Holy Sonnet XI
Spit in my face you Jewes, and pierce my side,Buffet, and scoffe, scourge, and crucifie mee,For I have sinn'd, and sinn'd, and onely hee,Who could do no iniquitie, hath dyed:But by my death can not be satisfiedMy sinnes, which passe the Jewes impiety:They kill'd once an inglorious man, but ICrucifie him daily, being now glorified.Oh let mee then, his strange love still admire:Kings pardon, but he bore our punishment.And Iacob came cloth'd in vile harsh attireBut to supplant, and with gainfull intent:God cloth'd himselfe in vile mans flesh, that soHee might be weake enough to suffer woe.
Words in this poem
- buffet n.
- A cupboard or set of shelves, either movable or fixed at one side of a room, for the display of plate, china, etc., a sideboard. [F. buffet, LL. bufetum; of uncertain origin; perh. fr. the same source as E. buffet a blow, the root meaning to puff, hence (cf. puffed up) the idea of ostentat]
- scourge n.
- A lash; a strap or cord; especially, a lash used to inflict pain or punishment; an instrument of punishment or discipline; a whip. [F. escourgée, fr. L. excoriata (sc. scutica) a stripped off (lash or whip), fr. excoriate to strip, to skin. See Excoriate.]
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
- impiety n.
- The quality of being impious; want of piety; irreverence toward the Supreme Being; ungodliness; wickedness. [L. impietas, fr. impius impious; cf. F. impiété. See Impious, Piety.]
- inglorious a.
- Not glorious; not bringing honor or glory; not accompanied with fame, honor, or celebrity; obscure; humble; as, an inglorious life of ease. [L. inglorious; pref. in- not + gloria glory, fame: cf. F. inglorieux. See Glory.]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- gainfull a.
- Profitable; advantageous; lucrative.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Holy Sonnet XI 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 XI, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/holy-sonnet-xi.html, id L20852.
Form and metre
Holy Sonnet XI is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 70%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABBAA-BA-C-CDD sideA · meeB · heeB · dyedA · satisfiedA · impiety · iB · glorifiedA · admire · punishmentC · attire · intentC · soD · woeD
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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Spit in my face you Jewes, and pierce my side, | 10 | ·········· |
| Buffet, and scoffe, scourge, and crucifie mee, | 10 | /˘········ |
| For I have sinn'd, and sinn'd, and onely hee, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Who could do no iniquitie, hath dyed: | 10 | ·········· |
| But by my death can not be satisfied | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My sinnes, which passe the Jewes impiety: | 11 | ····/··˘/˘˘ |
| They kill'd once an inglorious man, but I | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Crucifie him daily, being now glorified. | 11 | ····/˘/·/˘· |
| Oh let mee then, his strange love still admire: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Kings pardon, but he bore our punishment. | 11 | ·/˘···/˘/˘˘ |
| And Iacob came cloth'd in vile harsh attire | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| But to supplant, and with gainfull intent: | 10 | ··˘/··/˘˘/ |
| God cloth'd himselfe in vile mans flesh, that so | 10 | ·········· |
| Hee might be weake enough to suffer woe. | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
Notes from the edition 4
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 3 onely] humbly W
- Line 6 impiety] iniquitye D, H49
- Line 8 glorified.] glorified; 1633
- Line 12 intent:] intent 1633
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