Fei 1 William Fei Mrs. Helton AP English Literature and Composition 1 April 2024 A Message to God: An Analysis of Donne’s “A Hymn to God the Father” “A Hymn to God the Father” is a poem written by John Donne with a speaker addressing God. In it, they confess their sins to God and ask God to forgive them. Donne was associated with the Church of England, and wrote many poems on religious topics. Donne’s use of language in his poem contributes to the poem’s idea that God is all-merciful. Donne begins the poem’s first stanza having the speaker ask God to forgive one of their sins. They employ apostrophe by referring to God as “thou,” asking God, “Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun?” (1). The speaker refers to God in the second-person, despite God not being physically present with the speaker. This makes the poem’s tone conversational, which, in turn, demonstrates the speaker’s desperation. By directly addressing God, the speaker turns what would be a question of speculation, a question of if God is willing to forgive them, into a plea for mercy. In the first and second lines, the speaker also alludes to the Christian idea of original sin: the idea that people are inherently sinful and must repent against their sinful nature. The speaker does this by acknowledging that their sin “were done before” they were born, implying that their sin is part of their inherent nature (2). By starting with the idea of original sin, the speaker emphasizes the enormity of their sins and of their desperation: some of their sins were not committed by them and were out of their control. However, the speaker then continues to elaborate on how they continue to commit sin. They note how they “still” continue to commit sin (4), and how they “run” through it (3). The word “run” in this case refers to a denotation of Fei 2 passing into or reaching a certain state or level, and has connotations associated with the present. This emphasizes the present nature of sin, which makes the speaker’s pleas seem even more desperate as they are begging for present action. They also note how they “deplore” their sin, which also emphasizes their original sin: they continue to sin despite their unwillingness to do so (4). Then, the speaker ends the stanza with a paradox: they note that when God “hast done,” in reference to forgiving their sins, they also “hast not done” (5). These two phrases, when taken literally, seem to contradict each other, because it is not possible to both do something and not do it at the same time. However, the final line of the stanza resolves this contradiction: God can not forgive all of the speaker’s sins after he has forgiven the speaker’s original sin, because the speaker has more sin to confess. The speaker indicates that they will “have more” sins (6). This paradox emphasizes the enormity of the speaker’s sins, because their sins are so enormous that forgiveness does not solve their issues. They are desperate for God’s forgiveness. The speaker repeats themselves similarly in the second stanza. They ask, this time, for forgiveness of another sin, stronger than their first. The speaker acknowledges that they have not only committed sin, but encouraged others to commit sin too. They acknowledge that they have “won / Others to sin” (7, 8). The denotation of the word “won” in this scenario is associated with gaining a person’s support, which implies that they have persuaded others to sin as well. The speaker also makes a comparison between their temptation and a door by noting how they have made their “sin their door” (8), which also implies that the speaker has helped others sin, because doors are commonly associated with entrances. However, the speaker’s metaphor also is relevant to the concept of original sin brought up in the first stanza. The speaker’s sin is “their door” (8) and not the speaker’s door, which implies that the people they have helped choose, of their own will and accord, to sin. The next two lines parallel lines in the first stanza: the speaker notes how Fei 3 they did “shun” (9) their sin just like they did “deplore” (4) their sin in the first stanza, yet they still participated in that sin regardless. This similarity emphasizes the speaker’s desperation: they continue to do things that they know are wrong for them. Their knowledge is what makes them desperate; not knowing would mean that they would not feel guilty. They feel as if they have “wallow’d in” their sin (10). This implies that they feel filthy about their sin, because “wallow” typically has connotations with pigs and mud, which, in general, are considered dirty. The speaker then repeats their paradox from the first stanza. This repetition emphasizes their desperation for and uncertainty about God’s forgiveness. They aren’t sure if God will forgive them after all the sin they have performed. The second stanza differs from the first stanza in verb tense. The second stanza focuses on the past, while the first focuses on the present. The first stanza mentions how the speaker “still” (4) sins, which is associated with the present, while the second stanza refers to the speaker’s sins almost entirely in the past tense, using verbs in the past tense like “won” (7), “shun” (9), and “wallow’d” (10). This shift is indicative of a change in the speaker’s state of mind. They are no longer considering just the present, but contemplating on the past. This contemplation of the past logically connects to their realization in the last stanza. The last stanza is a departure from the first and second stanzas in terms of structure. The speaker does not ask God for forgiveness anymore. They do not use phrases such as “Wilt thou” in the third stanza (1). Instead, they confess about their fear and uncertainty about God’s forgiveness. Their use of the phrase “spun / My last thread” (13, 14) alludes to the concept of life being a tapestry. It implies that their sin is associated with death. This is confirmed by the speaker’s use of the word “perish” (14), which is also commonly associated with death. Their fear that they will “perish on the shore” (14) also implies that they are afraid they will not make it to heaven. Shores are often associated with transitions, and it can be reasonably inferred that Fei 4 the shore the speaker is alluding to is associated with the transition between life and the afterlife. By recognizing that their fear is a sin, they recognize that God is truly all-merciful. If God wasn’t, then doubting God’s mercy would reasonably not be considered a sin. They confirm this belief in the poem’s last four lines: as long as God’s “Son / Shall shine as he shines now” (15, 16), he will “fear no more” (18). Shining is commonly associated with being good, and God’s son is often referred to as Christ. Christ was known to have forgiven humanity's sins, so as long as Christ continues to be good, the speaker will no longer doubt God. Donne also utilizes a pun in the fifteenth and sixteenth lines: the word “Son” also sounds like the word “sun,” which is associated with shining. This emphasizes the eternal nature of God’s mercy: the sun seems to shine forever, and so will God. Donne also utilizes another pun in the seventeenth line: his own name sounds like the word “done” (17), so by saying “thou hast done” (17), the speaker can also be interpreted to have said that by forgiving, God has Donne in his realm of heaven. The speaker is no longer afraid because they realize that their final sin was doubting God’s all-merciful nature. Donne’s “A Hymn to God the Father” is a poem where a speaker enumerates their sins with desperation and worries that God will not be able to forgive them. They finally realize, however, that their worst sin of all is believing that God is not merciful. Donne employs language to help show how God does forgive all sins.
