Wilt thou love God, as he thee? then digest,
My Soule, this wholsome meditation,
How God the Spirit, by Angels waited on
In heaven, doth make his Temple in thy brest.
The Father having begot a Sonne most blest,
And still begetting, (for he ne’r begonne)
Hath deign’d to chuse thee by adoption,
Coheire to his glory, and Sabbaths endlesse rest;
And as a robb’d man, which by search doth finde
His stolne stuffe sold, must lose or buy it againe;
The Sonne of glory came downe, and was slaine,
Us whom he had made, and Satan stolne, to unbinde.
‘Twas much, that man was made like God before,
But, that God should be made like man, much more.
3 Comments to John Donne, Holy Sonnet XV: Wilt Thou Love God
mark
December 23, 2008
December 23, 2008
hey mate! sorry to take a while to get back. got to love pre-Christmas madness!
I actually didn’t know that mate. And futher, from that wiki stub I had no idea that there were variances of sonnets across languages! fascinating! I do very much like that Wilfred Owen sonnet – especially his context of his writing it. powerful stuff eh!
mate – have a great Christmas. I caught up with steve the other day and we thought that a dinner in the new year with a few of us, and you and pen might a nice idea!
cheers brother,
Mark.
mark
December 23, 2008
December 23, 2008
hey mate! sorry to take a while to get back. got to love pre-Christmas madness!
I actually didn’t know that mate. And futher, from that wiki stub I had no idea that there were variances of sonnets across languages! fascinating! I do very much like that Wilfred Owen sonnet – especially his context of his writing it. powerful stuff eh!
mate – have a great Christmas. I caught up with steve the other day and we thought that a dinner in the new year with a few of us, and you and pen might a nice idea!
cheers brother,
Mark.
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December 19, 2008
Hey Great find bro!
I don’t know if you realise but traditionally sonnets should only be poems of love. So when a poet writes in Sonnet form consider this in the meaning. I love how Wilfred Owen does it in Anthem for Doomed Youth – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthem_for_Doomed_Youth. This is an anti-war poem yet written in Sonnet form which traditionally is about love. Owen’s poem is pretty shocking when you consider this. But considering the structural meaning of the sonnet with Donne’s poem adds heaps, i reckon – it is really a poem about love for God!
I also like his ‘stolne stuffe’ and ‘Satan stolne’ – trying to get the sssss sound of the snake into references about the devil.
how good is poetry!
thanks for the post.
Nick Russell