John Donne's Holy Sonnet 7 is a poem that weaves together elements of allusion and wit to arouse emotion and to describe the dramatic conflict between holiness and sin. By specifically analyzing the rhyme scheme, allusions, tone, and specific language and word choices evident in Sonnet 7, it is evident that the poet is charting the transformation from overwhelming guilt to sincere desire for faithfulness. Although this poem ends with a sense of hope, this sonnet is only a microcosm of the Christian life with God. Through the collection of the Holy Sonnets, Donne ultimately reveals the speaker's obsession with his own death and his great fear of damnation eternal. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Sonnet 7 is one that understands the depravity and failure of humanity to convey a struggle of internal fear and guilt, but at the same time, shows awareness of the redemptive power of God. Donne uses a structure divided into distinct sections. Following a similar pattern to that of the Italian sonnet, the first eight lines have an abbaabba rhyme scheme. The speaker's dislike for himself is profoundly intensified as aggressive images predominate in the first eight lines. Donne begins the poem with "Spit in my face you Jews, and pierce my side, / Buffet me, and mock me, flagellate me and crucify me, / For I have sinned and I have sinned." These six verbs give readers a vivid picture of Christ's suffering on the cross. There is a crescendo in the way these six verbs are ordered as the violence escalates from spitting in the face to crucifixion on the cross. The rhyme scheme is crucial and does not change the end of the abab rhyme in the eight lines to portray the speaker's guilt and anger as he sees the depth of his sins. The first quatrain of Sonnet 7 also serves as an allusion to the suffering endured by Christ as he is pierced on the cross and crucified. The weight of his sins is so heavy, as emphasized by the repetition of “For I have sinned, and I sin.” Furthermore, the repetition also emphasizes the separation the poet experiences from God and his unworthiness of God's grace. His self-awareness of his sins is what motivates him to tell the Jews to crucify him as they did Christ. At the end of the fourth line there are the colons that mark a transition. However, as previously noted, the transition is not a separate idea because the rhyme scheme remains the same. The beginning of line five marks a change in tone, as shown by the word “but.” The speaker expresses in these four lines the incomparable glory of Christ's crucifixion. Even his own suffering and death “cannot be satisfied” because they do not have the redemptive power of Christ. Interweaving words like “godless and inglorious” with “glorified,” the poet ultimately reveals to his readers that the Jews crucified a man they believed to be “inglorious” because they didn't know he was the Son of God. Even more so, however , the reality in which the speaker now knows that Christ is “now glorified,” yet continues to “crucify him daily.” Therefore, the opening octave is driven by guilt as the speaker reflects on how his sins are what nailed Christ to the cross. The last six lines of Sonnet 7 are divided into four lines that follow the cdcd rhyme scheme and end with a rhyming couplet, ee. Following this specific rhyme scheme, the structure changes the tone from guilt to awe and wonder in recognition of Christ's love and sacrifice. In line 9, the speaker exclaims, “Oh, leave me then, his strange love continues.