Religion

Sonnet: I am a little world, made cunningly

by John Donne 1572–1631

From Specimens with Memoirs of the Less-known British Poets, ed. George Gilfillan (1860)

Religion

I am a little world, made cunningly
Of elements and an angelic sprite;
But black sin hath betrayed to endless night
My world's both parts, and oh! both parts must die.
You, which beyond that heaven, which was most high,
Have found new spheres, and of new land can write,
Pour new seas in mine eyes, that so I might
Drown my world with my weeping earnestly,
Or wash it, if it must be drowned no more:
But oh! it must be burnt; alas! the fire
Of lust and envy burnt it heretofore,
And made it fouler; let their flames retire,
And burn me, O Lord! with a fiery zeal
Of thee and thy house, which doth in eating heal.

MLA

Donne, John. “Sonnet: I am a little world, made cunningly.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/donne/168/.

Chicago

Donne, John. “Sonnet: I am a little world, made cunningly.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/donne/168/.

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