Oh my blacke Soule! now thou art summoned

	Oh my black Soule! Now thou art summoned

	By sicknesse, deaths herald, and champion;

	Thou art like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done

	Treason, and durst not turne to whence hee is fled,

	Or like a thiefe, which till deaths doome be read,

	Wisheth himselfe deliverd from prison;

	But damn'd and hal'd to execution,

	Wisheth that sill he might be imprisioned;

	Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lacke;

	But who shall give thee that grace to beginne?

	Oh make thy selfe with holy mourning blacke;

	And red with blushing, as thou art with sinne;

	Or wash thee in Christ's blood, which hath this might

	That being red, it dyes red soules to white.

		

Glossary

Champion - In Donne's time, a champion was one who fought battles for another. IE, sickness both announces the coming of death (herald) and helps bring it about (champion).

Overall Explanation

It is reasonable to assume that this poem was written during a time of sickness for Donne, because it explores the idea of Donne's death with some anguish.

Donne looks into his soul and finds it full of evil ("black"). He compares it first to someone who has committed a terrible wrong in some country and doesn't dare return. In this comparison, the country which has suffered this horrible wrong represents God. In his second comparison, his soul is a thief, who wants to get out of prison until he is sentenced to death, at which time life in prison looks quite appealing!

Donne builds up the intensity of the poem with circular reasoning - he needs the grace to repent, but will not have grace until he repents. The ending is a poweful one, partially because Donne employs the paradox of red blood dying something white to create a strong image in the mind. What he means here of course is that the reality of Christ dying for to save humans' souls - the tangible red blood, is enough to make us pure in the eyes of God (white souls).

Poetic devices

• This poem is written in sonnet form. See this page for information on Donne's sonnets. In the octet he presents the problem (his soul is impure and without repentance he cannot go to heaven), and in the sestet he reflects on this problem (he needs grace to repent, but cannot achieve grace until he repents)
• Direct address, a very common device in Donne's poetry, is used again in this poem to launch straight into his powerful argument.
• Metaphor and personification:
  • Sickness is personified - it becomes a herald and a champion.
  • His soul is also personified - like a pilgrim or a thiefe.
• Circular reasoning creates an anguished tone: Yet grace... to beginne?
• Paradox adds to power of image: being red, it dyes red soules to white

Imagery

• The comparison of Man's eternal soul to a traitor and a thief would have been quite shocking in the 17th century.
• The colour imagery that runs through the poem is very intense and memorable.

Generally

• delivered from prison - here the "prison" could actually represent Donne's mortal body, and Donne could be saying that his soul is hoping to get out of his mortal body into Heaven, until Donne realises that what awaits his soul after death is damnation.
• Circular reasoning - see above.
• Donne's puns are often intentional. Look at deaths doome be read. "Read" sounds like "red" and could represent the fires of Hell.