Religion and Spirituality in John Donne’s Life and Poetry

This paper surveys the spiritual growth of John Donne by examining his poetry inconjunction with his life and poetry. John Donne is famous for his pious verses, treatises,and sermons, which rank among the best of the seventeenth century. He wrote manypoems of heavenly love that reproduce his consciousness of the relationship between aperson and God. Although the inexperienced reader may ponder that the religious tone ofDonne‟s poetry is lost or does not occur in the work of 21st century poets, the religioustone of Donne‟s poetry still happens in the contemporary lyrics. Despite his devotion toCatholicism, Donne started to question his family's religion in his early life. As Donnequestioned the validity of Roman Catholicism, the poetry he wrote was almost alwaysabout earthly love. However, the death of his wife, Anne, provided a notable turningpoint in John Donne's life, for his earthly love died too. This research surveys howDonne's spirituality and religion are shown in his life and poetry and examines howDonne and his family struggled because the English government persecuted them forbeing Roman Catholic; it analyzes the poems of divine love that reflect Donne'sawareness of the relationship between a person and God. As a result of this study it isclear for those, who think Donne to be a poet more of body, that Donne is a poet more ofspirituality and religion than sensuality.

Keywords:

Religion , Spirituality , Divine Love , Roman Catholic