English poet, preacher and a major representative of the metaphysical poets of the period.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Donne

John Donne was born in London, into a Roman Catholic family when practice of that religion was illegal in England.[6] Donne was the third of six children. His father, John Donne, was of Welsh descent, and a warden of the Ironmongers Company in the City of London. Donne's father was a respected Catholic who avoided unwelcome government attention out of fear of persecution.[7][8]

Donne's father died in 1576, leaving his wife, Elizabeth Heywood, the responsibility of raising their children.[8] Elizabeth Heywood was also from a recusant Catholic family, the daughter of John Heywood, the playwright, and sister of Rev. Jasper Heywood, a Jesuit priest and translator. She was a great-niece of the Catholic martyr Thomas More.[9] This tradition of martyrdom would continue among Donne’s closer relatives, many of whom were executed or exiled for religious reasons.[10] Donne was educated privately; however there is no evidence to support the popular claim that he was taught by Jesuits.[11] Donne's mother married Dr. John Syminges, a wealthy widower with three children, a few months after Donne's father died. In 1577, his mother died, followed by two more of his sisters, Mary and Katherine, in 1581.