John Donne
...A. Family Background
B. Education and Study
C. Henry's Death
D. Anne More
E. Life with his wife
F. Holy Orders
G. Death of Anne More
H. Death of John Donne
III. Donne's Writing
A. Subjects
i. Love
ii. Religion
iii. Death
IV. My Favorite
A. Since she whom I loved hath paid her last debt
B. A look into sonnet XVII
V. Conclusion
In early seventeenth century English poetry, a poet with a particular form of writing could be considered a metaphysical poet. These poets write about the fundamentals of nature. Metaphysical poets writing are characterized by the imagery and argumentation, as well as the metaphysical conceit. Metaphysical conceit is a figure of speech that compares objects that are not normally associated. John Donne, one of the well-recognized metaphysical poets, compares two lovers who are separated to the two legs of a compass in his poem, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning (Wikipedia).
John Donne was born in the year 1572 to a prominent Roman Catholic family in London. His father was, in English terms an ironmonger, an iron or hardware dealer. His father, who died suddenly when John was only four year old, taught John about death at a very early age. His mother, Elizabeth Haywood, who was left to raise three children following the death of her husband, was the daughter of John Heywood, a writer of epigrams, a form of poems (Wikipedia).
He began his studies very early in life. He, with his younger brother Henry, entered the University of Oxford at the very tender age of eleven. There he studied for three years, after witch he moved his study to the University of Cambridge for an additional three years. He was unable to obtain a degree due to his inability, being Catholic, to take the Oath of Supremacy, which is what was required at graduation. He then was admitted to study law from 1591-1592 (Wikipedia).
In 1593, his brother...
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