EXTEND – Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness

In this poem, Donne uses geographical references and extends them into the spiritual dimension. Match the conceits (1-5) to their possible deeper interpretations (A-E). Write the correct letters in the gaps.

1 south-west discovery ________
2 As west and east / In all flat maps (and I am one) are one ________
3 Is the Pacific Sea my home? Or are / The eastern riches? Is Jerusalem? / Anyan, and Magellan, and Gibraltar ________
4 All straits, and none but straits, are ways to them ________
5 Paradise and Calvary, / Christ's cross, and Adam's tree, stood in one place ________

A The three straits mentioned are geographically speaking the passages to the Pacific, the Far East and the Middle East.
B The sacrifice of the one descends from the other's sin.
C In the poem, it represents death but there is an allusion to the Northwest passage, which many explorers searched for as an alternative route to Asia.
D A reference to the terrestrial globe, where one point meets the other.
E These passages are dangerous, in mythology, because of Scylla and Charybdis (mythical sea-monsters mentioned by Homer), but there is also a reference to the bible, 'Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.'

Match the sentences half that paraphrase key ideas of each stanza. Write the correct letters (A-F) in the gaps.

Stanza 1: As I approach the holy room of heaven, ________
Stanza 2: My doctors, who are treating me, are like mapmakers, ________
Stanza 3: Even though death seems like a final journey from which there is no return, I find joy because B / b
Stanza 4: All paths, like geographical straits, are moments of suffering and trouble ________
Stanza 5: Both Christ and Adam are within me ________
Stanza 6: This poem is a sermon to myself in which I assert that ________

A trying to discover the cause of my illness.
B after death there is resurrection.
C through which one must pass to reach their destination.
D I prepare my soul like a musical instrument, thinking about what I will do there.
E God humbles us so that he may elevate us again.
F to show my dual nature as both a sinner and a potential receiver of grace.

Complete the text with the words given. Then look at the prompts in brackets and write some extra reflections in your exercise book. You can use the final text as revision material for your test.
John Donne's Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness is a fine example of Metaphysical poetry, particularly through its pervasive use of ________. The poem's opening lines, where Donne compares his soul to a musical instrument being 'tuned,' demonstrate the metaphysical tendency to draw unexpected ________ between seemingly disparate objects. (Integrate with other examples drawn from the poem.) This extended metaphor allows Donne to explore the ________ concept of spiritual preparation through a concrete image. Furthermore, the poem's use of geographical references, such as the 'south-west discovery' and the mention of various straits, shows Donne's integration of contemporary ________ knowledge into his religious meditations. (Think about how Donne's use of geographical imagery reflects the historical context of his time.) Also, the poem's concluding ________, 'Therefore that he may raise, the Lord throws down,' encapsulates the metaphysical poets' tendency to explore complex ________ truths through seemingly contradictory statements. (Find another paradox used in the poem.) Finally,though Donne seems haunted by the theme of ________, the poem expresses a certain serenity in the certainty that after death there is resurrection. (Do some research on Donne's effigy in St Paul's, Cathedral, which shows Donne in a funeral shroud. How can it be connected to the message of the poem?)

Read the poem again and choose the correct alternative.

1 By 'tuning the instrument' in the first stanza, the poet means ________.
2 The significance of the 'map' conceit in the poem is to ________.
3 The geographic straits in the poem represent ________.
4 The connection between Adam and Christ is that both ________.
5 The significance of the phrase 'Therefore that he may raise, the Lord throws down' in the last stanza is that ________.