It was here that Donne made many of the friends that would guide his future such as Thomas and John Egerton, sons of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. It was also during his time at Lincoln's Inn that Donne began to write verse.
Ben Jonson believed Donne 'to have written all his best pieces err he was 25 years old', and certainly during his time at the Inn, he made his first experimental excursions into verse and tested the range of his poetic voice. He most probably wrote his finest love poetry together with some of his Satires during this time. However, his new experiences as a law student were not the sole influence on his poetry. The generation of Donne's unconventional poetics during this period was accompanied by, and perhaps grew from, his mature reappraisal and criticism of the religious orthodoxies that had, in his opinion, limited his freedom as an adolescent. Not only did life in the heart of the City give him access to some of the leading intellects of his generation, it also stimulated the development of a keen Renaissance sensibility, which galvanised some of the doubts he began to feel about his Catholic upbringing. The staunch (often truculent) physicality of his love poetry stands in defiant juxtaposition with his self-conscious engagement with themes of religious, moral and political betrayal. Even lyrics such as The Triple Fool , opening with the memorably self-deprecating pose of the humble suitor, demonstrate how Donne's higher doubts filter their way down into the most secular of his verse:
I am two fools, I know,
For loving, and for saying so
In whining poetry
The Metaphysical poets (of which Donne is considered the greatest) tend to reflect a cynical approach to the conventions of love and an enlightened awareness of the real world in which the frailties of bodily existence are reluctantly accepted. This resignation to the physical weaknesses of the human condition was intensified in Donne's case by the fact that his own personal world was ravaged by illness. Donne's years at the Inns of Court were heavily disrupted by the plague, and poems such as The Fever , or The Apparition , bring the body into close proximity with the conventionally nobler theme of love. These works foreshadow the literary techniques that Donne would later employ in his Divine Meditations where his own ailing physicality becomes a metaphor for spiritual irresolution.
By 1593 Donne had severed his ties to the Inns. It is likely that his decision to leave was influenced principally by continuing eruptions of the plague but it may also have been precipitated by the death of his brother Henry, who had been imprisoned in Newgate Prison on the charge of harbouring a priest. This episode might well have been key to Donne's later life, for these years broadly contain the period of his conversion to Anglicanism. Exact dates are unknown, and most probably unknowable, since the conversion probably took place over a period of theological speculation whilst at Lincoln's Inn. However, the doubts that he held towards his Catholic faith at this time can be illustrated by the fact that much of his early poetry, some of his love lyrics, his Satires and most of his elegies avow a strongly critical attitude towards the moral restraints of a Catholic upbringing. The depth of this feeling underlies his Satire III , where he dismisses the central Catholic belief that there is only one 'right' church:
Seek true religion. O where? Mirreus
Thinking her unhoused here, and fled from us,
Seeks her at Rome, there, because he doth know
That she was there a thousand years ago,
He loves the rags so, as we here obey
The statecloth where the Prince sate yesterday.
Written most probably in 1596, the poem expresses much of the doubt that would have preoccupied him to that date. The energy of the Satire also suggests that Donne was finding luxurious escape from questions of faith in worldly activity. Whatever metaphysical doubts he held would soon be partly subsumed by the excitement he would feel when volunteering to join the expedition led by the Earl of Essex to sack Cadiz. It was an adventure Donne would repeat a year later when he joined Raleigh 's quest to raid Spanish treasure ships off the coast of the Azores. His poems 'The Storm' and 'The Calm' serve as recollections of the second voyage.
By November 1597, Donne had returned to London where he found employment as private secretary to the Lord Keeper, Sir Thomas Egerton. He had known Egerton's sons whilst at Lincoln's Inn, but had also served with the elder son, Thomas, on the Raleigh expedition. His time with Egerton was spent mainly in legal business and his fifth Satire partly reveals the feelings that he had towards his duties. It was during this time that Donne fell in love with Ann More, the niece of Lady Egerton. Ann was not yet sixteen, and Donne embarked on a romance that for a time would remain secret. Under Egerton's patronage, Donne was elected MP for Brackley, Northants in 1601. Brackley was an Egerton seat, but whatever ambitions his patron held for him would soon be dashed, as, in December that year, Donne secretly married Ann. As Ann was then still a minor (she was seventeen), the marriage was thought scandalous. Donne was dismissed from his post as Egerton's secretary and briefly imprisoned. With his chances of a political career ruined, he set out to find a new way of supporting his growing family. He would spend the next fourteen years attempting to redress this failure of his political judgement.
