John Donne exposes a strong sense of religious anxiety in both ‘Holy
Sonnet VI’ and ‘Holy Sonnet VII’ with both underlining the unease
surrounding the broad idea of the soul being judged after death as
well as the irony which comes with this, reflecting the concern of the
highly religious 16th and 17th Century population. Donne also
addresses nuanced anxieties allowing the two Sonnets to
simultaneously present more personal religious anxieties, the
complexity of which is seen by the personas ability to quickly
overcome them.
Donne’s prevalent use of metaphysical poetry is noticed as he
questions human existence through writing ‘My pilgrimage’s last
mile’. This highlights the personas view of life as a journey towards
God whilst concurrently moving towards death, creating a conflicting
opinion upon life. The use of ‘My pilgrimage’ is strong is outlining a
personal religious purpose of life as reaching heaven, an anxiety
provoking idea when paired with ‘last mile’ due to the theme of
distance which is introduced. A semantic field of distance is
eventually produced through the use of ‘inch’, ‘span’ and ‘minute’,
not only serving to illustrate the personas anxiety from their distance
from heaven, but also placing emphasis on the length of life and the
idea of time on earth being used up; a conflict between the time length
takes and the time life feels makes the question as to whether life will
go by quickly, allowing anxiety of the persona to reach God first,
more real. Moreover, this mirrors the opening line of the sonnet as
Donne writes ‘This is my play’s last scene’, reinforcing the idea of
death which seeps into the sonnet, highlighting the anxiety inducing
concept that there is only one chance to prove yourself in heaven. The
Poet evidently subscribes to the attitude of society as his appears to
intentionally convey the common Jacobean and Elizabethan idea that
life is purely a dress rehearsal for the time spent in heaven, further
bolstering the idea of constant religious anxiety within everyday life
of needing to live a pious life in order to succeed and reach God
whilst also eliciting fear of the real performance of the ‘play’ in
heaven in which you must be the best actor. Considering the
Sonnet VI’ and ‘Holy Sonnet VII’ with both underlining the unease
surrounding the broad idea of the soul being judged after death as
well as the irony which comes with this, reflecting the concern of the
highly religious 16th and 17th Century population. Donne also
addresses nuanced anxieties allowing the two Sonnets to
simultaneously present more personal religious anxieties, the
complexity of which is seen by the personas ability to quickly
overcome them.
Donne’s prevalent use of metaphysical poetry is noticed as he
questions human existence through writing ‘My pilgrimage’s last
mile’. This highlights the personas view of life as a journey towards
God whilst concurrently moving towards death, creating a conflicting
opinion upon life. The use of ‘My pilgrimage’ is strong is outlining a
personal religious purpose of life as reaching heaven, an anxiety
provoking idea when paired with ‘last mile’ due to the theme of
distance which is introduced. A semantic field of distance is
eventually produced through the use of ‘inch’, ‘span’ and ‘minute’,
not only serving to illustrate the personas anxiety from their distance
from heaven, but also placing emphasis on the length of life and the
idea of time on earth being used up; a conflict between the time length
takes and the time life feels makes the question as to whether life will
go by quickly, allowing anxiety of the persona to reach God first,
more real. Moreover, this mirrors the opening line of the sonnet as
Donne writes ‘This is my play’s last scene’, reinforcing the idea of
death which seeps into the sonnet, highlighting the anxiety inducing
concept that there is only one chance to prove yourself in heaven. The
Poet evidently subscribes to the attitude of society as his appears to
intentionally convey the common Jacobean and Elizabethan idea that
life is purely a dress rehearsal for the time spent in heaven, further
bolstering the idea of constant religious anxiety within everyday life
of needing to live a pious life in order to succeed and reach God
whilst also eliciting fear of the real performance of the ‘play’ in
heaven in which you must be the best actor. Considering the
