The Night School with John Donne (1572-1631)

DESCRIPTION - TNS 18,4 - John Donne (1572-1631) on 21 April 2026

John Donne (1572-1631) is a contemporary of our Guest at The Night School last month - St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). Both were “divines”, which means “One who has officially to do with ‘divine things’; formerly, any ecclesiastic, priest, or other member of the clergy; now, one skilled in divinity; a theologian.” The latter was particularly famous for his letters of spiritual direction; the former, our Guest this month, is esteemed for his religious poetry, especially for his “Holy Sonnets”.

His life and his understanding of God and religion, grounded in the convictions and habits of medieval Europe, came to pieces in the emergent “new world” of science and of the constantly, often violently, changing political scene. His personal failures and suffering deepened him to such a degree that he trained for the Priesthood and was ordained in 1615. Then when his wife died in 1617, his suffering increased and drove him deeper into the mystery of God and life. It is in this context that he composed his justifiably famous “Holy Sonnets”. He is judged the greatest of what came to be called “the Metaphysical poets”. (George Herbert, a previous Guest of The Night School, is counted among this number.)

With our Guest this month, we will look closely at these sonnets, in whom we find some of the most famous lines in English poetry. For example, “Death be not proud” and “What if the present were the world’s last night?” and “Batter my heart three person’d God” and in a prose essay, “No man is an island.”

Welcome to the closing Part of The Night School, Series 18.