John Donne | Holy Sonnets | What If This Present Were The World’s Last Night?
What if this present were the world’s last night?
Mark in my heart, O soul, where thou dost dwell,
The picture of Christ crucified, and tell
Whether his countenance can thee affright.
Tears in his eyes quench the amazing light;
Blood fills his frowns, which from his pierced head fell;
And can that tongue adjudge thee unto hell,
Which pray’d forgiveness for his foes’ fierce spite ?
No, no; but as in my idolatry I said to all my profane mistresses,
Beauty of pity, foulness only is
A sign of rigour ; so I say to thee,
To wicked spirits are horrid shapes assign’d;
This beauteous form assures a piteous mind.
John Donne | Holy Sonnets | What if this present were the world’s last night?
The poem confronts the possibility of the world’s last night, situating Donne in a moment of existential urgency. The question is not abstract but immediate: ‘What if this present were the world’s last night?’ Donne directs the soul inward, urging it to consider the image of Christ crucified and assess whether his suffering face inspires fear. The poem explores the contrast between divine justice and mercy, questioning whether judgment should be understood in terms of terror or compassion.
The first quatrain establishes the setting. Donne does not look to external signs but to the heart: ‘Mark in my heart, O soul, where thou dost dwell, / The picture of Christ crucified.’ The phrase ‘where thou dost dwell’ suggests that the soul’s location is not separate from Christ’s suffering but intimately connected to it. The instruction to ‘mark’ implies contemplation, an inward examination. The final phrase, ‘and tell / Whether His countenance can thee affright,’ introduces the key question: does the crucified Christ inspire fear?
The second quatrain deepens the imagery of Christ’s suffering. ‘Tears in His eyes quench the amazing light’ presents a paradox: Christ’s divine radiance is softened by sorrow. The ‘amazing light’ suggests divine glory, yet it is veiled by ‘tears’—a sign of Christ’s compassion. This is reinforced by ‘Blood fills His frowns, which from His pierced head fell.’ The image is both one of suffering and overwhelming sacrifice. The next lines pose the central theological question: ‘And can that tongue adjudge thee unto hell, / Which pray’d forgiveness for His foes’ fierce spite?’ The implied answer is no. The same voice that cried for mercy on behalf of His enemies is not one of condemnation but of salvation.
The third quatrain introduces a personal reflection. ‘No, no; but as in my idolatry / I said to all my profane mistresses, / Beauty of pity, foulness only is / A sign of rigour.’ Donne recalls a time when he equated outward beauty with mercy and ugliness with severity. This confession acknowledges a past error: Donne misunderstood appearances, attributing harshness to what was merely unattractive, and gentleness to what was appealing. This misjudgment is now recognized as flawed, providing a lens through which to re-examine Christ’s suffering. The crucifixion, which might appear terrifying, should not be confused with divine wrath.
The final couplet resolves the argument: ‘To wicked spirits are horrid shapes assign’d; / This beauteous form assures a piteous mind.’ The contrast is clear: the damned are given monstrous appearances, but Christ’s suffering is ‘beauteous’ because it reflects divine pity rather than vengeance. The conclusion draws the poem’s meditation toward assurance—Christ’s suffering face does not condemn but redeems.
The poem unfolds as a theological reflection that moves from fear to trust. Donne begins with the assumption that judgment should be terrifying but arrives at the realization that divine justice, as embodied in Christ, is inseparable from mercy. The image of Christ crucified, rather than a symbol of wrath, is a reassurance of love. The poet’s recognition of his past misconceptions parallels the soul’s journey from misunderstanding to faith.
