By: Chelsea Derricott, Rachel Rogers, Steve Piper
Donne lived the majority of his life in the 17th century.
This century was a time of metaphysical poetry.
extends from the accession of the King James I in 1603
to the coronation of King Charles II in 1660.
the Age of Anxiety
At the heart of the century of rapid change lies the
Puritan Revolt of 1640-60. The century together with
the English Revolution was a time of intense ferment
in all areas of life —religion, science, politics, domestic
relations, and culture.
-was the most outstanding of the English
Metaphysical Poets and a churchman famous for
his spellbinding sermons
-His works, notable for their realistic and sensual
style, include sonnets, love poetry, religious
poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies,
songs, satires and sermons.
-His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and
immediacy of metaphor, compared with that of
his contemporaries.
-
Born to a prosperous London ironmonger in 1572
Catholic family so he was educated by Jesults
Father died when he was young and was raised by his
mother Elizabeth
At age 11 he went to Oxford University where he studied
for 3 years and then proceeded to Cambridge for another
3 years. Although he did not take a degree from either
because as a Catholic he could not take the Oath of
Supremacy at graduation.
His faith was badly shaken when his younger brother,
Henry, died in prison where he had been sent for
sheltering a Catholic priest
Donne first literary work, Satires , was written during
this period. This was followed by Songs and Sonnets.
Which was a collection of love poems that gain success
through private circulation.
Donne gained a comfortable inheritance, which
he proceeded to spent in profligate fashion on
“wine, women, and song”. He joined the Essex’s
Raid on Cadiz in 1596
1597 expedition to the Azores (a Portuguese chain
of islands in the Atlantic Ocean)
Then he became a private secretary of Sir Thomas
Egerton.
Unfortunately he lost all chances of a career
advancement when he secretly married Anne
More.
Anne enraged father had Donne thrown into Fleet
Prison for several weeks.
Donne’s marriage was a happy one despite the
outside factors(his father in law)
Donne’s final break with his Catholic past came
with the publication of Pseudo-Martyr (1610) and
Ignatius his Conclave. Though in turn they lead to
the favoring of his work fr0m King James.
Then in 1617 Anne Donne died giving birth to the
couple’s 12th child
Which lead to him writing one of his greatest
works Holy Sonnets.
Donne was appointed Dean of St. Paul’s, a post he
held for the remainder of his life. In his final
years Donne’s poems reflect an obsession with his
own death, which came on March 31, 1631.
The Flea Twickenham Garden
The Good-Morrow Valediction to his Book
Song : Go and catch a falling star Community
Woman's Constancy Love's Growth
Love's Exchange
The Undertaking Confined Love
The Sun Rising The Dream
The Indifferent A Valediction of Weeping
Love's Usury Love's Alchemy
The Curse
The Canonization The Message
The Triple Fool A Nocturnal upon Saint Lucy's Day
Lovers' Infiniteness Witchcraft by a Picture
Song : Sweetest love, I do not go The Bait
The Apparition
The Legacy The Broken Heart
A Fever A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
Air and Angels The Ecstacy
Break of Day Love's Deity
Love's Diet
[Another of the same] [Break of The Will
Day] The Funeral
The Anniversary The Blossom
A Valediction of my Name, in the
Window
Now thou hast loved me one whole day,
Tomorrow when thou leavest, what wilt thou say?
Wilt thou then antedate some new-made vow ?
Or say that now
We are not just those persons which we were ?
Or that oaths made in reverential fear
Of Love, and his wrath, any may forswear ?
Or, as true deaths true marriages untie, …..
…… So lovers' contracts, images of those, Bind
but till sleep, death's image, them unloose ?
Or, your own end to justify,
For having purposed change and falsehood,
you
Can have no way but falsehood to be true ?
Vain lunatic, against these 'scapes I could
Dispute, and conquer, if I would ;
Which I abstain to do,
For by to-morrow I may think so too.
Woman’s constancy is about will he love me tomorrow? Its
about how a woman wants to know if this man will still love
her tomorrow, whether or not he means what he’s saying.
She wants him to re-assure her that just because they are
making these commitments, their relationship is still the same.
Just because they have made vows doesn’t mean everything
is going to change and she doesn’t want him just saying
things to make her feel better about their love. In this poem
all she’s asking for is a simple promise that their love is
unending and unchanging, its constant.