La Corona by John Donne (1633)
A speaker addresses God, offering a crown woven of prayer and praise, composed in solitary, devout melancholy. He calls God the treasury of all good, unchanging amid all change, the Ancient of days. He asks that his devotion not be rewarded with a worthless crown of frail bay leaves, but that his Muse's sincere whiteness receive instead what God's own thorny crown achieved: a crown of glory that flowers forever. He reflects that while human works are crowned by their ends, God crowns human ends themselves, since endless rest begins at that ending. His soul, now zealously possessing this first and last end, waits upon it with a strong, sober thirst. He concludes that it is time for heart and voice to be lifted high, for salvation is near to all who will receive it.
By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Devotional Poetry, Religious Poetry, Metaphysical Poetry · 173 words
First lines
Deign at my hands this crown of prayer and praise, / Weaved in my lone devout melancholy, / Thou which of good hast, yea, art treasury, / All changing unchanged Ancient of days. / But do not with a vile crown of frail bays / Reward my Muse's white sincerity; / But what Thy thorny crown gain'd, that give me, / A crown of glory, which doth flower always. / The ends crown our works, but Thou crown'st our ends, / For at our ends begins our endless rest. / The first last end, now zealously possess'd, / With a strong sober thirst my soul attends. / 'Tis time that heart and voice be lifted high; / Salvation to all that will is nigh.
What this Textopian page supports
La Corona 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: Devotional Poetry, Religious Poetry, Metaphysical Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Christian Literature
- Length: 173 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for La Corona by John Donne
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Devotional Poetry — The work is fundamentally a structured prayer offering praise and supplication to God, with the speaker's devotional act of weaving a crown of prayer forming the central purpose.
- Religious Poetry — The poem centers entirely on religious themes, invoking divine power and exploring the relationship between the soul and God through spiritual imagery.
- Metaphysical Poetry — Characteristic of Donne's metaphysical school, featuring intricate conceits (the crown as multi-layered metaphor), intellectual engagement with theology, and paradoxical wit combining physical and spiritual realms.
- Lyric Poetry — The poem expresses intimate personal emotion and spiritual longing through an individual voice, employing first-person perspective central to lyric poetry's mode.
Tags
devotional · metaphysical · sonnets · theological · biblical · meditative · prayer · resurrection · redemption · incarnation · divine-love · baroque