Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions and Death's DuelBy: John Donne John Donne (1572 1631) is best known as the greatest English metaphysical poet. But there was another dimension to Donne's life and writing that, if less well known, is no less profound and beautiful. Born into an aristocratic Catholic family, Donne joined the Church of England at the age of twenty one out of fear of persecution. At the age of forty three, he gave up his preoccupations with secular prestige and devoted himself utterly