“Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree” Introduction

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“Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree” Summary

“Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree” Themes

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  The Nature of Sin

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• 

  Divine Mercy and Human Humility

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree”

• Lines 1-4

  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?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-6

  Why should intent or reason, born in me,
  Make sins, else equal, in me more heinous?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-8

  And mercy being easy, and glorious
  To God, in his stern wrath why threatens he?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-10

  But who am I, that dare dispute with thee,
  O God?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 10-12

  Oh, of thine only worthy blood
  And my tears, make a heavenly Lethean flood,
  And drown in it my sins' black memory.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-14

  That thou remember them, some claim as debt;
  I think it mercy, if thou wilt forget.

  

  

  

  

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“Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Aporia

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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“Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• That tree
• Else immortal us
• Lecherous goats
• Heinous
• Dispute
• Thine only worthy blood
• Lethean

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree” Speaker

“Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree”

More “Holy Sonnet 9: If poisonous minerals, and if that tree” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

  • Donne's Legacy — Watch a video of a celebration of Donne held at St. Paul's Cathedral, the great London church of which Donne was the Dean.

  • Donne's Life — Listen to a podcast in which recent Donne biographer Katherine Rundell discusses Donne's life and work.

  • A Brief Biography — Read the Poetry Foundation's short overview of Donne's life.

  • A Portrait of Donne — Admire a famous portrait of Donne as a young (and rather dashing) man.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by John Donne

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  • Holy Sonnet 10: Death, be not proud

  • Holy Sonnet 14: Batter my heart, three-person'd God

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