John Donne @vipulvkapoor #holysonnet #sonnet #johndonne #metaphysicalpoetry #englishliterature #netenglish #ntaugcnet #ugcnet #historyofenglishliterature #ugcnetjrf Dr. Vipul V. Kapoor, Associate Professor (MA, M.Phil, PhD) Email: vipulkapoor38@gmail.com Facebook: Vipul Max

1. Holy Sonnet 1
Thou Hast Made Me
by John Donne
Dr. Vipul V. Kapoor
(YouTube channel: Study Lovers by Dr. Vipul V. Kapoor)

2. Introduction
John Donne, the pioneer of
metaphysical poetry.
Love poems and devotional poems.
Wrote a series of 19 religious sonnets.
Holy Sonnet 1– Thou Hast Made Me – is the
first in the series. It is a prayer to God.

3. First Stanza (Lines 1 to 4)
Thou hast made me, and shall thy work decay?
Repair me now, for now mine end doth haste,
I run to death, and death meets me as fast,
And all my pleasures are like yesterday;
God has made us.
Can the creation of God be decayed?
Please make me pure before I meet my death.
I have lost all my pleasures.

5. First Stanza (Lines 4 to 8)
I dare not move my dim eyes any way,
Despair behind, and death before doth cast
Such terror, and my feeble flesh doth waste
By sin in it, which it towards hell doth weigh.
I have drown old and my eyes are dim. There is
disappointment behind and death before.
Because of sins my life has turned to waste
and I am heading towards death.

8. Second Stanza (Lines 9 to 12)
Only thou art above, and when towards thee
By thy leave I can look, I rise again;
But our old subtle foe so tempteth me,
That not one hour I can myself sustain;
Only you can save me, I look above to seek
your grace. Our old enemy (Satan) is
tempting me towards hell.

11. Second Stanza (Lines 13 to 14)
Thy grace may wing me to prevent his art,
And thou like adamant draw mine iron heart.
Your blessings and grace may keep me away
from his malicious plan. Your strong will and
efforts will surely save this iron hearted
person.

12. FORM OF THE POEM
The poem is composed of 14 lines divided into two
stanzas – an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six
lines). It is a sonnet written in Petrarchan style.
The rhyming pattern is ABBA ABBA CDCD EE.
The poem is written in Iambic Pentameter lines. There
are five sets of two beats in each line. The first of
these is unstressed and the second stressed. It has a
rising rhythm.

13. POETIC DEVICES
• Apostrophe: The poet addresses God by using the
words like “Thou”, “Thee” etc.
• Metaphor: “Repair me” The poet compares himself
with a broken object.
• Personification: “Death meets me as fast”. Death has
been personified.
• Allusion: “Our old subtle foe” (Satan)Reference to the
Bible.