Lyric Poem · Peace
Holy Sonnet XV: Wilt Thou Love God, As He Thee? Then Digest
by John Donne
1Wilt thou love God, as he thee? Then digest,
2My soul, this wholesome meditation,
3How God the Spirit, by angels waited on
4In heaven, doth make his Temple in thy breast.
5The Father having begot a Son most blest,
6And still begetting, (for he ne'er be gone)
7Hath deigned to choose thee by adoption,
8Co-heir t' his glory, and Sabbath' endless rest.
9And as a robbed man, which by search doth find
10His stol'n stuff sold, must lose or buy 't again:
11The Son of glory came down, and was slain,
12Us whom he'd made, and Satan stol'n, to unbind.
13'Twas much that man was made like God before,
14But, that God should be made like man, much more.
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“Holy Sonnet XV: Wilt Thou Love God, As He Thee? Then Digest” by John Donne — quilloak.com/poems/holy-sonnet-xv-wilt-thou-love-god-as-he-thee-then-digest
Quick facts
- Poem
- Holy Sonnet XV: Wilt Thou Love God, As He Thee? Then Digest
- Poet
- John Donne
- Length
- 14 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Peace, Love
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 14 lines · one 14-line stanza
- Line length
- Lines run 10-11 syllables (median 11). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- John Donne1572–1631
- Source record
- PoetryDBHoly Sonnet XV: Wilt Thou Love God, As He Thee? Then Digest by john-donne, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 1b0fee75879d7755…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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