Transcript John Donne Holy Sonnets XI.

Donne By: Karen Lee
JOHN DONNE
HOLY SONNETS XI.
Background
 John Donne was born in the midst of
probably the largest religious upheaval in
England’s history.
 Born to a Catholic family after Henry VIII had
moved the country into Protestantism.
 By the time Donne was born, the level of
pressure to conform to Anglicanism had been
well-established.
Holy Sonnets
 Written when he was struggling to transition
from Catholicism to Anglicanism- Protestant
 Conveys his spiritual fears, thoughts and
hopes.
 Spiritual growth and journey of Donne.
 Themes of the Holy Sonnets deal with death,
sin and the struggle against the flesh, a desire
for grace and the seeking of sanctification,
and wonderment at Christ’s sacrifice.
Themes of Holy Sonnet XI.
 Shows his intense awareness of the effects of
sin in his flesh.
 The struggle between death and weight of sin
in the Flesh.
 Highlights his guilt and desire to pay for his
sins.
 His love for God
ANALYSIS TIME!
BTW, IN CHRISTIANITY, PRICE OF SIN= DEATH.
Spit in my face, you Jews, and pierce my side,
Buffet, and scoff, scourge, and crucify me,
 Starts with a direct address to the Jews
 Asks to be treated the same way as they did
to Jesus
 Plosives words are used which makes the 2
lines sound harsh. i.e “spit” “pierce” “buffet”
“scoff” “scourge”
 The detailed description of Jesus’ torture=
Poet’s guilt as he wishes to be treated the
same way
For I have sinn'd, and sinne', and only He,
Who could do no iniquity, hath died.
 Reveals his need to be punished. “I have sinn’d
and sinne’”
 His sins should be punished and yet He (Jesus)
who did no wrong had died for him.
 Repetition of sin = reinforces his sense of being
damned and unworthy of God’s grace.
 Poet continues sinning while the Jesus (sin-less
person) had died for him = INTENSIFIED feelings
of guilt. Juxtaposition of himself and Christ.
 Iniquity= sin
But by my death can not be satisfied
My sins, which pass the Jews' impiety.
 His death alone would not be able to account
for his sins
 His sins are so great that they surpassed the
Jews’ “impiety” (their disrespect of God)
They kill'd once an inglorious man, but I
Crucify him daily, being now glorified.
 “They” = Jews. Killed him once but the poet
“crucify” him daily as he continues to sin
 Donne inverts 1 Cor 15:31, where Apostle Paul
says “I die everyday!” for his sinful nature.
 The poet sees himself killing Jesus everyday
by committing sins that Christ had died for in
the first place despite the fact that he has
risen and is “now glorified” in Heaven.
O let me then His strange love still admire ;
Kings pardon, but He bore our punishment ;
 Donne admires the “strange love” that goes
beyond a normal King’s pardon as “He bore
our punishment”
 Agape Love. The selfless love that Christ
showed by dying for our sins.
 Punishment of sin= Death
And Jacob came clothed in vile harsh attire,
But to supplant, and with gainful intent ;
 Refers to Jacob’s impersonation of his brother
Esau to gain their father’s blessings (that was
meant for the first born son, Esau)
 Compares Jacob’s impersonation with God’s
act of taking form of a man.
God clothed Himself in vile man's flesh, that so
He might be weak enough to suffer woe.
 Vile man’s flesh= demeans man
 Doctrine of Incarnation
 Took form of a man to pay for his believers’
sins.
 Christ sacrificed himself to atone for the sins.
Rhyme
 This sonnet follows the typical Donne rhyme
scheme abba abba cdcd ee, combining the
structure of the Elizabethan (or
Shakespearean) sonnet with the rhyme of the
Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet.
 This allows the first two quatrains to be
considered together as an octet.
 Last two lines = Shakespearean couplet as it
delivers the moral or conclusion of sonnet.
Meter
 Each line has 10 syllables
 Dactylic pentameter (/UU)
“Spit in my face, you Jews, and pierce my side,”
TQ