Essays on John Donne

January 22, 1572, London, United Kingdom

March 31, 1631, London, United Kingdom

Poet, Priest, Lawyer

Satire, Love Poetry, Elegy, Sermons

Metaphysical Poetry

• "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent."
• "One short sleep past, we wake eternally, and Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die."
• "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631

John Donne was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Church of England.

“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, “Anniversaries”, “Batter My Heart” “Biathanatos”, “Death, Be Not Proud”, “Devotions upon Emergent Occasions”, “Holy Sonnets”, “Paradoxes and Problems”, “Pseudo-Martyr”.

Donne's satires dealt with common Elizabethan topics, such as corruption in the legal system, mediocre poets, and pompous courtiers. His images of sickness, vomit, manure, and plague reflected his strongly satiric view of a society populated by fools and knaves. His third satire, however, deals with the problem of true religion, a matter of great importance to Donne.

The greatest of the English Metaphysical poets, he is noted for his love lyrics, religious verse and treatises, and sermons. His secular poetry, most written early in his career, is direct, intense, brilliantly witty, and daringly imaginative.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face."
“More than kisses, letters mingle souls.”