The next few years were characterised by both movement and by the birth of Donne's children. After The Court of Audiences confirmed the legality of Donne's marriage in April 1602, the couple moved to Pyrford, Surrey, where they lived as guests of Ann's cousin, Sir Francis Wolley. In 1603, Ann Donne gave birth to their first child, Constance, followed a year later by a son, John. In all, Ann would give birth to twelve children, though only seven of them survived into maturity. In 1605, Donne possibly undertook travels in France and Italy. His son George was also born. In 1606, Donne returned to England and the family moved to Mitcham, approximately seven miles outside London. Shortly after, Donne took lodgings on the Strand from where he sought employment in the Queen's household.
In 1610, Donne received an honorary M.A. from Oxford. By this time he was helping Thomas Mortan to produce polemics against the Church of Rome. Donne himself was also publishing some of his most vicious attacks on the Papacy. His deeply anti-Catholic Pseudo-Martyr (1610) was followed by Ignatius his Conclave a year later. The work emerged from a period of concentrated activity for Donne. Despite the hardship brought about by his marriage to Ann and his dismissal from Egerton's service, Donne studied theology and produced a variety of pieces including sermons, love lyrics, and religious verse.
Although it was clear to others that Donne was suited to the clergy, he continued to seek office outside the church. In 1612 he moved into a house owned by his new patron, Sir Richard Drury. Donne would write the Anniversaries about Drury's daughter, Elizabeth, who had died in 1610. In 1614 Donne was again sitting in Parliament, this time as MP for Taunton and serving on different committees. His daughter Mary died in May of that year, and his son Francis in November.
Despite the accession of a new monarch to the English throne (Donne's previous seat was in the Parliament of Elizabeth) the political climate had changed little as far as his opportunities for secular advancement were concerned. Although his Pseudo-Martyr had brought him to the attention of James I , by 1614 the King was still refusing Donne a place in court, believing that he was suited to no position outside the Church. Under pressure from James , Donne relinquished his desire for secular office and dedicated himself to taking holy orders. On 23rd January 1615 he was ordained deacon and priest at St. Paul's Cathedral.
Donne's rise to prominence as the greatest orator of his age may never have occurred if, two years after his ordination, his wife Ann had not died. Donne vowed never to marry again and, as a consequence of his deep grief, he further embraced the church. Over the next years, Donne's production of eloquent and powerful sermons hastened his rise. As a royal chaplain, his duties saw him preaching widely and in 1619, he travelled to Germany as royal ambassador. On 22 November 1621 he was made Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, a position which gave him command of the full authority of the church and brought an even greater force to his sermons.
In 1623, Donne fell gravely ill. During his fever, he scribbled notes that became his Devotions upon Emergent Occasions , together with a sequence of poems that probably include 'Hymne to God the Father' and 'Hymne to God my God, in my sicknesse'. The years that followed would be marked by the loss of old friends. Donne continued to preach, write, and involve himself in the politics of his position.
In the autumn of 1630 Donne was taken seriously ill. His suffering would last until the new year. In February 1631 he gave his last sermon and then took to his bed. During this time, an artist rendered his portrait which would later be used for his monument in St. Paul's. On 31st March Donne died. Shortly after he was buried in St. Paul's.
Because so little of Donne's literary output was published in his lifetime it is difficult to establish the dates of individual works. Those poems we can date include his Satires and Elegies written during his period at Lincoln's Inn, in the 1590s. Similarly, we know that his Holy Sonnets were probably written during the period of his marriage until his ordination in 1615. His treatise on suicide, Bianthanatos , appeared posthumously in 1646, and Essays in Divinity published in 1651. Donne's posthumous reputation as one of the greatest preachers of his age is signified by the fact that 160 of his sermons still survive. Izaak Walton 's biography appeared in 1658.
Donne's reputation has been increasing throughout the twentieth century, ever since T.S. Eliot revived interest with his critical writings on the Metaphysical poets. In some ways it is hard to distinguish any modern interest in Donne outside the context of his rediscovery in the Twenties. However the complex juxtaposition of Donne's early secular life with what is perceived as his later religious austerity, has found a voracious audience in a world governed by similar fascinations and doubts over religious and moral issues. Donne's reputation has been well served by an excellent biography by R.C. Bald, Donne: A Life (Oxford, 1970), together with many studies of his poetry, including John Carey 's John Donne: Life, Mind and Art (1981).
DL , 2000
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