John Donne 1572-1631

John Donne was born in London in 1572. He was born into a pious Catholic family. He was educated by Jesuit teachers, his uncle belonged to this Catholic order. Later, he studied in Oxford for three years, followed by three years in Cambridge. Because he was a Catholic, he would not take the Oath of Supremacy, and because of this he could not receive his degree from a university. After his time at university he was admitted into the Inns of Court in 1591, where he studied law and prepared for a career as a lawyer or judge.

It was not easy for a Catholic to live in England at this point in time, because it was an illegal religion. Moreover, Donne’s chances of having a successful public career while being a Catholic were small. Sometime during the 1590s, Donne converted to the Church of England (Anglicanism). When and how he converted is hard to say. This is also the period in which he wrote his five Satires, most of his Elegies and some of his Songs and Sonnets.

In 1596 and 1597 he joined two naval expeditions against Catholic Spain. The first was to Cadiz, in Spain, the second to the Azores. When he got back to England in 1598, he became the private secretary of Sir Thomas Eagerton, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. For a couple of years his political and diplomatic career went very well. However, in 1601, he secretly married the niece of Sir Thomas Eagerton, Ann More. Eagerton and Ann’s father were furious and had Donne arrested. When, after a short time in prison, he was released, he and Ann lived together in a small farmhouse. Financially, things did not look well; Donne had lost his job as Eagerton’s secretary, and his family was growing.

Circumstances improved when Donne published two anti-Catholic works in 1610 and 1611. It was now very clear that he was no longer a Catholic. But more than that, it made him stand high in the favour of the King, James I. King James insisted that Donne should receive a post in the Church of England. At first, Donne refused, but in 1615 he entered the Church. Very soon he became one of the most famous and greatest preachers of his time. In 1617 Ann More, his wife, died. Donne was devastated by her death. In an epitaph that he wrote for her he said that he was “by grief made wordless”¹. In 1618 his Holy Sonnets were published. In sonnet 17 Donne writes about the death of his wife. He focused himself completely on religion and his work as a preacher. In 1621 he became Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. He preached on the funeral of James I, who died in 1625. The older he got, the more obsessed he became with death. Donne had his own portrait painted on which he was dressed in a shroud as if he was already dead. Moreover, a few weeks before his death in March 1631, he preached his own funeral sermon: Death’s Duel.