Hymn to God, my God, in my Sickness

Name: Hymn to God, my God, in my Sickness
Author: John Donne

The speaker addresses God directly, framing his sickbed as the threshold to "that Holy room" where he will join the choir of saints forevermore and become God's music, so he tunes his instrument at the door, thinking beforehand what he must do then. His physicians, grown into cosmographers through their love and care, study him as a map, since he lies flat upon the bed, and by them it is shown that his condition is his "southwest discovery," reached per fretum febris, by the straits of fever, toward death. He declares he joys that in these straits he sees his west, for though those currents yield return to none, his west cannot hurt him, since on all flat maps west and east are one, and so death touches the resurrection. He asks whether the Pacific sea is his home, or the eastern riches, or Jerusalem, or Anyan, and Magellan, and Gibraltar, noting that all straits, and none but straits, are ways to them, whether toward where Japhet dwelt, or Cham, or Shem. He reflects that Paradise and Calvary, Christ's cross and Adam's tree, are thought to have stood in one place, and asks the Lord to look and find both Adams met in him: as the first Adam's sweat surrounds his face, he prays that the last Adam's blood may embrace his soul. He asks to be received wrapped in Christ's purple, and by Christ's thorns to be given His other crown; and as he had preached God's word to others' souls, he asks that this be his text, his sermon to his own soul: that the Lord throws down so that He may raise.

By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Metaphysical Poetry, Sacred Hymn, Devotional Poetry · 372 words

First lines

Since I am coming to that Holy room, / Where, with Thy choir of saints forevermore, / I shall be made Thy music; as I come / I tune the instrument here at the door, / And what I must do then, think here before;

Whilst my physicians by their love are grown / Cosmographers, and I their map, who lie / Flat on this bed, that by them may be shown / That this is my southwest discovery, / Per fretum febris, by these straits to die;

Open reader

What this Textopian page supports

Hymn to God, my God, in my Sickness 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: Metaphysical Poetry, Sacred Hymn, Devotional Poetry, Religious Poetry, Lyric Poetry
Length: 372 words
Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

Good citation fit

Work identity for Hymn to God, my God, in my Sickness by John Donne
Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
Readability and classroom-planning context
Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

Similar titles

Genres

Metaphysical Poetry — Exemplifies the defining characteristics of metaphysical verse through elaborate conceits—particularly the extended geographical metaphor equating sickness/death with exploration of straits and new worlds—and employs the intellectual wit and complex argumentation central to Donne's legacy in the metaphysical tradition.
Sacred Hymn — Structured as an explicit hymn addressing God directly with formal devotional address, praise, and petition, following hymnic conventions of spiritual elevation and submission to divine will with a concluding theological statement.
Devotional Poetry — Functions as intimate spiritual meditation on personal crisis and faith, examining the speaker's sickness as occasion for devotional introspection and reaffirmation of religious commitment through prayer-like address.
Religious Poetry — Centrally concerned with theological concepts including resurrection, Christ's redemption, the relationship between Adam's fall and Christ's sacrifice, and divine providence in human suffering.