Holy Sonnet 9 By John Donne Allusions

A man’s faith, questioned under his own scrutiny after a series of unfortunate events: his brother dead after being convicted of catholic sympathies, and his wife, buried after his 12th child. John Donne writes as a cry to god “Holy Sonnet IX” to express the suffering he has experienced and questions God for this pain. Through a variety of allusions and tone, Donne questions the undeserving cruelty of God ands begs for forgiveness. Despite being a very religious poet, Donne faced many questions on the morality of God. Many of the allusions from the sonnet expresses his disagreement of God’s decisions. This can be seen in the first two lines of the poem where he expresses “If poisonous minerals, and if that tree,/ Whose fruit threw death on else immortal us” (Donne 1-2). This reference to the garden of Eden and the fruit of knowledge helps express Donne’s feeling of betrayment. Feeling as if God forced death through the fruit, Donne uses this biblical allusion to show his skepticism towards God’s decision. Donne continues to question God by writing “If lecherous goats, if serpents envious/ Cannot be damn’d alas! Why should I be?” (3-4). Referring to the devlish goats and serpants in the bible, Donne claims how God treats him unfairly despite the same sins he shares with these creatures. Even though the animals are not punished, Donne faces the suffering of his sins. He questions the actions of
Especially in christian faiths, many believers often have trouble in accepting God’s belief which can be seen through stories of the bible such as Sarah and Abraham doubting the birth of their child Isaac. Donne’s “Holy Sonnet IX” expresses his own doubts about the decisions of God, but shows his belief of God despite those doubts he held. Donne expresses the human nature of doubt in religion by showing his own, but later showing that believers should ignore this doubt and accept that God is