HOLY SONNETS VII
FORM AND STRUCTURE
- The poem is a sonnet
- It is iambic pentameter which is consistent with the sonnet form
- The poem has typical qualities of a Petrarchan sonnet for example the octave / sestet
division
- However, while Donne’s sonnet has a Petrarchan form and rhyme scheme, the rhyming
couple which concludes the poem is more typical of a Shakespearean sonnet (the poem
ends on a half rhyme)
- The poet inventively uses the Petrarchan sonnet form
- Rhyme scheme ABBAABBA CDCDEE
- There is a Volta (pivotal structural turning point) when the poem turns from an octave to a
sestet
- The sonnet form is a concentrated economic way of both resolving conflictual ideas in the
poem and creating tensions in the poem- in this way the poem is a dialectical construct
- The two-part structure is a feature of the Petrarchan sonnet form
- The octave expresses the poet’s hope for resurrection while the sestet suggests his fear of
hell
- The hope for resurrection is juxtaposed with the poet’s innate sense of weakness and frailty
LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY
Octave
- Line 1: The cosmological imagery, “round earth’s imagined corners” evokes the Ptolemaic
view that the world was flat which was exploded by the Copernican idea that the world is
round. The 17th Century was an age of discovery and learning, where traditional ideas were
being revised, questioned and changed. However, there is a conflation of cosmological and
biblical imagery as this can also be read as an allusion to the Book of Revelation (chapter 7
Verse 1) which describes four angels standing at the four corners of the earth on judgement
day. This is celebrated in liturgical art and iconography. The use of paradox, “round earth’s
imagined corners” evokes the disconnect and tension between mortal knowledge and the
knowledge gained in the afterlife. The complexities and intricacies of faith centre on the idea
that we will never be able to understand the true extent and nature of our existence yet we
accept it based on our faith and belief in God. The plosive, onomatopoeic sound, “blow”
creates a jubilant celebratory tone
- Line 2: The use of enjambment, “blow your trumpet” evokes the jubilance of the speaker.
There is a tone of excited celebration as the poet projects forward to the day of judgement.
The repetition of the verb “arise” alludes to the Christian notion of resurrection and
suggests the hope and aspiration of the speaker for his own resurrection
- Line 3: Through the vague collectivisation of the souls of all of mankind who have perished,
“you numberless infinities” the poet implies an aspiration for all souls to be resurrected.
- Line 4: The imagery, “scattered bodies” implies the frailty of the mortal condition. This
implication of human weakness undercuts the earlier tone of jubilant celebration. The
FORM AND STRUCTURE
- The poem is a sonnet
- It is iambic pentameter which is consistent with the sonnet form
- The poem has typical qualities of a Petrarchan sonnet for example the octave / sestet
division
- However, while Donne’s sonnet has a Petrarchan form and rhyme scheme, the rhyming
couple which concludes the poem is more typical of a Shakespearean sonnet (the poem
ends on a half rhyme)
- The poet inventively uses the Petrarchan sonnet form
- Rhyme scheme ABBAABBA CDCDEE
- There is a Volta (pivotal structural turning point) when the poem turns from an octave to a
sestet
- The sonnet form is a concentrated economic way of both resolving conflictual ideas in the
poem and creating tensions in the poem- in this way the poem is a dialectical construct
- The two-part structure is a feature of the Petrarchan sonnet form
- The octave expresses the poet’s hope for resurrection while the sestet suggests his fear of
hell
- The hope for resurrection is juxtaposed with the poet’s innate sense of weakness and frailty
LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY
Octave
- Line 1: The cosmological imagery, “round earth’s imagined corners” evokes the Ptolemaic
view that the world was flat which was exploded by the Copernican idea that the world is
round. The 17th Century was an age of discovery and learning, where traditional ideas were
being revised, questioned and changed. However, there is a conflation of cosmological and
biblical imagery as this can also be read as an allusion to the Book of Revelation (chapter 7
Verse 1) which describes four angels standing at the four corners of the earth on judgement
day. This is celebrated in liturgical art and iconography. The use of paradox, “round earth’s
imagined corners” evokes the disconnect and tension between mortal knowledge and the
knowledge gained in the afterlife. The complexities and intricacies of faith centre on the idea
that we will never be able to understand the true extent and nature of our existence yet we
accept it based on our faith and belief in God. The plosive, onomatopoeic sound, “blow”
creates a jubilant celebratory tone
- Line 2: The use of enjambment, “blow your trumpet” evokes the jubilance of the speaker.
There is a tone of excited celebration as the poet projects forward to the day of judgement.
The repetition of the verb “arise” alludes to the Christian notion of resurrection and
suggests the hope and aspiration of the speaker for his own resurrection
- Line 3: Through the vague collectivisation of the souls of all of mankind who have perished,
“you numberless infinities” the poet implies an aspiration for all souls to be resurrected.
- Line 4: The imagery, “scattered bodies” implies the frailty of the mortal condition. This
implication of human weakness undercuts the earlier tone of jubilant celebration. The
