Holy Sonnet XVI
Father, part of his double interestUnto thy kingdome, thy Sonne gives to mee,His joynture in the knottie TrinitieHee keepes, and gives to me his deaths conquest.This Lambe, whose death, with life the world hath blest,Was from the worlds beginning slaine, and heHath made two Wills, which with the LegacieOf his and thy kingdome, doe thy Sonnes invest.Yet such are thy laws, that men argue yetWhether a man those statutes can fulfill;None doth; but all-healing grace and spiritRevive againe what law and letter kill.Thy lawes abridgement, and thy last commandIs all but love; Oh let this last Will stand!
Words in this poem
- sonne n.
- A male child; the male issue, or offspring, of a parent, father or mother. [OE. sone, sune, AS. sunu; akin to D. zoon, OS., OFries., & OHG. sunu, G. sohn, Icel. sonr, Sw. son, Dan. sön, Goth. sunus, Lith. sunus, Russ. suin', Skr. sunu (]
- fulfill v. t.
- To fill up; to make full or complete. [OE. fulfillen, fulfullen, AS. fulfyllan; ful full + fyllan to fill. See Full, a., and Fill, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Holy Sonnet XVI 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 XVI, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/holy-sonnet-xvi.html, id L20857.
Form and metre
Holy Sonnet XVI is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABCAABCADEDEFF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 ABCAABCADEDEFF interestA · meeB · trinitieC · conquestA · blestA · heB · legacieC · investA · yetD · fulfillE · spiritD · killE · commandF · standF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Father, part of his double interest | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| Unto thy kingdome, thy Sonne gives to mee, | 10 | ·········· |
| His joynture in the knottie Trinitie | 10 | ·········· |
| Hee keepes, and gives to me his deaths conquest. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| This Lambe, whose death, with life the world hath blest, | 10 | ·········· |
| Was from the worlds beginning slaine, and he | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Hath made two Wills, which with the Legacie | 10 | ·········· |
| Of his and thy kingdome, doe thy Sonnes invest. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Yet such are thy laws, that men argue yet | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whether a man those statutes can fulfill; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| None doth; but all-healing grace and spirit | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| Revive againe what law and letter kill. | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Thy lawes abridgement, and thy last command | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Is all but love; Oh let this last Will stand! | 10 | ·········· |
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 3 Trinitie] Trinitie, 1633
- Line 9 thy O'F, S96, W: these 1633-69: those A18, D, H49, N, TC
- Line 11 doth;] doth, 1633
- Line 12 Revive againe] Revive and quicken B, O'F, S96, W
- Line 14 this 1633-69: that A18, D, H49, N, TC, W: thy B, O'F, S96
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.