Saint Peter Chrysologus contrasts the two Adams to show the transformation of human nature through Christ. The first man, Adam, is the origin of the human race in its mortality; the second, Christ, is the origin of its renewal and life. Both share the same humanity, but they differ absolutely in their source and purpose. Adam received life; Christ gives it. Adam was shaped from the earth; Christ took flesh from the Virgin, raising human nature into union with God [ … ]
Christian Art | Our Lord Jesus On The Cross | God The Father | God The Son Office Of Readings | Advent December 23rd | A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed ‘The hidden sacrament is revealed.’ In this reading, Saint Hippolytus writes against the Noetic heresy, which denied the real distinction between the Father and the Son by treating them as the same person acting under different names. The purpose of Saint Hippolytus is to defend the Church’s confession of one God who is not solitary, but who exists with his Word and Spirit. Hippolytus begins by setting a principle: knowledge of God comes from the Holy Scriptures, not from speculation or private reasoning. Faith is not shaped by human preference but by what God has chosen to reveal. The Father determines how He is believed, the Son how He is glorified, and the Spirit how He is received. This establishes Scripture as the rule of faith and guards against theological invention. Hippolytus then affirms that God existed alone before creation, with nothing co-eternal alongside Him. At the same time, God was not without reason, wisdom, or power. Hippolytus insists that plurality within God does not compromise divine unity. God contains within himself Word, wisdom, and counsel. Creation begins when God wills and manifests His Word. The Word is not created from nothing but proceeds from God and acts as the agent of creation. The Word is first invisible to the created world, though known to God. When God chooses, He makes the Word visible, described as ‘Light of Light’. This language safeguards both distinction and unity: the Word comes from God and reveals God, without being separate from Him. The manifestation of the Word is ordered towards salvation, so that the world may see and be saved. Hippolytus identifies this Word clearly with the Son of God. Through him all things were made, and he alone comes forth from the Father. The Law and the prophets belong to the same saving plan. God speaks through them by the Holy Spirit, so that they proclaim not their own ideas but the Father’s will. Revelation is therefore coherent: creation, prophecy, and incarnation belong to one divine purpose. Hippolytus appeals to the Gospel of John to show continuity between prophecy and fulfilment. The Word spoken of by the prophets is the Word made flesh. Though the world was made through him, it failed to recognise him. This failure does not negate God’s plan but reveals the depth of the mystery now disclosed. A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures and from no other source. Whatever things the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatever they teach, let us learn it; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as he wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify him; and as he wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet storming by force the things which are given by God, but even as he has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them. God, subsisting alone, and having nothing coeval with himself, chose to create the world. And conceiving the world in mind, and willing and uttering the Word, he made it; and at once it appeared, formed it in the way he desired. For us it is sufficient simply to know that nothing was coeval with God. Outside him there was nothing; but he, while existing alone, yet existed in plurality. For he did not lack reason, or wisdom, or power, or counsel. All things were in him, and he was the All. At a time and in a manner chosen by him he made his Word manifest, and through his Word he made all things. He bears this Word in himself, as yet invisible to the created world. He makes him visible, uttering the voice first, and begetting him as Light of Light. He presents him to the world as its Lord; and whereas the Word was visible formerly to God alone, and invisible to the world which is made, God makes the Word visible in order that the world might see him and be able to be saved. This is the mind which came forth into the world and was manifested as the Son of God. All things came into being through him, and he alone comes from the Father. He gave us the Law and the prophets; and in giving them, he made them speak by the Holy Ghost, in order that, receiving the inspiration of the Father’s power, they might declare the Father’s counsel and will. Thus, then, was the Word made manifest, even as the blessed John says. For he sums up the things that were said by the prophets, and shows that this is the Word, by whom all things were made. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made. And later, The world was made by him, and the world did not know him; he came to his own, and his own did not receive him. Christian Prayer With Jesus Lord God,You are one, and from You come the Word and the Spirit.You have chosen to make Yourself known, not by human effort,but by what You have revealed in the scriptures. You spoke Your Word, and all things were made.You made that Word visible, so that the world might see and be saved.Grant that we may receive what You give,believe what You teach,and worship You as You have shown Yourself to be. Keep us […]
In Luke’s account of the eschatological discourse, the apocalypse – from the Greek for revelation – is clearly envisaged as beginning in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. The natural world is portrayed as being in a state of turmoil, and this reinforces for the listener the impact of what will be – has been by the time of Luke’s writing – a political event. The Jewish rebellion and the sacking of Jerusalem will be brutal and bloody [ … ]
