English1572–1631Renaissance · 1500–1660 →

John Donne

“No man is an island.”

The life

A Catholic-born poet who wrote sexy metaphysical verse as a young man and became Dean of St Paul's after a long, difficult conversion. His poems argue rather than sing.

He invented the metaphysical conceit: an argument carried by an outrageous comparison.

Faith Doubt Mortality Love

Annotated here2 texts

ProseRenaissance

No Man Is an Island

John Donne · 1624

The sentence that gave Hemingway a title and everyone else a funeral reading.

Steady · 3 minRead→

SonnetRenaissance

Death, be not proud

John Donne · 1633

A sonnet that argues with death and wins on a technicality.

Steady · 3 minRead→