John Donne Flashcards
John Donne Intro:
Noted for his elaborate conceits and debates centred around the metaphysical - a term coined by S. T. Johnson- John Donne was one of the most fundamental poets of the 16th Century. Thus, within both…………. and ………………….present……………. as a (PREMISE), allowing Donne to perhaps satirise/ condemn/ challenge……………(PURPOSE).
What did a contemporary of Donne state about his early years?
“a great visitor of ladies, a great frequenter of plays”
What religion did Donne’s family hold/ biographical context?
Born to Catholics- farther was an Ironmonger (holy sonnets) and died when he was four, Mother ELIZABETH HEYWOOD remarried
Donne- Born 1572- Elizabeth the 1 was on the throne= she was protestant- continued Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy
Died of stomach cancer-spell of typhus made him possibly die
How did John meet Anne?
Secretary to Thomas Egerton- Anne’s Uncle
Had 12 kids- 5 died before adulthood
Key Geographical Context?
Sir Frances Drake- Circumnavigation of the globe
Christopher Columbus- reached America
Donne travelled to Spain and Italy with the Earl of Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh
What did critic Dryden argue about Donne’s verses?
“He had amorous verses”
lustful, sexual and erotic
What did Donne’s catholic religion mean about his education?
Donne himself, despite entering Oxford University at the unusually early age of 12 and later studying at Cambridge, was barred from being awarded a degree at either institution because of his background.
What did Donne write about his Religion in his first book “Pseudo Martyr”?
In his first published book, the 1610 prose work Pseudo-Martyr, he would write, ‘I beleeve, no family … hath endured or suffered more in their persons and fortunes, for obeying the Teachers of Romane Doctrine, then [mine] hath done’.
Poems that could be used to explore pain/ loss/ grief?
Twickenham Gardens “Blasted with Sighs and Surrounded by Tears”
Nocturnal on St Lucy’s Day “For I am everything dead”
The Apparition “O Mudreress I am dead”
The Funeral “As prisoners when they are manacled”
Poems that could be used to explore connectedness/ soulmates/ souls/ Petrarchan Ideals?
The Anniversary “To write threescore”= 60 years
The Good Morrow “my face in thine eye, thine in mine appears”
The Canonisation “let me love”- EPIPHORA
Loves Growth “all concentric unto thee”
Poems that could be used to explore the contrast of spiritual and physical love?
Air and Angels “love must… take a body too”
The Good Morrow “sucked on country pleasures”
Loves Growth “loves not so pure and abstact”
Poems that could be used to explore Restoration?
Any of the Holy sonnets: Batter My Heart, Spit in My Face, I Am a Little World
Hymn to God the Father “When thou hast done, Thou hast not done for I have more”
“Twickenham Garden”- “transubstantiates” “convert” “trees to laugh and mock” “stone fountain weeping” “kills me”
