John Donne

This study does not set out to deal with all aspects of Donne's life and work. Rather, it aims to examine selected aspects of the life and work in the context of the times Donne lived in, seeking to emphasise those features which are most alive in our times. Particular emphasis is placed upon the period between Donne's marriage in 1601 and his ordination in 1615. The last period of his life and its main literary product, the sermons, are treated more briefly while the treatment of the early years is limited by the gaps in the surviving evidence. Both his poetry and his prose are seen less in purely aesthetic terms therefore, than as products of a difficult life lived at a difficult time.