19653 - John Donne was a Rock Star

Course Overview

Born into a Catholic family in the 1500s, poet John Donne squandered his youth on women, leisure and travel expressed in erotic, satirical, unconventional metaphors. By his death, he had become devoted to one woman and one church - the Church of England for which he served as Dean of St. Paul’s. His sermons forged such a fertile path that crowds gathered to hear him speak with the same adulation as modern rock stars. ”No man is an island,” “For whom the bells tolls,” and “Death be not proud” are some of his famous lines. More than 300 years later, Oppenheimer referenced Donne’s Sonnet 14 when he named the Trinity test site. Explore the life of John Donne and learn why he is still a timely master of metaphysical poetry.