G. M. Hopkins Heaven-haven
Download 0.78 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- John Donne at university
- John Donne as a law student
- John Donnes employment
- John Donne in love
- John Donne, Ann Donne, ‘Undone’
- John Donne - A family to support
- Dr Donne
John Donne’s family
John Donne at universityThe young John Donne was sent to Hart Hall (later Hertford College) at Oxford University when he was only 11. If he had waited till he was 16 or older, he would have had to take the oath of allegiance to Elizabeth as Head of theChurch of England, something which Catholics were forbidden to do. So his astute parents wanted him to enter university before he needed to take the oath. He may have gone on to Cambridge afterwards for further study. John Donne as a law studentMany young men of the time received their higher education at one of London's Inns of Court. Today, Inns of Court are where London barristers have their chambers (offices). In Donne's day, young men studied for the law there, under instruction from senior lawyers. They also seem to have had a good time. By all accounts, Donne was something of a dashing young man, very witty, quite a ladies’ man. He wrote poetry, witty and sometimes quite risqué, which was circulated in manuscript. None of this poetry (nowadays gathered together asSongs and Sonnets, Epigrams and some of the Elegies and Satires) was published till after his death, but the handwritten collection was certainly known about. Donne knew the cost of being a Catholic from his uncle and brother - and from the fact he never received a degree from Oxford or Cambridge. He had been instructed by Jesuit priests whilst he was younger. However, at some point in the 1590s he decided to stop being a Catholic. We can only guess at what happened: perhaps he realised he would have no career if he continued. At any rate, it must have cost Donne some heartache to leave the religion of his family. John Donne - A Catholic imagination Donne’s poetry, especially his religious poetry, still shows something of a Catholic imagination, and the sense of guilt is quite pervasive. Critics argue whether the guilt was due to his temperament or caused by leaving Catholicism. Some of Donne's later poetry is full of thoughts of death. John Donne - A practising Anglican At some point, Donne became a practising Anglican. Why was this?
We cannot be sure. Later he was involved in trying to persuade Catholics (‘recusants’ as they were often called) to become Anglicans, and wrote several anti-Catholic pamphlets. A number of people, including King James I, believed he would make a good Anglican clergyman. John Donne's employmentA legal training was seen as a good way into politics and the court. Donne was ambitious and in 1598 he was appointed Secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, an influential post. He had previously sailed with the Earl of Essex's expedition against the Spanish at Cadiz, which wiped out a treasure fleet and burned the town. It may have been the connections made then that got him this desirable job. John Donne in loveEgerton's household included a pretty young niece, Ann Moore. Donne and she fell in love. She was under age, and there seemed little prospect of Donne being allowed to marry her, had he asked her uncle's permission. So in 1601 they married secretly. This sounds very romantic, but it lost Donne his job when her father, the Keeper of the Tower of London, heard about it, and even had him put in prison for a while. John Donne, Ann Donne, ‘Undone’In the end, the matter of Donne’s marriage went to court. Fortunately, the court found them to be legally married, but from then on, for much of the marriage, Donne's career was on the rocks. Famously, he wrote: John Donne, Ann Donne, undone They had little money of their own, until eventually Ann's father gave Donne her dowry. For two years they lived at Loseley, near Guildford, where relatives gave them a house; then at Mitcham, a small village south of London.
One possibility open to Donne was to become a clergyman. He seems to have resisted this idea for some time, possibly because he thought he could do better in public life, or because he still felt some reluctance as an ex-Catholic. At one point, he was introduced to the new king, James I, who seems to have liked Donne's intelligent and witty conversation. Donne asked to become Ambassador to Venice but the king made it clear that the only favour he would do him was to make him a successful clergyman. Dr DonneDonne’s final political effort was to become a Member of Parliament for Taunton in 1614. However in those days MPs were not paid and that particular Parliament only sat for about nine weeks. So in 1615, Donne was ordained a priest in the Church of England. King James insisted that Cambridge University should make Donne a Doctor of Divinity at the same time so from then onwards he was known as Dr Donne. Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 0.78 Mb. Share with your friends:
|