Donne's father died suddenly in 1576, and left the three children to be raised by their mother, Elizabeth, the daughter of John Heywood, epigrammatist, and a relative of Sir Thomas More.

多恩的父在1576年猝亡，留给他的母三个孩子抚养。他的母刺诗人约翰·海伍德的女儿，也托马·的戚。