Analysis of A Hymn To Christ At The Author's Last Going Into Germany
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
In what torn ship soever I embark,
That ship shall be my emblem of thy Ark;
What sea soever swallow me, that flood
Shall be to me an emblem of thy blood;
Though thou with clouds of anger do disguise
Thy face, yet through that mask I know those eyes,
Which, though they turn away sometimes,
They never will despise.
I sacrifice this Island unto thee,
And all whom I loved there, and who loved me;
When I have put our seas 'twixt them and me,
Put thou thy sea betwixt my sins and thee.
As the tree's sap doth seek the root below
In winter, in my winter now I go,
Where none but thee, th' Eternal root
Of true Love, I may know.
Nor thou nor thy religion dost control
The amorousness of an harmonious Soul,
But thou wouldst have that love thyself: as thou
Art jealous, Lord, so I am jealous now,
Thou lov'st not, till from loving more, Thou free
My soul: who ever gives, takes liberty:
O, if thou car'st not whom I love
Alas, thou lov'st not me.
Seal then this bill of my Divorce to All,
On whom those fainter beams of love did fall;
Marry those loves, which in youth scattered be
On Fame, Wit, Hopes (false mistresses) to thee.
Churches are best for Prayer, that have least light:
To see God only, I go out of sight:
And to 'scape stormy days, I choose
An Everlasting night.
Scheme | AABBCCXC DDDDEEXE FFGGDDXD HHDDIIXI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01111101 1111110111 11110111 1111110111 1111110101 1111111111 11110101 110101 110110101 0111110111 11111011101 1111011101 1011110101 0100110111 1111110101 111111 1111010101 011101001 111111111 1101111101 1111110111 1111011100 111111111 011111 1111110111 1111011111 1011101101 1111110011 1011111111 1111011111 01110111 10101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,248 |
Words | 248 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 243 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 14, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 108 Views
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"A Hymn To Christ At The Author's Last Going Into Germany" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22445/a-hymn-to-christ-at-the-author%27s-last-going-into-germany>.
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