John Donne, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

John Donne

English poet

Date of Birth: 01-Jan-0001

Place of Birth: London

Date of Death: 31-Mar-1631

Profession: writer, lawyer, poet, politician, translator, songwriter

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn


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About John Donne

  • John Donne ( DUN; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet and cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets.
  • His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons.
  • His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries.
  • 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 and he met that knowledge with sharp criticism.
  • Another important theme in Donne's poetry is the idea of true religion, something that he spent much time considering and about which he often theorized.
  • He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love poems.
  • He is particularly famous for his mastery of metaphysical conceits. 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 deacon and then Anglican priest, although he did not want to take Holy Orders and only did so because the king ordered it.
  • In 1621, he was appointed the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London.
  • He also served as a member of Parliament in 1601 and in 1614.

Read more at Wikipedia