Holy Sonnet IV: Oh my black soul!

John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)



Oh my black soul! now art thou summoned
By sickness, death's herald, and champion;
Thou art like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done
Treason, and durst not turn to whence he is fled;
Or like a thief, which till death's doom be read,
Wisheth himself delivered from prison,
But damned and haled to execution,
Wisheth that still he might be imprisoned.
Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lack;
But who shall give thee that grace to begin?
Oh make thy self with holy mourning black,
And red with blushing, as thou art with sin;
Or wash thee in Christ's blood, which hath this might
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

36 sec read
229

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBCCBBADEDEFF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 621
Words 117
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

John Donne

John Donne was an English poet, satirist, lawyer and a cleric in the Church of England. more…

All John Donne poems | John Donne Books

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    "Holy Sonnet IV: Oh my black soul!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/22511/holy-sonnet-iv:-oh-my-black-soul!>.

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