"If Poisonous Minerals" by John Donne Interpretation

9.4.2012
AP Literature Assignment #3
Poetry Interpretation

How to Read a Poem

John Donne’s Holy Sonnet #9 (“If Poisonous Minerals”)

1.     The speaker of this poem seems to be a man that is very bitter or desperate for forgiveness from God and God’s mercy. He claims that it is not fair that his sins are more evil just because he possesses reason or intent. He pleads that a merciful God could overlook him this time. He even refers to the river Lethe, a river in classical mythology that makes one forget everything when touched.

2.     The speaker seems to be speaking to God, although it seems more like a one-way rant than a conversation. He seems to be vexing and taking out his thoughts and emotions to a God that doesn’t seem to answer him. He keeps arguing and seeking forgiving, and often catches the fact that he is arguing against an almighty, merciful God.

3.     John Donne lived in the era of the plague and a time when Protestants clashed with Catholics. Thus, he lived in a time of great suffering, death, and conflict. This might contribute to the fact that he says “If lecherous goats, if serpents envious cannot be damned, alas, why should I be?” An angry frustration of why the world goes unpunished when he in fact is marked a sinner.

4.     The purpose of the poem seems to be a man’s pleading for mercy towards God. He seems to beg for mercy on his case and that God just forget that he ever did anything wrong.

5.     God, who allows much more evil in this world than my sins, please have mercy and forgive me this once.

6.     He makes an allusion to the “tree whose fruit threw death on else immortal us…” probably referring to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden referred in Genesis. Also, “lecherous goats” probably refers to the biblical passage that goats and sheep will be separated. The “serpents envious” is probably an allusion to Satan, who takes the form of a serpent in Genesis. “Lethean flood” alludes to the river Lethe in classical mythology, a river that makes a person forget everything once touched.

7.     The poem follows the classic Petrarchan Sonnet structure of ABBAABBA but ends with ABBACC. It also seems to be in iambic pentameter, having ten syllables in each line.

8.     The iambic pentameter certainly does create a rhythm in the sonnet that makes it sound much more like a plea. The special ending of CC also delivers the ultimate message of the poem: have mercy.

9.     The tone of the poem is rather dark, and also very personal. It almost feels like the speaker is a child arguing with his parent about stealing a cookie. He refers to God in a very personal way because he is almost demanding mercy from him.

10. “Lecherous” and “Envious” seem to be good words that highlight the evil of the goats and serpents. “Heinous” also seems like a good word choice as it makes the speaker’s sin seem very evil. “Lethean flood” seems to be a very good choice of words because it certainly paints his picture well and was probably a familiar idea to people of his age. “Sin’s black memory” also reveals the evil of sin.

11. There are certainly images that pop up occasionally in the poem. In my opinion the image of the Lethean flood seems most powerful, and the tree whose fruit threw death is a close second.

12. There are numerous metaphors, such as lecherous goats and serpents envious referring to sin and sinners in general. Lethean flood is a metaphor for complete forgetfulness. Sin is also personified as heinous and having the ability to create memory.

13. The statement that “fruit threw death” is a bit of an overstatement, since it did not literally bring death to Adam and Eve, but a death of the soul and the eventual death of the physical body.

14. Again, lecherous goats and serpents seem to be a symbol for evil, and Lethean flood for complete loss of memory. Although the overall poem does not seem allegorical, it certain does contain bits of allegory.

15. Several examples of alliteration such as “dare dispute” and “that thou”. No specific significance noted.

16. The poem is very successful in highlighting the anger and frustration that many Christians feel towards God who claims to be merciful but chooses to punish their sins. It also highlights the Christians frustration at an evil world going unpunished while they are constantly driven by guilt of sin.