Holy Sonnet VI: This Is My Play's Last Scene, Here Heavens Appoint

Portrait of John Donne
John Donne 1572–1631

This is my play's last scene, here heavens appoint My pilgrimage's last mile; and my race Idly, yet quickly run, hath this last pace, My span's last inch, my minute's latest point, And gluttonous death, will instantly unjoint My body and soul, and I shall sleep a space; But my ever-waking part shall see that face, Whose fear already shakes my every joint: Then, as my soul, t' heaven her first seat, takes flight, And earth-born body in the earth shall dwell, So fall my sins that all may have their right (To where they're bred, and would press me) to hell. Impute me righteous, thus purged of evil, For thus I leave the world, the flesh, the devil.

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Elaina Lawrence20 words
  1. Elaina Lawrence United States

    Notice how Donne counts time down. He starts with mile, then inch, then minute.
    What is up with guttonous death?

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