John Donne

John Donne was born to John and Elizabeth Donne of Bread Street, London, in

1572. In his early years, John Donne was a wild lover and sensual writer. After finding

Christ, his writing style changed from sexual to spiritual. Despite the fact that Donne’s

earlier poetry was focused around lustful sensations, his later works utilized biblical

illusions, proclaiming his newly found belief in God.

Early in Donne’s life, his brother was incarcerated “for giving sanctuary to a

proscribed Catholic priest” and met his death through fever while serving his time

(Smith). The untimely and unfortunate death of his brother sent Donne down a path of

religious questioning. Though raised as a Catholic, Donne began to wonder what sort of

God would permit his brother not only to be arrested, but also to die for helping a fellow

believer. The ensuing uncertainty young Donne was struggling with can be seen reflected

in his first two volumes of work, Satires and Songs and Sonnets. Though those works do

not directly condemn religion or the government, Donne strays from the path he was

raised to walk, and speaks openly of sexual desires and women.

In “Indifferent,” a poem from the collection Songs and Sonnets, Donne openly

discusses his preferences, or lack thereof, when it comes to women. Poems such as “The

Curse” and “The Prohibition” all discuss love and women from objective and interesting

standpoints. In Donne’s poem “The Damp,” a woman is said to have no need to use any

means other than her body to overcome a man :

But these I neither look for nor profess ;

Kill me as woman, let me die

As a mere man ; do you but try

Your passive valour, and you shall find then,

Naked you have odds...

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...n to God, My God, in my Sickness.” The first few lines of

the poem are strongly indicative not only of a deeply rooted faith, but also of Donne’s

concrete belief that he would be welcomed to Heaven by God:

Since I am coming to that Holy room,

Where, with Thy choir of saints for evermore,

I shall be made Thy music. (211)

Works Cited

Jokinen, Anniia. "A quick and Rough Explication of Donne's Holy Sonnet 10."

Luminarium. 27 Mar 2002. Web. 2 Mar 2011.

Miller, Edmund. "John Donne." Critical Survey of Poetry. Ed. Philip K. Jason. Pasadena,

California: Salem Press, 2003. 1058-1059. Print.

Smith, A.J. "John Donne (1572-1631) Biography." Poetry Foundation.2010. Web. 2 Mar

2011.

"Student Essay on John Donne Holy Sonnet VII Prosody/ Analysis." Book Rags. 2006.

Web. 2 Mar 2011.

"The Works of John Donne." Luminarium. 2007. Web. 2 Mar 2011.