Analysis of Holy Sonnet XI: Spit In My Face You Jews, And Pierce My Side
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
Spit in my face you Jews, and pierce my side,
Buffet, and scoff, scourge, and crucify me,
For I have sinned, and sinned, and only he
Who could do no iniquity hath died:
But by my death can not be satisfied
My sins, which pass the Jews' impiety:
They killed once an inglorious man, but I
Crucify him daily, being now glorified.
Oh let me, then, his strange love still admire:
Kings pardon, but he bore our punishment.
And Jacob came clothed in vile harsh attire
But to supplant, and with gainful intent:
God clothed himself in vile man's flesh, that so
He might be weak enough to suffer woe.
| Scheme | ABBAAACADEFGHH |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 1011110111 100110101 1111010101 1111010011 111111110 1111011 11110100111 1011010110 1111111101 11011110100 01011011010 1101011001 1101011111 1111011101 |
| Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
| Characters | 585 |
| Words | 112 |
| Sentences | 4 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 14 |
| Lines Amount | 14 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
| Words per line (avg) | 8 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 456 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 110 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 33 sec read
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"Holy Sonnet XI: Spit In My Face You Jews, And Pierce My Side" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22524/holy-sonnet-xi%3A-spit-in-my-face-you-jews%2C-and-pierce-my-side>.
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