Donne: A Life Reflected in Poetry

It is always interesting to see how a writer’s life may have influenced his or her works. Looking back this week, I have taken the time to look more closely into John Donne’s biography found in the anthology, and look at how his life was mirrored by elements in his poetry. As the biography suggests, Donne’s works present a variety of meaning and attitude, which is most likely a result of the various events and feelings Donne experienced.

Donne had a roller-coaster of a life, and perhaps one of the more unique aspects of it is his secret marriage to Ann More, which resulted in the birth of 12 children. After learning of this, one might gain a different understanding of his poem, “The Flea”. Certainly a poem filled with lust, perhaps it was also a reflection of Donne’s secret love life. The woman in the poem gives off a sense of hesitation, perhaps as a 17 year old niece of the Lord Keeper might act. The speaker of the poem notes the criticism the lovers may face, and the fact that their acts may come off as sacrilegious. Furthermore, the footnotes suggest aspects of the poem may refer to pregnancy, and, again, we know that Donne had numerous children with Ann.

The lust of early poems changes into love as we move onto poems such as “The Good-Morrow”. Donne remained married to Ann for 16 years, until her death, so it seems clear their love was true, and not simply an act to satisfy culture. Evidenced in the lines:
“My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp North, without declining West.”
Another poem full of love is “The Sun Rising”, which again combines worldly imagery with the theme of love and togetherness. The personification of the sun gives cheerful play to Donne’s love with Ann, and it is clear by reading the poem that they are happy in their marriage.

As happy as Donne’s marriage with Ann was, it came with moments of sadness and grief. Despite the birth of twelve children, there were also stillbirths. In addition, Ann passed away after the last stillbirth. Images of darkness and sadness are reflected in some of Donne’s later poems. Titles such as “The Apparition”, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, and “The Funeral”, we see a clear change from “The Good-Morrow” and “The Sun Rising”. One interesting thing I noticed was that again in “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, Donne again uses this image of spheres as he did in “Good-Morrow”. Yet this time rather than being a good fit, he describes them as having “trepidation”, or movement. Almost as if the spheres that were so perfect together before have been torn.

A last point to look at is religion in Donne’s life. Obviously a huge part of his upbringing, it does not seem as though he was truly religious until later in his life. In looking at his poetry, this idea could hold true, seeing as there is not a huge focus on religion or even religious statements in some of his poems. This is then countered in the Holy Sonnets, where religion is the base.