it made his footstool crack, and the sun wink
could i behold those hands which span the poles,
and tune all spheres at once, pierced with holes?
could i behold that endless height which is
zenith to us, and t'our antipoes humbled below us?
Casting crowns made a song about this very line. Actually the first guy to make a song about this was King David. Psalms 103:11-12 says. "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west." "I behold those hands which span the poles."(line 21) Donne is talking about psalms 102:12. This poem riding west is very sad. i think he is reviewing the Crucifixion of Chris in his poem but it actually seems like he is there. in this poem he is crying out to God for mercy because he sees his state as a unworthy man in the sight of Christ eye. Donne refers to total depravity, salvation, sanctification, and regeneration in his poem. "Burn off my rust and my deformity."(line 40). in today's churches,most of the time, you'll never here about any of those terms because there not used. overtime people have strayed away from how the gospel was preached back in the time of Donne(1500-1600.) now people go to church to hear what will please them. they go to church to seek man made self help remedies where pastors are claiming that if you just "say a prayer" you will be saved. Donne is saying God have mercy on my soul, he is saying that "sin has benighted all."(line 14) Donne doesn't make God out to be some kind of savior in heaven sitting there with his arms outstretched just waiting for people to realize that he was there all along. no, he is saying the total opposite. He is saying I turned my back on you and now you've shown me my error please forgive me. Romans 6:3" do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life." "What death were it then to see God died"(line 18).
i guess you just have to take it for what it is. I really like this poem because there is so much theology in it i could spend a month dissecting the true meaning of the poem.
Yes, I thought you'd like this one! :)
ReplyDeleteWhether or not one shares Donne's faith (whatever particular theological thing that was to him and to his time) I think we can appreciate the beauty of Donne feeling a gap between the sacrifice of Christ and his ability to deal with it:
"Yet dare I almost be glad, I do not see
That spectacle of too much weight for me."
What better words can be used to describe that sacrifice -- "the spectacle of too much weight" -- some things draw us near, but are too heavy.