The poem is divided into an octave, the first eight lines of the poem, and a sestet, the last six lines. Between the octave and the sestet is the volta which is signified by the word “But” in the first line of the sestet. This turning point in the poem represents the speaker’s return to the present. The octave is different from the sestet in that the speaker is describing the arrival of Judgement Day but in the sestet, the speaker is trying to appeal to God so that he can be saved.
This sonnet has many biblical allusions that make the poem more difficult to interpret if the reader isn’t Christian. In the first lines of the poem, the speaker is addressing angels who are at the “earth’s imagin’d corners” and is telling them to blow their “trumpets.” This is an allusion to the Book of Revelation where it states that there were seven angels standing before God and each was given a trumpet. The blowing of trumpets by these angels signifies those who have died to return to their bodies on Earth. The speaker then begins to tell of the kind of people that will be returning back to their bodies for Judgement Day. In these lines, the “flood” and “fire” also allude to the Bible. He lists out all the ways that people could have died so that everyone is included in it. The speaker wants to make certain that no matter the way someone dies, everyone will be able to “behold God.”
After the octave, there is a volta or a shift in the poem. In this case, the speaker shifts from describing the arrival of Judgement Day to speaking directly to God. He is asking God to “let them sleep,” in reference to the angels blowing their trumpets. The speaker seems to be realizing that he isn’t truly ready for Judgement Day. He tells God “and I mourn a space” which shows that he needs more time and space to mourn those who have died. However, he goes on to confess that the main reason why he isn’t ready is because his “sins abound.” This reveals to the reader that the speaker is concerned and even fearful that God won’t have any place for him when Judgement Day is over. Despite this fact, the speaker knows that “Tis late to ask abundance,” and that he is too late in asking for God’s forgiveness. Instead, he asks God to teach him “on this lowly ground” how to repent for his sins. When the speaker asks God to teach him how to repent, he compares it to having the pardon for his sins sealed in God’s blood. A pardon from God to the speaker would allow him to be forgiven of his wrongdoings and face the end of the world without any worries.
Along with biblical allusions that this poem contains, there are some literary devices that John Donne utilizes to add meaning to the poem as a whole. The octave and sestet both consist of an apostrophe in which the speaker is directly speaking to someone who isn’t present. In the octave, he speaks to the angels and the dead who are rising but in the sestet, he begins speaking to God. The speaker also repeats phrases in the poem like “arise” and “all whom” which creates a sense of urgency. The speaker’s tone throughout the poem is very pleading but also indecisive. At first, he wants Judgement Day to happen but then changes his mind and pleads to God to give him more time.