The english poet John donne He was born on January 22, 1572, in London, into a Catholic family, during a period of strong anti-Catholicism in England. The father of Donne, also called John, was a prosperous London merchant. His mother, Elizabeth Heywood, was the great-niece of the Catholic martyr Thomas More. Religion would play a tumultuous and passionate role in John’s life.
The father of Donne he died in 1576 and his mother remarried a wealthy widower. He entered Oxford University at age 11 and then Cambridge University, but never received degrees, due to his Catholicism. At age 20, Donne He began law school at Lincoln Inn and seemed destined for a legal or diplomatic career. During the 1590s, he spent much of his inheritance on women, books, and travel. He wrote most of his love letters and erotic poems during this time. His first books of poems, “Satires” Y “Songs and sonnets“, they were highly appreciated among a small group of fans.
In 1593, his brother, Henry, was found guilty of Catholic sympathies and died in prison shortly after. The incident led to John to question his Catholic faith and inspired some of his best writing on religion. At age 25 he was appointed private secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Guardian of the Great Seal of England. He held his position with Egerton for several years and it is likely that around this period Donne convert to Anglicanism.
On your way to a promising career, John donne he became a Member of Parliament in 1601. That same year, he married 16-year-old Anne More, Sir Egerton’s niece. Both Lord Egerton and Anne’s father, George More, strongly disapproved of the marriage and, as punishment, More did not provide a dowry. Lord Egerton dismissed Donne and imprisoned him for a short time. The eight years after the liberation of Donne they would be a struggle for the married couple until Anne’s father finally paid her the dowry.
In 1610, John donne published his controversial anti-Catholic work “Pseudo-Martyr“, renouncing his faith. In it, he advanced the argument that Roman Catholics could support James I without compromising their religious allegiance to the Pope. This earned him the favor of the king and the patronage of members of the House of Lords In 1615, Donne he was ordained and shortly after he was appointed Royal Chaplain. His elaborate metaphors, religious symbolism, and flair for drama soon established him as a great preacher.
In 1617, his wife died shortly after giving birth to their 12th child. The time to write love poems was over, and Donne he devoted his energies to more religious subjects. In 1621 he became dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. During a period of serious illness, he wrote “Devotions on emerging occasions“, published in 1624. This work contains the immortal lines”No man is an island” Y “never send to know for whom the bell tolls; fold for you“. That same year, Donne he was appointed Vicar of St. Dunstan in the West and became known for his eloquent sermons.