John Donne (Dictionary of World Biography: The 17th and 18th Centuries)
Early Life
John Donne’s early years set the stage for a lifelong tension that is reflected in his
poetry, namely that between, on one hand, his careful cultivation of skills necessary for a
politically prominent courtier and, on the other, his religion and imprudent marriage, which
impeded his preferment. Donne was born in 1572, the son of John Donne, a successful London
merchant and member of the Ironmongers’ Company, and Elizabeth, the daughter of
epigrammatist John Heywood and the great-niece of the martyred [The entire page is 2964 words long]
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