≽ My Play's Last Scene
The Sonnet I chose to analyze from John Donne is one of his famous Holy Sonnets. The particular Sonnet is that of the name This is my Play's Last Scene:
≽ Analysis of Possible Meaning
Immediately from the beginning of Donne's Sonnet, and the repetition of the metaphors of an end, he reveals the ominous topic to the reader, the inevitability of death. Not only is it a topic that I believe to be of utmost importance within a person's mind, but Donne delivers it in such a way that allows us as the audience to feel immediately connected to this issue. By naming the Sonnet as a parallel to life, or as the "ending to a play", Donne shows, without even needing words in the poem itself, that this moment happens right as he dies. And as his death ensues, God's judgement descends upon him, just as a person's judgement is born at the end of a play.≽ Details of the Sonnet, and Their Meanings
Although the representation death's inevitability is quite clearly portrayed, Donne also uses this Sonnet to express and perhaps shed insight into his beliefs about what will happen to his soul in regards to the next life. "And gluttonous death will instantly unjoint My body and my soul, and I shall sleep a space;". Right after the repetitions of an end, Donne uses these lines to show what he believes will happen to him as he dies. Death is seen as gluttonous monster, one who devours everything with no bias. But after this, as Death continues its feast, Donne tells us that his body and his soul will be separated at this point; "instantly unjoint My body and my soul".
Once this separation takes place, Donne begins to tell the poem from explicitly his soul; "But my'ever-waking part shall see that face Whose fear already shakes my every joint.". Donne is telling us that his soul, "my'ever-waking part", looks towards the sky as he is separated from his body. As he looks towards the sky, he shakes in fear as he looks upon the face of God in awe. But it isn't until the next lines we perhaps see Donne's strongest message in the Sonnet.
"Impute me righteous, thus purg'd of evil, For thus I leave the world, the flesh, the devil.". Donne leads into these lines by previously allowing the viewer to become aware that as Donne's soul ascends to heaven, Donne sees his flesh and sins rot into the earth, back to the earth and Hell where they belong. Donne finally longs for the reader to regard him as a righteous man, "Impute me righteous", and tells us that he is now purged of evil due to him being able to leave this world and its desires behind.
≽ Overall Tone of Donne's "Last Scene"
The tone of Donne's "This is My Play's Last Scene" begins with four lines of repetitive metaphors, all of which regard an ending relating to his death. The Sonnet starts dark and helpless, a slowing as you move through these lines and watch a man breathe his last breath. Death begins to feed upon him as he does everything else. But just as it seems that all is lost, Donne's body and soul separate, and Donne's soul is able to look upon the face of God. From here on, the poem begins to gain a new sense of traction. A new sensation of hope pours from the poem. Donne demands his sins to fall to Hell where they came, he believes himself to be now purged of evil, to be pure. The dichotomy of these two tones within the Sonnet present a clear understanding of how Donne saw God and how He would influence Donne in the time of his passing.
≽ Reaction
As a personal assessment, I enjoyed the poem overall. Although it is simple in regards to its meaning and structure, I still feel that it is a poem that is still wildly relevant today as Death still looms, but also grants an insight to Donne's feelings of death itself. We can see from this he saw God as the ultimate redeemer, and that body and soul are that of two different entities. But this begs the question, all of which is a bit more depressing; does Donne see death as the only way to redemption?
This could mean that perhaps Donne does not feel that even the holiest of men can redeem themselves. They cannot be free of temptation or sin of this Earth for as long as they live, at least not by the attempts they put forth themselves. But then why be noble, humble, and caring? I do not see where Donne may draw this line of where and which sins "fall" back to Hell, and where it allows a man to be imputed righteous or purged from evil in the face of God himself. Perhaps such intentions or even explanations cannot be stated in such a poem. After all, the entire force of a poem is for the reader and it's author to engage each other. Extract meaning and value as a union, rather than an incomplete pair.
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