Resurrection by John Donne (1633)
The speaker prays that a single drop of divine blood may soften and cleanse his dry, stony, fleshly soul, freeing it from starvation, hardness, and foulness. Through the death that defeats Death, he hopes to overcome fear of both first and last death, provided his name is entered in the life-book. He views the body’s long sleep not as decay but as preparation for the state for which it was made and in which it can be glorified. He asks that sin’s sleep and death may leave him, so that he may rise from both and greet the final, everlasting day.
By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Metaphysical Poetry, Devotional Poetry, Religious Poetry · 174 words
First lines
Moist with one drop of Thy blood, my dry soul / Shall-though she now be in extreme degree / Too stony hard, and yet too fleshly-be / Freed by that drop, from being starved, hard or foul, / And life by this death abled shall control / Death, whom Thy death slew; nor shall to me / Fear of first or last death bring misery, / If in Thy life-book my name thou enroll. / Flesh in that long sleep is not putrified, / But made that there, of which, and for which it was; / Nor can by other means be glorified. / May then sin's sleep and death soon from me pass, / That waked from both, I again risen may / Salute the last and everlasting day.
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Resurrection 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: Metaphysical Poetry, Devotional Poetry, Religious Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Sacred Poetry
- Length: 174 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for Resurrection by John Donne
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
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Genres
- Metaphysical Poetry — Employs the intellectual wit, paradoxical conceits, and densely layered metaphors characteristic of Donne's metaphysical style; uses elaborate logical argument to explore theological abstractions.
- Devotional Poetry — Functions as a prayer and spiritual meditation directly addressing Christ; expresses personal supplication for salvation and redemption with intimate, confessional tone.
- Religious Poetry — Explicitly theological in content, engaging directly with Christian doctrine of resurrection, redemption through Christ's sacrifice, and divine grace.
- Lyric Poetry — Personal, introspective meditation on the speaker's spiritual state; uses first person to express individual consciousness and emotional/spiritual yearning.
Tags
religious · metaphysical · death · afterlife · spiritual · redemption · divine · eternal · faith · soul · transformation · body-and-soul