Holy Sonnet V
I am a little world made cunninglyOf Elements, and an Angelike spright,But black sinne hath betraid to endlesse nightMy worlds both parts, and (oh) both parts must die.You which beyond that heaven which was most highHave found new sphears, and of new lands can write,Powre new seas in mine eyes, that so I mightDrowne my world with my weeping earnestly,Or wash it, if it must be drown'd no more:But oh it must be burnt! alas the fireOf lust and envie have burnt it heretofore,And made it fouler; Let their flames retire,And burne me ô Lord, with a fiery zealeOf thee and thy house, which doth in eating heale.
Words in this poem
- spright n.
- Spirit; mind; soul; state of mind; mood. [See Sprite.]
- sinne adv.
- Old form of Since. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- envie v. i.
- To vie; to emulate; to strive. [See Vie.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Holy Sonnet V is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of John Donne, Volume 1 (of 2) Edited from the Old Editions and Numerous Manuscripts, Project Gutenberg ebook #48688; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Donne, Holy Sonnet V, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/holy-sonnet-v.html, id L20846.
Form and metre
Holy Sonnet V is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -AABBAA-CDCDEE cunningly · sprightA · nightA · dieB · highB · writeA · mightA · earnestly · moreC · fireD · heretoforeC · retireD · zealeE · healeE
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I am a little world made cunningly | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of Elements, and an Angelike spright, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| But black sinne hath betraid to endlesse night | 10 | ·········· |
| My worlds both parts, and (oh) both parts must die. | 10 | ·········· |
| You which beyond that heaven which was most high | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Have found new sphears, and of new lands can write, | 10 | ·········· |
| Powre new seas in mine eyes, that so I might | 10 | /········· |
| Drowne my world with my weeping earnestly, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Or wash it, if it must be drown'd no more: | 10 | ·········· |
| But oh it must be burnt! alas the fire | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| Of lust and envie have burnt it heretofore, | 11 | ···˘/····˘/ |
| And made it fouler; Let their flames retire, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And burne me ô Lord, with a fiery zeale | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Of thee and thy house, which doth in eating heale. | 12 | ········/˘·· |
Notes from the edition 5
Herbert Grierson's record of the readings of the early editions and manuscripts, from his Poems of John Donne (Oxford, 1912; Project Gutenberg #48688).
- Line 6 lands B, S96, W: land 1635-69, O'F
- Line 7 I 1635-54: he 1669
- Line 9 it, Ed: it: W: it 1635-69
- Line 11 have B, S96, W: hath O'F: om. 1635-69
- Line 13 Lord] God W
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.