John Donne author page

John Donne biography

John Donne (1572–1631) was an English poet, preacher and scholar whose work is central to the metaphysical tradition in literature. He was born in London and educated at Hart Hall, Oxford, and later at Lincoln’s Inn, though he did not take a degree due to his Catholic background at a time of religious tension in England.

Donne first gained notice for his secular poetry, circulated in manuscript among friends. His early writings include satires, elegies and love poems such as “The Flea” and “The Good-Morrow,” notable for their wit, paradox and inventive conceits. His religious verse, including the Holy Sonnets, reflects his eventual conversion to Anglicanism and ordination as a priest.

In 1615 he became a royal chaplain under King James I. Four years later he was appointed Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, a post he held until his death. His sermons, delivered at St Paul’s and before the court, were celebrated for their eloquence and intensity.

Donne’s prose works include Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624), which contains the passage “No man is an island,” later widely quoted. His poems and sermons were published posthumously in collected editions and remain part of the English literary canon.

He was appointed Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1621.