3 posts tagged “poetry”

We read this poem in my Senior Seminar today as part of our discussion of Dante's Paradiso.  I have been totally captivated by it and am making everyone who'll listen to me read it.  This solidifies Donne's place as one of my favorite poets.  I love this poem so much because it realizes in language feelings and thoughts I find difficult to express.  This is exactly how I feel when I awaken from a state of apathy or I have been struggling with sin.  God is not forceful and violent in the way He approaches and works in His children, but at times it seems that it would be easier if He was.  For one thing, I wouldn't have to accept responsibility for my failures, inconsistency, and weakness.  For another, I can get so sick of myself that I want to be dealt with harshly. Donne's struggle is nicely paired with Paul's in his letter to the Romans, "For what I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do"; "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice" (Romans 7:15,19).  Thanks to God's grace though, Paul isn't (and neither am I) stuck in this state, and he shortly continues with this: "For now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).  Though my perfection, or even goodness, is neither required nor demanded, I wish I could offer a better version of myself to my God.  I am filled with praise to know that my faithlessness does not alter His faithfulness.