Holy Sonnet VIII – also known by its opening words as If Faithful Souls Be Alike Glorified – is a poem written by John Donne, an English metaphysical poet.
[3] Derrin suggests that this was due to these four sonnets being limited in terms of the evoked imagery, and not addressing certain matters as "dramatically and forcefully" as the poems that were originally included.
They see idolatrous lovers weep and mourn, And stile blasphemous conjurers to call On Jesu's name, and pharisaical Dissemblers feign devotion.
"[11] The final sentence has been noted to signify doubt, signalled by a shift in possessive pronouns: "thy" is used in the apostrophe to the soul, but it changes into a "corporeal self," that is, "my.
[27] Other critics suggest that there is a double meaning present in this fragment, as Donne ponders "whether or not angels know the thoughts of men," questioning if his father reached salvation.
It is noted that "If Faithful Souls" contains longing for "Roman doctrines" of mediation, which allowed communication between humans and God through "more generous conduits of grace.
"[31] Gary Kuchar points to the Petrarchan language used by the speaker, proposing that the sonnet "begins to reveal the psalmic and Augustinian subtexts within and behind" it.
[32] The poem begins with him "confessing his dependence on God for knowledge of his own sincerity thereby implying at least a cognitive recognition of the renunciation of autonomy necessary to Protestant regeneration.
"[33] According to Martin, the speaker offers his struggle not to God, but to a "community of saints broader than any single church," an "invisible elite" to which his father belongs despite his Catholic "misdevotion" in life.
"[46] The last sonnet of this group is "Show Me, Dear Christ," which provides the reader with an insight regarding Donne's tolerationism and his relationship with ecumenism, later addressed further in his sermons.
"If Faithful Souls" and "At The Round Earth's" are the two sonnets that seem to portray the speaker at a point where he has not yet reached an "appropriate kind and degree of sorrow.
"[54] The critic also points to "If Faithful Souls," "Since She Whom I Loved" and "What If This Present" being connected through portraying a "distinctly Petrarchan image of the courtly lover.
"[55] All three sonnets use "Petrarchan vocabulary and topoi" when tackling the theme of one's struggle with their fear of divine judgement, and focus on managing the speaker's "anxiety over his own ontological and soteriological lack of self-sufficiency.