“A Hymn to God the Father” Introduction

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“A Hymn to God the Father” Summary

“A Hymn to God the Father” Themes

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  Sin and Forgiveness

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Hymn to God the Father”

• Lines 1-4

  Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun,
           Which was my sin, though it were done before?
  Wilt thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
           And do run still, though still I do deplore?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-6

                  When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
                          For I have more.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-12

  Wilt thou forgive that sin which I have won
           Others to sin, and made my sin their door?
  Wilt thou forgive that sin which I did shun
           A year or two, but wallow'd in, a score?
                 When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
                          For I have more.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-14

  I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
           My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 15-18

  But swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son
         Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore;
                  And, having done that, thou hast done;
                          I fear no more.

  

  

  

  

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“A Hymn to God the Father” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Refrain

  

  

  

  

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• Pun

  

  

  

  

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• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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“A Hymn to God the Father” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Wilt thou
• My sin, though it were done before
• Deplore
• Shun
• Perish
• Thyself/Thy
• Heretofore

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Hymn to God the Father”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“A Hymn to God the Father” Speaker

“A Hymn to God the Father” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “A Hymn to God the Father”

More “A Hymn to God the Father” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to the great Shakespearean actor Simon Russell Beale perform this poem and discuss what it means to him.

  • The Poem Set to Music — Listen to one of the many musical versions of the hymn.

  • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Donne's life and work from the British Library.

  • Donne's Effigy — See images of Donne's startling funeral monument, which depicts his shrouded corpse standing bolt upright—an image that reflects his faith in the resurrection.

  • The Metaphysical Poets — Read an introduction to the Metaphysical Poets (for whom Donne is the poster boy).

• LitCharts on Other Poems by John Donne

  • Air and Angels

  • A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

  • A Valediction: Of Weeping

  • Elegy V: His Picture

  • Holy Sonnet 10: Death, be not proud

  • Holy Sonnet 14: Batter my heart, three-person'd God

  • Holy Sonnet 1: Thou hast made me, and shall thy work decay?

  • Holy Sonnet 6: This is my play's last scene

  • Holy Sonnet 7: At the round earth's imagined corners

  • Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness

  • No Man Is an Island

  • Song: Go and catch a falling star

  • The Apparition

  • The Canonization

  • The Dream

  • The Ecstasy

  • The Flea

  • The Good-Morrow

  • The Relic

  • The Sun Rising

  • The Triple Fool

  • To His Mistress Going to Bed