tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15625783.post113518002062595803..comments2024-01-02T21:15:59.849-06:00Comments on The First Presbyterian Church of Jackson Mississippi: John Donne: "Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb"Ligon Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09153063931277545598noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15625783.post-77790990786851005252012-12-22T18:43:53.300-06:002012-12-22T18:43:53.300-06:00Thank you for posting this, as it is one of my fav...Thank you for posting this, as it is one of my favorite poems, but I think your note regarding the last line is not a very accurate poetical analysis and simply detracts from the beauty of the work and the message that Donne is truly trying to get across. His poem here is not concerned with Mary's sinlessness, which there is no reason to believe that Donne ever doubted. (Such opposition to the Immaculate Conception was not at all a factor during Donne's time--for any denomination. It was only clarified in the nineteenth century when such opposition arose that a response was needed by the Church.) <br />But I say that it is not accurate because woe is not the same thing as sin. Christ experienced woe, for woe is sorrow. Certainly woe can be caused by sin, one's own sin or the sin of others, but woe and sin are not the same thing. Mary is often described as sorrowful. Here, it seems the woe is derived from the fact of 'Herod's jealous general doom.' Donne is purposefully ambiguous in the last few lines, addressing both Joseph and the reader. It is the proper response of the reader's soul to want to join with the Holy Family in their plight through Egypt, which was no doubt, a woeful journey for both parents, as they were running in fear of their son's life. We, too, like Joseph, should join with Christ's mother in learning how to receive the Christ child with humility and grace, how we too might learn how to kiss him and go with him into dangerous, unknown lands. It is from Mary that we have our best example.<br /><br />Again, thanks for posting. I remembered the first few lines but wanted to look up the rest.<br />--Emily Heyne, Ph.D.<br /><br /> Emilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10735309171712474252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15625783.post-1135181853940083202005-12-21T10:17:00.000-06:002005-12-21T10:17:00.000-06:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Bradford Mercerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12293824890840032221noreply@blogger.com