Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/454

* DONJON. 390 DONNE. fortress. From the lirciinistance that the lower or underground story of the ilonjon was used as a prison has come the modern meaning of the word. See Castle; Keicp. DON JTJ'AN, Sp. pron. dAn nwiin (Sp.. Sir John). A Ic'gendarv lii.nire, like Faust, Tann- hauser, and the FIvinu' Dulchinan, and one of the most widely liaudlod in all modem poetry. The ideal of the Don .Juan legend is presented in the life of a prolli<rate. who jjives himself up so entirely to the gratification of sense that he acknowledges no higher consideration, and pro- ceeds to murder the man who stands between him and his wish, fancying that in so doing he has annihilated his very existence. Partly in wanton daring, partly to allay all uneasy mis- giving, he then challenges that spirit in which he disbelieves, to demonstrate to him its exist- ence in the only way he holds valid — namely, through the senses. When this actually hap- pens, when the spirit proves its existence and power, and compels him to acknowledge its supremacy and the worthlcssncss of a merely sensuous existence, he is crushed and sinks into hell. The genuine legend of Don .Juan was first put into form by Gabriel Tellez (Tirso de Mo- lina), in Kl litirlndor dr firvilln t/ Convidado de Piedra. In it the hero is described as a member of a celebrated Sevillian family, Tcnorio. while the action of the piece turns m.Tinly upon his Ix-trayal of his fricnil. the Marquis de la Mota. and his .attempt to seduce the latter's betrothed. Being opposed by her father, he kills him. forces his way into the family tomb of the murdered man. causes a feast to be prepared and invites the statue which has been creeled over his vic- tim to l)e his guest. The stone guest appears at table as invited, compels Don Juan to follow him, and. the measure of his sins being full, delivers him over to hell. This drama was early transplanted to Italy, where it was worked over by t'ieognini and by t;iliberlo, not later than 1U50. It then found its way to Paris, anil be- came the basis of Dorimond's I'lslin dc piirre (ItioS), of Lc fih crimincl of He Villiers (ItitiO), of the Don Juan of Moli^re (Ititio), and of still other versions by Rosimond and Thomas Corneille. In England it was utilized by Shad- well as the groundwork of The Libertine (11370). In the seventeenth century it served re|)eatedly in Italy as a theme for ojiera, lx>ing first used by Gluck, in a ballet which enjoyed great popu- larity, and later handled successively by Ueglii- ni, C'imarosa, Albertini, Gazzaniga, and many later composers. All of these were thrown into oblivion by Mozart's immortal work. l)vn Gio- vanni. In more recent times Don Juan has con- tinued to be a favorite theme for piK'ts and novel- ists, among whom may be mentioned: Prosper Merimee, Les units du purgatoirc : Dumas's drama. Don Juan dc J/nraiia; Byron. D'Aurevilly, Balzac, and Flaubert's posthumous fragment. Consult: Picatoste, Don Juan Tcnorio (Madrid, 1883) ; Engel, Die Don Juan-Sage (Dresden, 1887). DONKEY (from dun, with reference to its color + double diminutive kct/). The domestic ass. See Ass ; and Colored Plate of HoBSES. DONNA DEL LAGO, I.a. An opera by Rossini (q.v. ). produced at Naples in 1819. DONNDOEF, dOu'diirf, Karl Anou (18.35—). A German SLiilplor. born at Weimar. He was the pupil of Preller and Jiide at Weimar and of Reit- schel at Dresden, and in 1877 became a professor in the Art School at Stuttgart. Among his works are five statues, including one of Savonarola, for the Luther ilemorial at Worms; a bronze statue of J. S. Bach at Eisenach ; the Freiligrath Memorial at Cannstatt, and several portrait- busts, in particular those of Theodor Vischer, von Moltkc, (!erok, and Bismarck. DONNE, don. Jonx (1573-lt)31). An Eng- lish poet and divine. He was bom in London, where his father, .John Donne, who was Welsh by descent, was a prosperous ironmonger. His mother was a daughter of .John HeywcKjd, the epigrammatist. He was brought up a Roman Catholic. In 1.584 he was admitted at Hart Hall, Oxford, but was transferred to Cambridge; and in 1502 he was entered at Lincoln's Inn. A little later he turned Protestant. In 1,")96 he sened under Essex in the famous expedition to Cadiz, and on his retirn was appointed secre- tary to Sir Thomas Egerton, Keeper of the tjreat Seal. During the next few years he wrote many poems, some of which circulated in MSS., but none were published. Tn December. 1600, he secretly married . ne, then only seventeen years old. the daughter of Sir George More, brother of the Lord Keeper's wife. In conse- quence of this act. he was dismissed from otTice, and was even committed to the Fleet, but he soon obtained his release. Though Jami-s was friendly toward him, the King gave him no post at Court. Donne continued to write verse, sending the MSS. of his Divine Pormx to the mother of George HerlnTt in 1007. In IfilO. he wrote for the King the Psendo-Mnrliir. an argu- ment against the attitude of the Catholics toward