John Donne: Poem analysis » Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward » Language and tone in Good Friday, 1613
Sun/son
The language he uses in Good Friday, 1613, as so often with Donne, is predetermined by the imagery and theme. So the language is the language of devotion and the language of confession. There is another traditional play on words that Donne uses effectively here: that of Son (as in Jesus Christ, the Son of God) and Sun. The Bible states that ‘the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings’ Malachi 4:2 and in Christian symbolism, this is taken to refer to Christ.
Thus we have
- ‘a Sunne, by rising set’ referring to the raising up of Christ on the cross, which is his death or ‘setting’ . Donne also describes the sun ‘winking’ and the earth (called ‘God’s footstool’ in the Psalms) cracking. This refers to the Gospel accounts of an earthquake occurring and darkness falling ‘over the whole land’ while Christ hung on the cross. Donne seems to be saying that if Christ had not endured this darkness while paying for human sin that all human beings would have remained forever in the darkness of sin.
- This begets ‘endless day’ in the symbolism of day as the light of righteousness, the night being the darkness of sin and evil. Also in the heavenly Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation ‘There will be no more night’ Revelation 22:5 NIV. The Sun/Son needing to set (die) for light to be always present is the paradox which Donne achieves.
Investigating Good Friday, 1613
- Today's New International Version
- 2But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.
- King James Version
- 2But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
- Today's New International Version
- 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
- King James Version
- 5And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
1. The part of a service of Christian worship where people say sorry to God for not living according to his will.
2. The practice of privately telling a priest of wrongdoing.
(c. 4 BCE- c. 30 CE). The founder of Christianity, whose life and teaching are described and interpreted in the New Testament. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew 'Joshua'. He was also given the title 'Christ', meaning 'anointed one' or 'Messiah'.
Title used of Jesus in the New Testament and in Christian statements of belief.
The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament scriptures inherited from Judaism, together with the New Testament, drawn from writings produced from c.40-125CE, which describe the life of Jesus and the establishment of the Christian church.
Name originally given to disciples of Jesus by outsiders and gradually adopted by the Early Church.
1. Instrument of execution used in the Roman Empire.
2. The means by which Jesus Christ was put to death and therefore the primary symbol of the Christian faith, representing the way in which he is believed to have won forgiveness for humankind.
The Old Testament Book of Psalms which contains 150 Hebrew poems or songs.
Gospel - Literally 'good news' - used of the message preached by Jesus recorded in the New Testament.
1. The central message of the Christian faith
2. Title given to the four New Testament books which describe the life of Jesus Christ
Disobedience to the known will of God. According to Christian theology human beings have displayed a pre-disposition to sin since the Fall of Humankind.
The opposite of goodness; thoughts and actions which are in opposition to God's will and result in wrongdoing and harm. That which opposes God.
Heaven is presented in Christianity and other faiths as the dwelling place of God and the future home of those who believe in and obey him. Heaven described as a place of joy, beauty and peace.
The city on a hill (Mt. Zion) which King David captured and made the capital of Israel. It was the site of the Temple built by Solomon and of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Today it is still a holy city for Jews, Christians and Muslims.
A figure of speech wherein an apparently contradictory set of ideas is presented as being, in fact, part of the same truth.
This is an example of apocalyptic literature, full of colourful imagery and symbolism. It contains seven letters to churches in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) who are commended for their zeal or criticised for lack of it. The overall message is that God's kingdom will triumph in the battle against evil and the book ends with a beautiful description of the Heavenly Jerusalem as the symbol of God's presence among humankind in a new heaven and earth.
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