John Donne
(London, 1572-id., 1631) English poet.Considered the best English-language poet of the 17th century, John Donne was born into a family with a deep Catholic tradition.He studied at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, although he did not obtain any degree, as his Catholic condition prevented it.He traveled for some years, and in 1598 he met Sir Thomas Egerton, the king's seal keeper, who made him his private assistant, a position he held for the next five years.
John Donne
However, it seems that he remained in the position more because of his relationship with Egerton, with whom he had a good friendship, than for the efficiency of his work, since Donne fled from responsibilities to take refuge in his verses, at that time already numerous and always addressed to some lady he knew.Inspired in part by Ovid, his verses move away from the Petrarchism in vogue to address the flesh and blood woman through poetry of great emotional intensity, which avoids formulas in search of a more direct language.
One of these ladies, Anne More, was to become his wife in 1601, but the marriage had to be celebrated in secret because of the fierce opposition of the father of the bride.The latter, once learned of Donne's union with his daughter, whom he left without a dowry, had the poet imprisoned, while forcing his protector to dismiss him immediately.
Also banned from holding any public office, the next ten years were for Donne and his family-his wife gave him twelve children-of extreme poverty.They survived thanks to the charity of his wife's family and the odd jobs Donne got.Despite the misery, the poet produced during these years a vast work in both verse and prose.
In 1609, a serious illness brought him closer to religion and he began to write his first poems of a religious nature.Two years later he entered the service of Sir Robert Drury, who was impressed by an elegy written by Donne on the death of his daughter.With Drury, for whom he wrote The Anatomy of the World , a poetic reflection on the spiritual decline of humanity, he traveled through France and the Netherlands.
On his return, and after the king denied him a job at court, Donne became convinced of his religious faith and was ordained a priest of the Anglican Church (1615).Later he received his doctorate in theology and became a professor of theology at Lincoln's Inn.During these years he specialized in the writing of sermons, the success of which earned him being appointed, in 1621, Dean of the London Cathedral of St.Paul.A new illness, this one in 1623, inspired him with new religious poems; from then on he wrote mainly sermons, thanks to which he was popularly known and made him the favorite preacher of the kings James I and Charles I.
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