NOTES
THE POET'S LIFE:
John Donne (pronounced "Dunn") was born in London in 1572 of a wealthy Catholic family. It
was the time of the English Reformation, however, and so being a Catholic carried onerous
restrictions. For example, although Donne went to both Oxford and Cambridge Universities,
he
could not graduate without taking the Oath of Supremacy, something which he refused at the
time to do.
His father left him a sizeable inheritance. He was a known womaniser, however, and made the
dreadful mistake of marrying one of these women in secret, causing his father-in-law to throw
him into prison, refusing to pay his daughter's dowry. The disgrace saw Donne cast out of a
promising prosperous career. To mark this tragedy, Donne wrote his now famous three line
poem:
John Donne,
Anne Donne,
Undone.
It would take some ten years for the breach to heal and Donne's fortunes to look up. About this
time the poet also decided to renounce the Catholic Church, probably because of the
advantages that being an Anglican would offer him. His anti-Catholic writings soon caught the
eye of King James himself who believed that Donne would be a good churchman. The poet,
it
seems, was then forced into taking Holy Orders against his will but nevertheless became
famous
for the quality of the sermons which he preached.
Anne Donne died in 1617 while giving birth to their twelfth child. The poet's own life would take
on a sickly hue from then on, until he himself died in 1631.
THE NEW WORLD:
Donne was born when the Voyages of Discovery were at their peak and talk was abounding of
the New World in the Americas. Dinner parties would be dominated by maps showing the
expansion of the British Empire versus the regions being occupied by the Spaniards and the
French.
READ FURTHER NOTES?
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1.
Rewrite in your own words, "I wonder by my troth".
 [Need help?]
2.
Comment on the poet's expression, "Were we not wean'd till then?" Is the poet
referring to being weaned from the mother's breast?
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3.
Identify the various language devices used in the opening stanza.
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4.
What is meant by "good-morrow" (stanza 2)?
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5.
Why would "our waking souls" not "watch one another out of fear"?
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6.
Comment on the significance of the lines, "Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have
gone; | Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown."
[Need help?]
7.
Stanza 3 explains how the two lovers are lost in each other's gaze, each staring
entranced into the other's eyes.
- What is meant by the two "hemispheres"?
- What does the poet mean when he says that these two hemispheres are
"without sharp north, without declining west"?
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8.
Rephrase the lines "If our two loves be one, or thou and I | Love so alike that none can
slacken, none can die."
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