Similarities Between Holy Sonnet Vii And John Donne

1 Shanahan In the poems the “Holy Sonnet IV” and the “Holy Sonnet VII”, the writer John Donne accepts the theme of death and understands that death doesn't wait for anyone. The similarities in each poem's theme of accepting death are very alike due to John Donne's morals that one must repent and go through death to reach an eternal life.
In the “Holy Sonnet VI”, Donne contrasts life and death. In the first cinquain the speaker explains how life is coming to an end by stating that this is “My spans last inch, hath this last pacet”(4-5). The speaker is symbolically representing life and how he is finishing it up, and then will “sleep a space”(6). This is representing how after life, his soul will go to heaven as it later says “Then, as my soul, t’heaven her first seat takes
flight”(9), but his “earth-born body in the earth shall dwell”(10). Donne is explaining how the body and soul are two different subjects, and that his soul will go to heaven and his body will dwell on earth in a grave. At this part of the poem, death is personified as being “gluttonous”(5) and as a part of every human's life no matter what. The dark imagery and personification help create the fearful and eerie portrayals of death in the poem. Later in this poem the speaker says “So fall my sins that all may have their right/… to hell(12) which shows his sorrowful attitude towards the sins he has committed. He wants his sins to be sent to hell so that on judgement day he will be able to go to heaven. The speaker wants to repent for his sins and be cleansed before his soul goes to heaven. What he wants God to do is “Impute me righteous, thus purged of
2 Shanahan evil”(13). He wants to be represented in heaven by a sinless and reformed soul, and believes that the sins should be sent to hell. This is the part of the poem where the speaker seems unafraid of death, but rather welcomes it. The speaker realizes that the only way to endure eternal life in heaven, and not eternal damnation in hell, is to cleanse his soul and go through the stages of death including judgement day.
In the next poem by John Donne, “Holy Sonnet VII”, the speaker's view of death is also very similar.
The poem begins with the speaker telling the angels to “blow/ your trumpets… and arise, arise/ from death”(1-3). Donne is telling the Angels to wake up the dead souls, and reconnect with their bodies. When the souls awaken the speaker recognizes that some of the souls are good, but others are souls who “hath slain”(7) which means people who have killed or murdered. The speaker later says “Tis late to ask abundance of thy grace/when we are there”(11-12) which means that the bad souls will not pass through purgatory “when we are there”(12). These souls will not pass through purgatory because they were never forgiven for their sins and didn't ask for forgiveness for their sins. The speaker is afraid to be one of those souls who do not pass through purgatory, and says to God “Teach me how to repent”(13) while he is “here on this lowly ground”(12) which is earth. He not only asks God to teach his how to repent but also asks him to “pardon with thy blood”(14). The speaker understands death, and realizes that he must repent for his sins in order to fulfill his goal of going to
heaven.
At the end of each poem, they both convey the same general acceptance towards death. Both poems agree that the end goal is eternal life instead of eternal damnation. Both recognize that the only way to reach that goal is to go through death, and repent for their sins.