Poetry · Chapter
De Profundis explained
A prayerful poem in which the speaker yearns for self-annihilation so that God may live in him, seeking release from the burden of life and the fear of death, and anticipating a resurrection where love and divine knowledge will triumph.
What happens
A prayerful poem in which the speaker yearns for self-annihilation so that God may live in him, seeking release from the burden of life and the fear of death, and anticipating a resurrection where love and divine knowledge will triumph.
Themes in this chapter
Spiritual Struggle and Doubt
The speaker wrestles with the 'cark of living' and the fear of death, pleading for mercy and deliverance from his own mortal limitations.
Redemption and Grace
The poem envisions being 'ransomed' and becoming a 'buried temple of the Lord' that will grow and break free, culminating in the knowledge of God as Father.
Characters to notice
- God
Addressed as 'O Father' and 'thee'; the speaker desires God to live in him and to know God as his father.
- Unknown
The speaker who prays for self-renunciation and resurrection from the 'coffin' of mortal life.
- Death
Personified as an adversary; the speaker struggles with 'hourly strife with death' and longs to break free from the 'coffin strait and dark.'
Key passages
“When I am dead unto myself, and let, O Father, thee live on in me, Contented to do nought but pay my debt, And leave the house to thee, Then shall I be thy ransomed—from the cark Of living, from the strain for breath, From tossing in my coffin strait and dark, At hourly strife with death!”
When I cease to live for myself and allow you, Father, to live in me, satisfied to simply fulfill my obligations and surrender my life to you, then I will be redeemed from the burdens of existence, the struggle for breath, and the constant battle with death in my narrow, dark coffin.
The speaker expresses a desire for self-renunciation so that God may dwell in him, leading to deliverance from life's weariness and the fear of death.
“Have mercy! in my coffin! and awake! A buried temple of the Lord! Grow, Temple, grow! Heart, from thy cerements break! Stream out, O living Sword!”
Have mercy on me while I am still in my coffin! Rouse me, a buried temple of the Lord! Expand, Temple, expand! Heart, tear free from your burial wrappings! Flow forth, O living Sword!
The speaker implores God for resurrection, using the metaphor of a temple and a sword to symbolize spiritual awakening and liberation.
“When I am with thee as thou art with me, Life will be self-forgetting power; Love, ever conscious, buoyant, clear, and free, Will flame in darkest hour.”
When I am united with you as you are already with me, life will become a force that forgets itself; love, always aware, light, pure, and unrestrained, will blaze even in the darkest times.
The speaker anticipates a state of divine union where love becomes an enduring and illuminating presence.
“The body of this death will melt away, And I shall know as I am known; Know thee my father, every hour and day, As thou know'st me thine own!”
This mortal body will dissolve, and I will understand as I am understood; I will recognize you as my father at every moment, just as you recognize me as your child.
The poem concludes with a vision of eternal, mutual recognition between the speaker and God, transcending physical death.