In 1615, John Donne (1572–1631) entered, with some reluctance, into holy orders in the Church of England. His sequence of Holy Sonnets, addressing God, reflect the internal conflict of one who submits unwillingly to, believes imperfectly in, and loves inadequately the great object of his submission, belief, and love. In this sonnet, with its modified Petrarchan rhyme scheme, the speaker envisions himself as a fallen world, in whose ultimate fiery destruction lies the hope of restoration.

Holy Sonnet V: I Am a Little World Made Cunningly
by John Donne

I am a little world made cunningly
Of elements and an angelic sprite,
But black sin hath betray’d to endless night
My world’s both parts, and oh both parts must die.
You which beyond that heaven which was most high
Have found new spheres, and of new lands can write,
Pour new seas in mine eyes, that so I might
Drown 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 fire
Of lust and envy have burnt it heretofore,
And made it fouler; let their flames retire,
And burn me O Lord, with a fiery zeal
Of thee and thy house, which doth in eating heal.

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With “Poem of the Day,” The New York Sun offers a daily portion of verse selected by the Sun’s poetry editor, Joseph Bottum of Dakota State University, with the help of a North Carolina poet, Sally Thomas. Tied to the day, or the season, or just individual taste, the poems will be typically drawn from the lesser-known portion of the history of English verse. In the coming months we will be reaching out to contemporary poets for examples of current, primarily formalist work, to show that poetry can still serve as a delight to the ear, an instruction to the mind, and a tonic for the soul.