John Donne was one of the greatest poets of his time. He wrote mainly about love. John Donne was born in 1572, in London, England. His mother, Elizabeth, was the great-granddaughter of the Catholic martyr Thomas More. His father, also named John, was a prosperous London merchant. During his tenure as chief secretary to the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir Thomas Egerton, John Donne fell in love with Egerton's niece, Anne More, and they married in 1601. As the marriage was against the wishes of Egerton and Anne's father More, George More, Donne had to go to Fleet Prison for a short time. Donne was released soon after, but had to live a retired country life in Pyrford, Surrey. Anne gave birth to 12 children in 16 years, including two stillbirths. In 1617, John Donne's wife died shortly after giving birth to their twelfth child. The main topic John wrote about was love, then he became obsessed with death as his health continued to fail him. John died on March 31, 1631 in London, England. (Biography) Poetry is an art form that predates literacy. Poetry was often employed as a means of recording oral history. Poetry is also often identified as liturgy in these societies, as the formal nature of poetry makes prophecies easier to remember. The development of literacy gave rise to more personal and shorter poems intended to be sung. They are called lyrics, which derive from the Greek lura, or lyre, the instrument that was used to accompany the performance of Greek lyrics starting from around the 7th century. (Poetry). Poetry has come a long way over the years. Poetry is now used mainly through singing. People write songs for the same reason they started writing poetry to express their feelings. In “Divine Meditation 14” John asks the: tripartite God”…… in the center of the sheet…… poet, and perhaps no other writer tried so hard to unify and express such incongruous and mutually discordant passions. John Donne, rediscovered in the early 20th century, is remembered today as the leading exponent of a style of verse known as “metaphysical poetry.” (Notes on the spark). Before starting my research paper I had never heard of John Donne. I knew what poetry was and I had read poetry before, but it was never really my thing. After reading his poems I learned a lot about him and life. I learned that he liked to write poems about love most of all, then when his health started to fail he became obsessed with death and what it consisted of. Donne's poems express real-life events and life lessons. For example, when he writes all his poems about love, they are true. He expresses how much he loves his beloved and how special their love is.