“John Donne” and “George Herbert”
zdr351660321
Lecture_Donne.pptxJohn Donne
Life
Born 1572 to a Catholic family in England (14 years since Elizabeth I’s accession).
Related to Sir Thomas More on his mother’s side, and grew up in Catholic social circles.
His first education was directed by Catholic priests.
At the age of 11 Donne matriculated at Oxford.
Because of the requirement for students to accept the Oath of Supremacy, Donne dropped out at age 16.
Donne had little direction at this point in his life, and throughout the 1590s he sought a clear path for his life, briefly studying law and eventually joining the military. His youth is described as “raucous.”
By 1597 Donne was in the service of Thomas Egerton.
In 1601 Donne secretly married Egerton’s niece, Anne More. Egerton subsequently had Donne thrown in jail and attempted to annul the marriage.
When the annulment failed, Donne and More were abandoned by the Egertons and left to pursue a different life.
For almost a decade, Donne and his family lived a very unstable life since he could not secure stable employment.
In 1609, Donne and Egerton reconciled and Donne was granted Anne’s dowry. He was not reinstated, however.
In 1617 Anne died, leaving Donne with seven surviving children.
Donne became a preacher in the Church of England after his conversion to Protestantism.
He devoted his life to religion up until his death in 1631.
Among his most famous sermons is “Death’s Duell,” which he preached only days before his death.
Conversion
Scholars trace the beginnings of Donne’s conversion from Catholicism to Protestantism to the 1590s.
During this time, his brother was charged with sheltering a priest, and sentenced to be drawn and quartered. He died in prison before the execution could take place, which, given the sentence, was viewed as a blessing.
Evidence from Donne’s writings suggests that Donne never viewed any one church as the “true church,” so pinning down his conversion is difficult.
Donne’s memorial in Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London
The fact that Donne converted to the Church of England makes his identity difficult to define (as if any identity could be easy to define). At different points in his life, he had two separate sets of beliefs, and during the process of conversion those beliefs would have had some overlap. It then becomes nearly impossible to differentiate from what he used to believe to what he believed later in his life.
But his dedication to his conversion is clear given that he becomes a preacher within the Church of England. He produced copious writing on doctrine and his own personal religious experience during his final three decades, and those writings provide a fascinating glimpse into Donne’s life and experience.
Writings
Donne wrote a great deal of poetry and prose, both secular and religious.
His secular poetry is renowned; “The Canonization” and “The Relic” are both examples of his secular poetry.
His religious poetry is also extremely well-known, with his most famous poem perhaps being Sonnet XIV “Batter my heart, three-personed God.”
Donne’s sermons are known for being fiery; he was a great orator.
But his meditations are also extremely poetic, the most famous being, “No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends, or of thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved with mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.”
Conclusions
John Donne’s copious writings influenced many Englishmen and Europeans after him. His passion and his dedication, as we now witness in his writings, were infectious.
Because we can read texts from both before and after his conversion, including both secular and religious texts, we get a broad view of this individual whose identity shifted radically throughout his life.
Scholars constantly try to pin down Donne’s religious beliefs – did he really convert or didn’t he? – but the more interesting questions surround the specificity of his experience as represented in the texts. It does not matter nearly so much if he was Catholic or Protestant as what his individual experience was.
