Holy Sonnet IX
If poisonous minerals, and if that tree,
Whose fruit threw death on (else immortal) us,
If lecherous goats, if serpents envious
Cannot be damn'd, alas ! why should I be ?
Why should intent or reason, born in me,
Make sins, else equal, in me more heinous ?
And, mercy being easy, and glorious
To God, in His stern wrath why threatens He ?
But who am I, that dare dispute with Thee ?
O God, O ! of Thine only worthy blood,
And my tears, make a heavenly Lethean flood,
And drown in it my sin's black memory.
That Thou remember them, some claim as debt ;
I think it mercy if Thou wilt forget.
Structure
1 If poisonous minerals, and if that tree,
2 Whose fruit threw death on (else immortal) us,
3 If lecherous goats, if serpents envious
4 Cannot be damn'd, alas ! why should I be ?
5 Why should intent or reason, born in me,
6 Make sins, else equal, in me more heinous ?
7 And, mercy being easy, and glorious
8 To God, in His stern wrath why threatens He ?
9 But who am I, that dare dispute with Thee ?
10 O God, O ! of Thine only worthy blood,
11 And my tears, make a heavenly Lethean flood,
12 And drown in it my sin's black memory.
13 That Thou remember them, some claim as debt
;
14 I think it mercy if Thou wilt forget.
Poetic
Traditions
Meditative
poetry
Sonnet 9
Structure
oSonnet has a rhyme scheme of
ABBAABBAACCDEE
oShows emphasis on line 12
oEmphasis on lines 13 and 14 also
because of change in rhyme scheme
oHas structure of meditative poetry: 1)
focus of setting 2) analysis of points 3)
colloquies (dialogue with God)
oDonne is often known for using
parts of meditative poetry structure,
usually colloquies.
oSonnet 9 uses trifold of meditative
poetry while using traditional
rhyming scheme and metaphors of
traditional poetry
oFocus of sin in the Garden,
followed by analysis of reasoning
that are directed to God
Religious References
1 If poisonous minerals, and if that tree,
2 Whose fruit threw death on (else immortal) us,
3 If lecherous goats, if serpents envious
4 Cannot be damn'd, alas ! why should I be ?
5 Why should intent or reason, born in me,
6 Make sins, else equal, in me more heinous ?
7 And, mercy being easy, and glorious
8 To God, in His stern wrath why threatens He ?
9 But who am I, that dare dispute with Thee ?
10 O God, O ! of Thine only worthy blood,
11 And my tears, make a heavenly Lethean flood,
12 And drown in it my sin's black memory.
13 That Thou remember them, some claim as debt ;
14 I think it mercy if Thou wilt forget.
Uses multiple religious references
within the poem
Questions ways of God, and then
changes tone in line 8 to a tone of
acceptance and repentance.
Structure and questions
according to refer to Romans 8.
Uses same technique of switching
for first person plural pronoun to
first person singular pronouns to
get audience to sympathizes with
him and repent to God. Topic of
questioning also appears in
Romans 8.
Tone
 Change in Tone from line 8 to 9
 May have derived from purpose
of structure to reference Romans
8
1 If poisonous minerals, and if that tree,
2 Whose fruit threw death on (else immortal) us,
 Purpose to help reader
3 If lecherous goats, if serpents envious
sympathize with speaker
4 Cannot be damn'd, alas ! why should I be ?
 Uses meditative poetry style of
5 Why should intent or reason, born in me,
6 Make sins, else equal, in me more heinous ?
dramatic statements
7 And, mercy being easy, and glorious
 Switches from questioning to
8 To God, in His stern wrath why threatens He ?
explanation where speaker is
9 But who am I, that dare dispute with Thee ?
begging for mercy
10 O God, O ! of Thine only worthy blood,
11 And my tears, make a heavenly Lethean flood,  Connects with Donne’s past
12 And drown in it my sin's black memory.
 Troubling past shines through in
13 That Thou remember them, some claim as debt ;
questioning, and portrays
14 I think it mercy if Thou wilt forget.
Donne’s theme of creating
melancholic tones compared to
spiritual enlighting.
Metaphors
 Use of metaphysical
 Displays different
metaphors
 Compares sin to
poisonous minerals,
lusty goats, and serpents
 Compares grace to flood
imagery than imagery
provided usually
imagined when talking,
fall of man, grace, and
mercy
Vs.
Works Cited
Archer, Stanley. "Meditation and the Structure of Donne's "Holy Sonnets"“
ELH 28.2 (1961): 137-147. JSTOR. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. March
2010
Chong, Kenneth. "Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Self-Chastisement in Donne's 'If Poysonous
Mineralls'." Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme 29.4 (2005): 4155. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 2 Mar. 2010.
Kuchar, Gary. "Petrarchism and Repentance in John Donne's Holy Sonnets." Modern
Philology: Critical and Historical Studies in Literature, Medieval Through
Contemporary 105.3 (2008): 535-569. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web.
2 Mar. 2010.
Trevor, Douglas. "John Donne and Scholarly Melancholy." Studies in English Literature
1500-1900 40.1 (2000): 81-102. Winter. Project Muse. Web. 2 March 2010