Holy Sonnet 17John Donne

(Jon the Don)

Meaning Poets wife has died therefore he fills his

days with devotion to God.

His love for his wife has prepared him to love God however he can’t share this

love with anyone else. God

Since she whom I loved hath paid her last debt

To Nature, and to hers, and my good is dead,

And her soul early into heaven ravished,

Wholly on heavenly things my mind is set.

Here the admiring her my mind did whet

To seek thee, God; so streams do show the head;

Bu though I have found thee, and thou my thirst hast fed,

A holy thirsty dropsy melts me yet.

But why should I beg more love, whenas thou

Dost woo my soul, for hers offering all thine:

And dost not only fear lest I allow

My love to saints and angels, things divine,

But in thy tender jealously dost doubt

Lest the world, flesh, yea, devil pull thee out.

AABCCDDEFGFGHH }Volta

Structure

NEXT

Irregular Rhyming

May highlight how muddled his emotions are and how quickly they must change

BACK

VoltaThis is the turn in the sonnet –like a conclusion indicated by

the word ‘but’

BACK

Since she whom I loved hath paid her last debt

To Nature, and to hers, and my good is dead,

And her soul early into heaven ravished,

Wholly on heavenly things my mind is set.

Here the admiring her my mind did whet

To seek thee, God; so streams do show the head;

But though I have found thee, and thou my thirst hast fed,

A holy thirsty dropsy melts me yet.

But why should I beg more love, whenas thou

Dost woo my soul, for hers offering all thine:

And dost not only fear lest I allow

My love to saints and angels, things divine,

But in thy tender jealously dost doubt

Lest the world, flesh, yea, devil pull thee out.

Language

NEXT

Word Endings

‘d’ ‘t’ – something about it being plosive

Don’t really get it

Abrupt ending?

Makes speaker sound annoyed

BACK

Lexical SetsThese are words associated with a certain

theme. In this case it would be religion. Indicating that our lives should revolve around

a higher power [God] as does the poem. The key message –as mentioned before- is all about

how devotion to God has become his prime motivation to carry on going now that his wife

has died.

BACK

ImagerySince she whom I loved hath paid her last debt

To Nature, and to hers, and my good is dead,

And her soul early into heaven ravished,

Wholly on heavenly things my mind is set.Here the admiring her my mind did whet

To seek thee, God; so streams do show the head;

But though I have found thee, and thou my thirst hast fed,A holy thirsty dropsy melts me yet.

But why should I beg more love, whenas thou

Dost woo my soul, for hers offering all thine:

And dost not only fear lest I allow

My love to saints and angels, things divine,But in thy tender jealously dost doubt

Lest the world, flesh, yea, devil pull thee out.NEXT

Since she whom I hath paid her last

To Nature, and to hers, and my good is dead,

And her soul into heaven ,

Wholly on heavenly things my mind is set.

Here the admiring her my mind did whet

To seek thee, God; so streams do show the head;

But though I have found thee, and thou my thirst hast fed,

A holy thirsty dropsy melts me yet.

But why should I beg more love, whenas thou

Dost woo my soul, for hers offering all thine:

And dost not only fear lest I allow

My love to saints and angels, things divine,

But in thy jealously dost doubtLest the world, flesh, yea, devil pull thee out.

Effect on the Reader

NEXT

How many lines?

Only 5 out of 14 lines discuss Donne’s wife reflecting both the sudden nature of

Donne’s new intense devotion to God but also who he appears to value more.

BACK

The use of the word debt conjures up the idea that we ultimately do not have

control over our own lives and we owe our lives to God for putting us on earth so therefore we should accept that we can be

taken whenever God wishes to do so.

Debt

NEXT

Readers Reaction to this…

Depending on who the reader will determine the reaction will be:

A romantic may have the opinion that no ones love should overtake the love of his wife so this could a reaction of frustration as he finds happiness loving someone else instead of doing so by honouring his

wife's memory

Alternatively, the reader could feel a sense of respect towards Donne due to how intrusively he

expresses his love for God.

BACK

Ravished and Early“Ravished” – to be seized and carried off by force

“Early” – before a period of time

Therefore, the use of these words in particular indicate that the voice of the poem feels as though his wife’s death was an injustice and that she was

not ready to leave.

This may show what Donne’s initial thoughts were before he was able to ‘grow’ and find solace in God’s

promise. It suggests to a reader that God can make one calm and remove negative emotions making oneself

pure and content. BACK

Tender Jealousy

Donne presents God as one whose actions are done completely out of love due to the word

‘tender’ before jealousy – making it an antithesis, as usually jealousy is a negative, corrosive

emotion. However here, the reader is made to believe that there is good behind it. ‘Tender’

mitigates jealousy.

It is conveyed here that jealousy derives from good intentions and that it should be embraced.

BACK

Loved

As his wife has died, Donne is reminded that we don’t live forever, even those we have given all our love cannot be spared. This consequently provokes

sympathy from the reader as Donne clearly expresses the loss of a loved one. This is fairly easy type of loss to distinguish therefore anyone could

relate to it.

BACK

Why?In order to have an understanding or appreciation of the poem, the reader

must decide on their opinion as to why Donne conveys his emotions and the

motive behind this .

Viewpoints on the Poem

1. Due to the frustration expressed at the beginning through the use of the words ‘ravished’ and ‘early’…

Perhaps, he feels that God has controlled his wife’s passing therefore if he obeys God he will be able to experience the love from his wife once more.

2. This also links to the idea of paying off a debt. After being allowed a life with his wife ‘whom [he] loved’, Donne feels obliged to repay the person/figure/power responsible for this, through prayer. The poem expresses multiple examples of compromise.

Thus relating to Donne’s ultimate motive in that, his devotion to God is partially a duty due to the repeated use of the word ‘but’ indicating hesitation and inner conflcit.

3.Lastly, perhaps Donne is trying to explain that he has been awakened after his wife has died. This becomes

evident as he explains that loving his wife has prepared him to love God, therefore his whole life has built up to this ultimate devotion. It also links to the idea of Donne

being lead astray by the outside world, this makes his loss seem rationalised as it was for a purpose.

Since she whom I loved hath paid her last debt

To Nature, and to hers, and my good is dead,And her soul early into heaven ravished,

Wholly on heavenly things my mind is set.

Here the admiring her my mind did whet

To seek thee, God; so streams do show the head;

But though I have found thee, and thou my thirst hast fed,A holy thirsty dropsy melts me yet.

But why should I beg more love, whenas thouDost woo my soul, for hers offering all thine:

And dost not only fear lest I allow

My love to saints and angels, things divine,

But in thy tender jealously dost doubtLest the world, flesh, yea, devil pull thee out.

Hope you liked that