Lecture notes
This Is My Play's Last Scene (John Donne)
- Institution
- CCEA
A2 Unit 1-John Donne notes
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By: courtney1402 • 3 year ago
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This Is My Play’s Last SceneFORM AND STRUCTURE
- The poem is a sonnet
- The poem conforms to the traditional pattern of the Petrarchan sonnet, with the
octave / sestet division
- The rhyme scheme is also Petrarchan-ABBAABBACDCDEE
- The poem has the characteristic volta of Petrarchan sonnet which separates the
octave and the sonnet
- Octave: Speaker discusses remainder of his life on earth and the ‘gluttonous death’
that awaits him
- Sestet: Describes his soul immediately after death. It will rise away from earth and
his sins will fall back to hell
LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY
Octave
- Line 1: “This is my play’s last scene; here heaves appoint”- In the opening of the
poem, the poet uses a theatrical / dramatic metaphor, comparing life to a play. The
comparison of life to a play is interesting as it immediately introduces implications of
the theme of judgement- just as an audience will watch and judge a play, life will be
watched and judged by God. The finality of death is compared to the denouement of
a play. (link to ‘All the world’s a stage’- As You Like It). The use of the caesura and
alliteration ‘here heavens’ is used to emphasise the speaker at the end of his life
- Line 2: “My pilgrimage’s last mile; and my race”- The poet continues to use
metaphors to describe the end of his life. The Pilgrim is a traveller who embarks on a
spiritual journey. The speaker is presented as simply a traveller on earth, rather than
a permanent inhabitant. Through the pilgrim metaphor, the speaker emphasises the
temporality of earthly existence. The pilgrim metaphor also emphasises the difficult
nature of life on earth as a pilgrimage is a religious journey where the individual
devotes their life to faith. Thus, the poet frames earthly existence in these terms,
therefore suggesting he has led his life this way.
- Line 3: “Idly, yet quickly run, hath this last pace”- The use of enjambment which
connects the second and third line evokes the passing of time. The dichotomy
between the adverbs “idly” and “quickly” evokes the inevitable passing of time-
while life may feel slow when it is being lived, ultimately it passes quickly and
inexorably as time moves on. The race metaphor is used in many biblical conceptions
of life (‘Let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us’-Hebrews: 12:1
/ ‘I have finished the race; I have kept the faith’- 2 Timothy: 4:7)
- Line 4: “my span’s last inch, my minute’s latest point”- The use of anaphora (‘last’)
throughout the first four lines emphasises the finality of life. It is used to show the
speaker’s enthusiasm to finish his time on earth and move onto eternity in heaven.
The clock metaphor emphasises the inevitable passing of time. The speaker
recognises this and takes comfort from the fact that he has no control over this.
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