A Hymn to God the Father by John Donne
The speaker repeatedly asks God to forgive his sins, yet fears that each pardon will reveal further guilt. He confesses a sin present from his beginning, a continuing sin that he regrets but still commits, and a sin through which he has led others into wrongdoing. He also admits returning for many years to a sin he had briefly avoided. Each request ends with the anxious recognition that forgiveness for one offence is not enough because he has more sins to confess. Finally, the speaker identifies his deepest sin as fear: he fears that, after the end of his life, he will perish. He asks God to swear that at his death God’s Son will shine for him as he shines now and has shone before. With that assurance, the speaker believes God’s work of forgiveness will be complete, and his fear will cease.
By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Religious Hymn, Metaphysical Poetry, Devotional Poetry · 216 words
First lines
Wilt Thou forgive that sin where I begun, / Which was my sin, though it were done before? / Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run, / And do run still, though still I do deplore? / When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done, / For I have more.
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won / Others to sin, and made my sin their door? / Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun / A year or two, but wallowed in a score? / When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done, / For I have more.
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A Hymn to God the Father is listed on Textopian as a poem by John Donne, dated 1633 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: John Donne
- Date: 1633 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Religious Hymn, Metaphysical Poetry, Devotional Poetry, Confessional Poetry, Baroque Poetry
- Length: 216 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
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- Work identity for A Hymn to God the Father by John Donne
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Genres
- Religious Hymn — The work is explicitly a hymn in both title and function, serving as a formal prayer of devotion and praise addressed directly to God with the structural and spiritual characteristics essential to the hymn genre.
- Metaphysical Poetry — Donne is a foundational metaphysical poet; the poem exemplifies the genre through intellectual conceits, paradoxical reasoning, and complex exploration of sin, time, and divine grace using characteristic metaphysical wit.
- Devotional Poetry — The poem functions as personal religious devotion in verse form, expressing intimate spiritual yearning and commitment through structured prayer addressed to God.
- Confessional Poetry — The speaker confesses multiple dimensions of personal sin and spiritual inadequacy, explicitly acknowledging transgression and seeking divine absolution for accumulated moral failures.
Tags
metaphysical · devotional · religious · prayer · repentance · sin · forgiveness · spiritual · introspective · baroque · lyrical · seventeenth-century