John Donne's Holy Sonnet 7 is a poem that interweaves elements of allusion and wit to arouse emotion and depict dramatic conflict between holiness and sin. By specifically analyzing the rhyme scheme, allusions, tone, and specific language and word choices apparent in Sonnet 7, it is evident that the poet is describing the transformation of overwhelming guilt into a sincere desire for fidelity. Although this poem ends with a feeling 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 eternal damnation. Say no to plagiarism. Get Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay Sonnet 7 is one that encompasses depravity and the failure of humanity to convey a struggle of fear and guilt internal, but at the same time it 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 imagery predominates in the first eight lines. Donne begins the poem with "Spit in my face, you Jews, and pierce my side, / Buffett, and mock, scourge 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 order of these six verbs as the violence escalates from the spitting in the face to the crucifixion on the cross. The rhyme scheme is crucial and he does not change the end rhymes abab in the eight lines in order to depict the guilt and anger of the speaker as he sees the depth of his own sins. The first quatrain of Sonnet 7 also serves as an allusion to the suffering endured by Christ as he is pierced to the cross and crucified. The weight of his sins is so heavy, as emphasized by the repetition of “For I have sinned, and I have sinned.” Furthermore, the repetition also emphasizes the separation the poet experiences from God and his unworthiness to God's grace. His 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 two dots that mark a transition. However, as stated earlier, the transition is not a distinct idea because the rhyme scheme remains the same. The beginning of the fifth line marks a change in tone as shown by the word “but”. The speaker expresses in these four lines the surpassing glory of the crucifixion of Christ. Even one's own suffering and death "cannot be satisfied" because they lack the redemptive power of Christ. By interweaving words like "ungodly and inglorious" with "glorified," the poet ultimately reveals to his readers that the Jews crucified a man they deemed "inglorious" because they did not know that he was the Son of God. But what is even truer is the reality in which the speaker now knows that Christ is “now glorified,” and yet he continues to “crucify him daily.” Therefore, the beginning 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 astonishment and wonder in.