A Hymn to the Saints, and to Marquis Hamilton

Name: A Hymn to the Saints, and to Marquis Hamilton
Author: John Donne

A dying nobleman's soul ascends to heaven, and the poet questions whether it will occupy a rank already established there or create an entirely new one, since every angel may constitute a distinct order unto itself. Whatever order gains stature in heaven through this soul's arrival, those left on earth experience no corresponding gain. One heavenly order grows through his admission, but every earthly order diminishes through his loss: the titles of father, master, friend, subject, and prince are all rendered lame by his absence. Mirth is dampened, conversation darkened, the Household left widowed, the Garter slackened. The Chapel lacks an ear, the Council a tongue, history a theme, and music a song. The order blessed to receive him gained what all earthly orders lost—a limb amputated from the collective body. No body has ever confessed so quickly what its soul had been; all former beauty fled the instant the soul departed, and having lost that beauty, the body desired none other. The poet compares this to the fall of monasteries, which in an instant became not diminished houses but mere heaps of stone. So too his body relinquished the fair form it once wore, sending that form to the sphere of forms, thereby anticipating a resurrection even before his soul comes to occupy his sepulchral stone. As his soul now dwells here in his earthly fame, so his body dwells there in the form it has taken on. The poet then addresses the soul directly, suggesting that if its heavenly station is not among the first Innocents but among the Penitents, it need not fear judgment on that account—for when the poet himself is dyed scarlet in the blood of the pure Lamb, none shall dare ask whether that resulting scarlet color had been black or white in the eyes of men beforehand. The poet asks the soul, in remembering the sins it once found among the many friends it left behind on earth, and in seeing such sinners as they truly are, brought to that heavenly place through repentance, to wish all of them there, to wish them cleansed—to wish for one a David and for another a Magdalen, examples of penitence redeemed.

By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Elegy, Metaphysical Poetry, Religious Poetry · 525 words

First lines

Whether that soul which now comes up to you / Fill any former rank, or make a new; / Whether it take a name named there before, / Or be a name itself and order more / Than was in heaven till now-for may not he / Be so, if every several angel be / A kind alone? whatever order grow / Greater by him in heaven, we do not so. / One of your orders grows by his access, / But, by his loss, grow all our orders less; / The name of father, master, friend, the name / Of subject and of prince, in one is lame; / Fair mirth is damp'd, and conversation black, / The Household widow'd, and the Garter slack; / The Chapel wants an ear, Council a tongue; / Story, a theme; and Music lacks a song. / Blest order that hath him, the loss of him / Gangrened all orders here; all lost a limb. / Never made body such haste to confess / What a soul was; all former comeliness / Fled, in a minute, when the soul was gone; / And, having lost that beauty, would have none. / So fell our monasteries, in an instant grown / Not to less houses, but to heaps of stone; / So sent his body that fair form it wore / Unto the sphere of forms, and doth-before / His soul shall fill up his sepulchral stone- / Anticipate a resurrection. / For, as in his fame now his soul is here, / So, in the form thereof, his body's there; / And if, fair soul, not with first Innocents / Thy station be, but with the Penitents, / -And who shall dare to ask then, when I am / Dyed scarlet in the blood of that pure Lamb, / Whether that colour, which is scarlet then, / Were black or white before in eyes of men? - / When thou rememb'rest what sins thou didst find / Amongst those many friends now left behind, / And seest such sinners, as they are, with thee / Got thither by repentance, let it be / Thy wish to wish all there, to wish them clean, / Wish him a David, her a Magdalen.

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A Hymn to the Saints, and to Marquis Hamilton is listed on Textopian as a poem by John Donne, dated 1633 CE.

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Work type: Poem
Author: John Donne
Date: 1633 CE
Language: English
Genres: Elegy, Metaphysical Poetry, Religious Poetry, Devotional Poetry, Panegyric
Length: 525 words
Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)

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Genres

Elegy — Fundamentally a poem mourning Marquis Hamilton's death, exploring the vacuum his loss creates across earthly orders and relationships, with sustained lamentation of grief and spiritual absence.
Metaphysical Poetry — Employs characteristic metaphysical techniques: complex theological conceits, paradoxical arguments about the soul and body, elaborate metaphors of form and resurrection, and intellectual wit typical of Donne's school.
Religious Poetry — Centers on theological themes including the immortal soul, celestial hierarchy, saints, the afterlife, redemption, Christ's sacrifice, and spiritual salvation with sustained focus on divine matters.
Devotional Poetry — Functions as spiritual meditation addressing the divine, contemplating sacred mysteries of resurrection and salvation with reverence and introspective piety.