Donne has often been described as a poet of death. To some people, especially in a culture where thoughts of death are often shunned, he seemed obsessed with it. In reality, death and pain were a constant reality in his life, but he didn’t stop there.

In 1623, when a sudden illness brought the poet and preacher John Donne close to death, he expressed his lament with words that may sound relevant during our coronavirus pandemic: “Variable and therefore miserable condition of man! This minute I was well, and am ill this minute. I am surprised with a sudden change and alteration to worse, and can impute it to no cause, nor call it by any name. We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that goes to that building—and so our health is a long and a regular work, but in a minute a cannon batters all, overthrows all, demolishes all. A sickness unprevented for all our diligence, unsuspected for all our curiosity—nay, undeserved, if we consider only disorder—summons us, seizes us, possesses us, destroys us in an instant. O miserable condition of man!”[1]

Donne has often been described as a poet of death. To some people, especially in a culture where thoughts of death are often shunned, he seemed obsessed with it. In reality, death and pain were a constant reality in his life, but he didn’t stop there.

A Life of Struggles

Donne was born in London in 1572 to a Roman Catholic family, at a time when anti-Catholic sentiments were particularly strong in England. His great-grand uncle, Thomas More, was beheaded by Henry VIII, his uncle was exiled for being a Jesuit, and his younger brother Henry died of the plague while imprisoned for sheltering a priest.

After graduating in law, Donne enlisted in the fleet of the earl of Essex and went on to a victorious expedition against Spain. A second journey, however, ended in disaster as the fleet was caught in ill weather. It was there that Donne wrote three poems describing the ordeal: “The Storm,” “The Calm,” and “The Burnt Ship.”

Around this time, Donne converted – probably gradually – to the Church of England. Upon his return to London, he was appointed private secretary to Lord Thomas Egerton, Keeper of the Great Seal. At 28 years of age, he was set for a prosperous career.

Then something happened that turned his life around: he fell in love with Egerton’s 17-year-old niece, Anne More. Knowing that Anne’s father would not consent to their union, the two married in secret.

When the news became public, Anne’s father tried to get the marriage annulled. Being unsuccessful, he managed to have Donne fired and imprisoned due to a dispute over her dowry. Donne described the situation with a pun (one of the many he wrote throughout his life): “John Donne, Anne Donne, Undone.”

Released in 1602, Donne struggled to support his family. Of his 12 children, five died in childhood. On top of it, he was plagued by poor health, which included headaches, stomach troubles, and gout. He was also frequent prey to melancholy. In a paper he never published, he confessed he was tempted to take his own life.

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