Analysis of A Sheaf Of Snakes Used Heretofore To Be My Seal, The Crest Of Our Poor Family
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
ADOPTED in God's family and so
Our old coat lost, unto new arms I go.
The Cross—my seal at baptism—spread below
Does, by that form, into an Anchor grow.
Crosses grow Anchors ; bear, as thou shouldest do
Thy Cross, and that Cross grows an Anchor too.
But He that makes our Crosses Anchors thus,
Is Christ, who there is crucified for us.
Yet may I, with this, my first serpents hold ;
God gives new blessings, and yet leaves the old.
The serpent may, as wise, my pattern be ;
My poison, as he feeds on dust, that's me.
And, as he rounds the earth to murder sure,
My death he is, but on the Cross, my cure.
Crucify nature then, and then implore
All grace from Him, crucified there before ;
Then all is Cross, and that Cross Anchor grown ;
This seal's a catechism, not a seal alone.
Under that little seal great gifts I send,
Works, and prayers, pawns, and fruits of a friend.
And may that saint which rides in our great seal,
To you who bear his name,* great bounties deal !
Scheme | AAAABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0100110001 10111101111 01111100101 1111011101 1011011111 1101111101 11111010101 111111011 1111111101 1111001101 0101111101 1101111111 0111011101 1111110111 101010101 111110101 1111011101 11010010101 1011011111 101101101 01111101011 1111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 983 |
Words | 185 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 735 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 188 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 104 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Sheaf Of Snakes Used Heretofore To Be My Seal, The Crest Of Our Poor Family" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22454/a-sheaf-of-snakes-used-heretofore-to-be-my-seal%2C-the-crest-of-our-poor-family>.
Discuss this John Donne poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In