'At the Round Earth's Imagined Corners'

Question 1

Where is the poem set?

Answer 1

It is set against the dramatic backdrop of the Apocalypse

Question 2

What is the apocalypse in terms of the bible?

Answer 2

the final destruction of the world

Question 3

What two parts is the poem divided into?

Answer 3

1. the chaotic tumult of Judgement Day in the octet
2. And the quieter, more meditative seset

Question 4

Describe the earth paradox in the first line

Answer 4

‘At the round earth’s corners,’ It is a tantalisingly surreal paradox.
He visualises what will happen when the dead are resurrected and reunited with their spirits.

Question 5

How is the urgent tone created in the first octet?

Answer 5

He quickly introduces an urgent tone with the monosyllabic verb ‘blow’ which teeters at the end of the opening line.

Question 6

What is Donne demanding in the first octet? quote too

Answer 6

He is demanding that the angels signal judgement day
‘blow Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise’

Question 7

How does Donne imagine the angels in the first octet?

Answer 7

he imagines them with with bright trumpets sounding a triumphant call, just as a fanfare announces a king.

Question 8

What does Donne imagine the chorus of trumpets will do in the first octet?

Answer 8

The sound is so loud and resonant that it immediately awakens the dead.

Question 9

What does the fanfare of trumpets arising the dead possibly imply?

Answer 9

Is this the sign of triumph over death?

Question 10

What does the repetition of ‘arise’ create?

Answer 10

It heightens the drama as he insists that all the dead souls ‘go’ to their bodies.

Question 11

How does enjambment affect the first octet?

Answer 11

The run-on-lines accelerate with breathless energy as confusion reigns. (spirits rush to find their ‘scattered bodies’

Question 12

Quote the spirits finding their bodies

Answer 12

‘and to your scattered bodies go,’

Question 13

What do the words at the end of each line in the first quatrain do?

Answer 13

the forceful end-of-line verbs (‘arise, ‘go’) emphasise this momentous occasion with characteristic hyperbole.

Question 14

What hyperbole (exaggeration) is present in the first quatrain?

Answer 14

‘numberless infinities’. This reinforces the scale of overwhelming numbers involved in this frenzy of finding their ‘scattered’ bodies.

Question 15

What does Donne reflevct on in the second quatrain?

Answer 15

How all the spirits died.

Question 16

Quote the many ways the spirits died and explain the repetition of ‘all whom’

Answer 16

‘all whom the flood did, and fire shall, o’rethrow, all whom the war, dearth age, agues, tyrannies, despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes shall behold God, and never taste death’s woe.’

The repetition of ‘all whom’, with its monosyllabic broad vowels, signifies the enormity of these events.

Question 17

When Donne mentions the ‘all whom the Flood did’, what does this referance?

Answer 17

The Great Flood from the Bible

Question 18

Explain ‘and fire shall o’erthrow’

Answer 18

Donne imagines the future which is a reference to the Bible again about the biblical prophecy about the destruction of the world by fire.

Question 19

How does Donne speed the poem up in the second quatrain?

Answer 19

He sweeps at a breathtaking pace through possible causes of death. His pounding rhythm is relentless as he rushes through his solemn list.

Question 20

Explain the quote: ‘and you whose eyes shall behold God, and never taste death’s woe’

Answer 20

Those people who are still alive on Judgement/last Day will go straight to heaven and will not experience their own death. They are the fortunate ones who have been spared the ordeal of death.

Question 21

Summarise the first octet as a whole (traits, impact, purpose)

Answer 21

The forceful 8 lines with their purposeful, regular rhyme form one overwhelming sentence, concluding with triumph over death.

Question 22

How do the first 8 lines and the last 6 contrast each other?

Answer 22

There is a sudden change of tone in the sestet. This diverts the poem from Donne’s insistent demand that the world should end now.
The first half has been imagining the whole panoramic scene.

Question 23

How is Donne in the second part of the poem compared to the first?

Answer 23

Donne’s enthusiasm for the end of the world evaporates and the earlier impassioned conviction gives way to a mood of self-doubt and contrition(asking for forgiveness)

Question 24

Is Donne selfish in the sestet? why? Use the quote to aid in the answer.
‘But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space;’

Answer 24

Donne focuses on his own personal relationship with God, his newfound and apparent concern for the dead may be an act of compassion or a selfish request for his own spiritual salvation

Question 25

Why does Donne wish for time and regrets his actions?

Answer 25

He realises he needs time to atone for his own sins (‘and me mourn a space[moment]). He was hasty in calling on Judgement Day before knowing if he had been forgiven.

Question 26

Quote the moment Donne realises that it will be too late to seek forgiveness on Judgement Day

Answer 26

‘Tis late to ask abundance of thy grace/when we are there’

Question 27

What is Donne’s tone like when he asks for more time to repent? Give a quote as an example

Answer 27

His submissive tones is plainly evident in the poignant phrase, ‘Here on this lowly ground’

Question 28

____me how to _____; for that’s as ___
As if thou’hadst ____ my pardon with thy ____.

Answer 28

Teach me how to repent; for that’s as good
As if thou’hadst seal’d my pardon with thy blood.

the rhyming couplet at the end consolidates the message

Question 29

At the _____ earth’s imagined _____, blow
Your _____, angels, and arise, arise

Answer 29

At the round earth’s imagined corners, blow
Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise

Question 30

From ____, you numberless ______
Of souls, and to your _______ bodies go,

Answer 30

From death, you numberless infinities
Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go,

Question 31

All whom the ___ did, and fire shall, _______,
All whom war, ____, age, ____, tyrannies,
Despair, law, chance, hath ___, and you whose ___,
Shall behold God, and never ____ death’s ___.

Answer 31

All whom the flood did, and fire shall, o’erthrow,
All whom war, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies,
Despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes,
Shall behold God, and never taste death’s woe.

Question 32

Define dearth

Answer 32

Famine

Question 33

Define agues

Answer 33

sickness or disease

Question 34

But let them ____, Lord, and me ____ a ____;
For, if above all these, my ___ abound,

Answer 34

But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space;
For, if above all these, my sins abound,

Question 35

‘Tis late to ask _______ of thy ____,
When we are there. Here on this ____ ground,

Answer 35

‘Tis late to ask abundance of thy grace,
When we are there. Here on this lowly ground,

Question 36

What poetic techniques are present in this poem?

Answer 36

Broad vowel assonance, rhyming scheme (couplets at the end and throughout), onomatopoeia (arise, arise), enjambement,

Question 37

What is the conclusion of this poem?

Answer 37

He has become unsettled, afraid of the consequences of the Apocalypse for himself (seen in the last rhyming couplet).
This couplet concludes the resolution, it confirms his belief that Christ’s death on the cross brought salvation to the world. The paradox shows that individuals cannot be saved unless they recognise this sacrifice of ‘blood’.
This conclusion is a plea for ‘pardon’, a reprieve.
The poet now puts his trust in Christ’s salvation.

Question 38

What are readers left thinking at the end?

Answer 38

Is this poem merely a display of arrogant presumption which ends with a servile plea for forgiveness? Or is it a genuine act of repentance?