THOU HAST MADE ME
HOLY SONNET 1
Click here to see the notes about other Holy Sonnets by John Donne
John Donne is The pioneer of the metaphysical school of poetry is equally known for his holy sonnets. As he is known for his love poems almost all holy sonnets deal with the theme of Christianity, spirituality and man’s relation to God almighty. The first Holy Sonnet of John done is an evidence to it.
The first holy sonnet “Thou hast made me” is addressed by a sinner to God in which he makes a confession about how he lived his life as a sinner. And the only hope that he has is God who might save him from hell. The sinner admit that he has been made by God and how can god see his own creation being decayed by sins. The sinner would like to be repaired with the help of God. He finds his end approaching very fast and he is running towards his end. The meaning is that very soon he is going to die. But the sinner does not want to die as a sinner. He does not want to be condemned to hell forever. His final will to be forgiven by God before his end or death.
When the sinner peeps into his past there is only despair because he has lived the life of material pleasure, as sinner. If he looks forward he finds his end approaching very fast and accumulated amount of sins in him make him feels guilty and he believe that he would certainly go to hell. It is only when he remembers god that he finds a new hope. The sinner of this poem confesses that the invisible foe ir enemy in him is so subtle and powerful that even for one hour the sinner cannot sustain his purity of thought. The final hope of the sinner is God the almighty with whose help the sinner can prevent evil. The sinner praise to God to make his heart of *from* so that no sin can even enter into his heart. The ultimate end of this sinner is to get salvation with the help of God.
The present Sonnet has three phrases or words in it which justify the present Sonnet as an example of metaphysical poetry. The word “repair” belongs to the field of mechanism and Mechanical engineering which is used for religion and or spirituality. The second phrase is “adamant” which refers to the job of a blacksmith who repair different articles of iron. Again it is an image belonging to the field mechanism but used here for the purpose of spirituality. The third image is iron which is generally not used for the purpose of a religious theme.
