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Annotation John Donne’s Holy Sonnet IX

Annotation John Donne’s Holy Sonnet IX. Holy Sonnet IX.

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Annotation John Donne’s Holy Sonnet IX

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  1. Annotation John Donne’s Holy Sonnet IX

  2. Holy Sonnet IX If poisonous minerals, and if that tree,Whose fruit threw death on (else immortal) us,If lecherous goats, if serpents enviousCannot be damn'd, alas ! why should I be ?Why should intent or reason, born in me,Make sins, else equal, in me more heinous ?And, mercy being easy, and gloriousTo God, in His stern wrath why threatens He ?But who am I, that dare dispute with Thee ?O God, O !  of Thine only worthy blood,And my tears, make a heavenly Lethean flood,And drown in it my sin's black memory.That Thou remember them, some claim as debt ;I think it mercy if Thou wilt forget.

  3. Structure 1 If poisonous minerals, and if that tree, 2 Whose fruit threw death on (else immortal) us,3 If lecherous goats, if serpents envious4 Cannot be damn'd, alas ! why should I be ?5 Why should intent or reason, born in me,6 Make sins, else equal, in me more heinous ?7 And, mercy being easy, and glorious8 To God, in His stern wrath why threatensHe ?9 But who am I, that dare dispute with Thee ?10 O God, O !  of Thine only worthyblood,11 And my tears, make a heavenly Letheanflood,12 And drown in it my sin's black memory.13 That Thou remember them, some claim as debt ;14 I think it mercy if Thou wilt forget. • Sonnet has a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBAACCDEE • Shows emphasis on line 12 • Emphasis on lines 13 and 14 also because of change in rhyme scheme • Has structure of meditative poetry: 1) focus of setting 2) analysis of points 3) colloquies (dialogue with God) • Donne is often known for using parts of meditative poetry structure, usually colloquies. • Sonnet 9 uses trifold of meditative poetry while using traditional rhyming scheme and metaphors of traditional poetry • Focus of sin in the Garden, followed by analysis of reasoning that are directed to God Meditative poetry Poetic Traditions Sonnet 9 Structure

  4. Religious References 1 If poisonous minerals, and if that tree, 2 Whose fruit threw death on (else immortal) us, 3 If lecherous goats, if serpents envious 4 Cannot be damn'd, alas ! why should I be ? 5 Why should intent or reason, born in me, 6 Make sins, else equal, in me more heinous ? 7 And, mercy being easy, and glorious 8 To God, in His stern wrath why threatens He ? 9 But who am I, that dare dispute with Thee ? 10 O God, O !  of Thine only worthy blood, 11 And my tears, make a heavenly Lethean flood, 12 And drown in it mysin's black memory. 13 That Thou remember them, some claim as debt ; 14 I think it mercy if Thou wilt forget. • Uses multiple religious references within the poem • Questions ways of God, and then changes tone in line 8 to a tone of acceptance and repentance. • Structure and questions according to refer to Romans 8. • Uses same technique of switching for first person plural pronoun to first person singular pronouns to get audience to sympathizes with him and repent to God. Topic of questioning also appears in Romans 8.

  5. Tone 1 If poisonous minerals, and if that tree, 2 Whose fruit threw death on (else immortal) us, 3 If lecherous goats, if serpents envious 4 Cannot be damn'd, alas ! why should I be ? 5 Why should intent or reason, born in me, 6 Make sins, else equal, in me more heinous ? 7 And, mercy being easy, and glorious 8 To God, in His stern wrath why threatens He ? 9 But who am I, that dare dispute with Thee ? 10 O God, O !  of Thine only worthy blood, 11 And my tears, make a heavenly Letheanflood, 12 And drown in it my sin's black memory. 13 That Thou remember them, some claim as debt ; 14 I think it mercy if Thou wilt forget. • Change in Tone from line 8 to 9 • May have derived from purpose of structure to reference Romans 8 • Purpose to help reader sympathize with speaker • Uses meditative poetry style of dramatic statements • Switches from questioning to explanation where speaker is begging for mercy • Connects with Donne’s past • Troubling past shines through in questioning, and portrays Donne’s theme of creating melancholic tones compared to spiritual enlighting.

  6. Metaphors • Use of metaphysical metaphors • Compares sin to poisonous minerals, lusty goats, and serpents • Compares grace to flood • Displays different imagery than imagery provided usually imagined when talking, fall of man, grace, and mercy Vs.

  7. Works Cited Archer, Stanley. "Meditation and the Structure of Donne's "Holy Sonnets"“ ELH 28.2 (1961): 137-147. JSTOR. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. March 2010 Chong, Kenneth. "Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Self-Chastisement in Donne's 'If PoysonousMineralls'." Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme 29.4 (2005): 41-55. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 2 Mar. 2010. Kuchar, Gary. "Petrarchism and Repentance in John Donne's Holy Sonnets." Modern Philology: Critical and Historical Studies in Literature, Medieval Through Contemporary 105.3 (2008): 535-569. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 2 Mar. 2010. Trevor, Douglas. "John Donne and Scholarly Melancholy." Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 40.1 (2000): 81-102. Winter. Project Muse. Web. 2 March 2010

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