At the round earth’s imagin’d corners, blow
The opening line of the poem reveals the main themes and elements. These include religion and Judgement day as described in Christianity, the speaker’s commanding and brave tone which hides his desperation, and the evidence of the time when the poem was written alluding to the maps of the Earth which had angels positioned on all four corners.
But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space
The poem takes on an abrupt shift cutting it into two parts around the middle of it, despite it being structured as a one stanza poem. From this it could be discerned that it is the same speaker throughout the entire poem. The first part shows his bravery and confidence in his beliefs and himself, while the second part shows his conflict and insecurity. He asks of the Lord to not bring upon Judgement day just yet because he needs more time to repent for his sins.
As if thou'hadst seal'd my pardon with thy blood
The final line of the poem is the most telling of the poet’s style, namely his paradoxical connection of the metaphysical and physical. He compares the gift of repentance from God, the intangible, to a most physical, tangible element of humanity, which is blood.
