John Donne
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John Donne was an English poet and cleric who lived from 1572 to 1631 and is remembered for his innovative, intellectually complex poetry that broke from the conventions of his time. His work, which often explored themes of love, religion, and human connection through striking imagery and argument, continues to influence how people understand English literature and poetry.
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John Donne (pronounced /ˈdʌn/ "dunn"; 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English Jacobean poet, preacher and a major representative of the metaphysical poets of the period. His works are notable for their realistic and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially as compared to those of his contemporaries. <a href="https://www
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John Donne (/dʌn/ DUN; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London (1621–1631). He is considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His poetical works are noted for their metaphorical and sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs and satires. He is also known for his sermons.
Donne's style is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. These features, along with his frequent dramatic or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and an adaptation into English of European baroque and mannerist techniques. His early career was marked by poetry that bore immense knowledge of English society. A theme in Donne's later poetry is the idea of true religion, something that he spent much time considering and about which he often theorised. He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love poems. He is particularly famous for his mastery of metaphysical conceits.
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1572 births1631 deaths16th-century English male writers16th-century English poets17th-century Anglican theologians17th-century English Anglican priests17th-century English male writers17th-century English poets17th-century English scholarsAlumni of Hart Hall, OxfordAlumni of the University of CambridgeAnglican poets