https://shakespeare.edel.univ-poitiers.fr:443/shakespeare/index.php?id=1001 In a Latin verse epistle to George Herbert dated January 23, 1615, Donne comments on the new seal which, as a substitute to that of his family, he was to use after his ordination. It represents Christ’s cross whose lower part extends to form the two bows of an anchor. Donne scholars have shown that, while emphasizing Donne’s new official functions in the Church, his new crest reveals a spiritual transition from an old, sin-stained life to absolute faith in Christ’s redemptive power. He is the anchor ensuring stability and salvation. However, readers of Donne may not have given the symbol of the anchor all the attention it deserves. An anchor is indeed primarily used aboard a ship following a crossing, which associates it first and foremost with maritime journeys. If Donne’s new arms represent a transit ending with a safe anchoring in Christ, the former is to be understood as a voyage. The cross-cum-anchor is above all the sign of a spiritual crossing. This article explores the reverberated presence of the motif of crossings in two of Donne’s religious poems, « A Hymn to Christ, at the Author’s Last Going into Germany » and « The Cross ». It shows that, whether or not inspired by an actual voyage, both texts represent man’s aspiration to be reunited with Christ in the form of a hazardous or painful transit from his sinful, earthly existence to the everlasting peace of heaven and Christ’s eternal love. While analyzing the representational, spiritual, and ontological crossings staged by both poems, this study argues that they are reflected by a poetics of transition, marked by numerous shifts or crossings of the signified. Meaning is thus itself constantly in transit. Shakespeare en devenir N°11 — 2016 fr lun., 20 juin 2016 15:42:54 +0200 lun., 20 juin 2016 15:42:54 +0200 https://shakespeare.edel.univ-poitiers.fr:443/shakespeare/index.php?id=1001 0