Annotation John Donne’s Holy Sonnet IX

Holy Sonnet IXIf 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.

Structure1 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 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 my sin's black memory.13 That Thou remember them, some claim as debt ;14 I think it mercy if Thou wilt forget.

oSonnet has a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBAACCDEE

oShows emphasis on line 12oEmphasis on lines 13 and 14 also because of change in rhyme scheme

oHas structure of meditative poetry: 1) focus of setting 2) analysis of points 3) colloquies (dialogue with God)

oDonne is often known for using parts of meditative poetry structure, usually colloquies.oSonnet 9 uses trifold of meditative poetry while using traditional rhyming scheme and metaphors of traditional poetryoFocus of sin in the Garden, followed by analysis of reasoning that are directed to God

Meditative poetry

Poetic Traditions

Sonnet 9 Structure

Religious References1 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 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 my sin'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 poemQuestions 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.

Tone1 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 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 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.

MetaphorsUse of metaphysical

metaphorsCompares 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.

Works CitedArcher, 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 Poysonous Mineralls'." 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