John Donne: Holy Sonnet 9
by Zach Foth
Spit in my face, ye Jews, and pierce my side,
Buffet, and scoff, scourge, and crucify me:
For I have sinn'd, and sinn'd: and only he
Who could do no iniquity hath died.
But by my death cannot be satisfied
My sins, which pass the Jews' impiety:
They kill'd once an inglorious man, but I
Crucify him daily, being now glorified.
Oh let me then his strange love still admire:
Kings pardon, but he bore our punishment.
And Jacob came cloth'd in vile harsh attire
But to supplant and with gainful intent:
God cloth'd himself in vile man's flesh, that so
He might be weak enough to suffer woe.