2 h 46 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 46 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can anyone say in their own defense when the whole world stands before a final judge?
In Michael Wigglesworth’s long poem The Day of Doom, the world sleeps through a calm night, certain that nothing will change. Then the trumpet sounds. The poem pictures Christ on the throne of judgment, with every human being waiting for a verdict. Ordinary confidence gives way to the urgent need to answer for a life.
First published in 1662, this Puritan vision gives the condemned room to speak. Group after group offers a defense, raising hard questions about sin, responsibility, and justice. Behind their pleas stands Calvinism: the belief that God chooses some for salvation. Wigglesworth’s plain, hammering rhyme brings that theology into a stark scene of judgment.
What you’ll discover
- A world suddenly awake Enter the opening night scene, where ordinary certainty meets the sound of the trumpet.
- Voices before the judge Hear the condemned plead their cases rather than fall silent before their fate.
- The infants’ hard question Encounter infants who argue that they had no chance to do good or evil.
- A relentless ballad beat Follow heavy rhythms and recurring rhymes that give the poem its insistent force.
- Grace, sin, and justice Explore how Wigglesworth’s Puritan vision connects divine choice with human blame and salvation.
Who will love it
Readers who love early American history, Puritan faith and old ballad verse will enjoy this book. It also suits those drawn to vivid courtroom drama at the world's end.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A sick minister turns his pulpit into rhyme
- Judgment arrives when the world feels safest
- The dead rise and are sorted into two groups
- Christ explains his grace and calls the wicked forward
- Hypocrites and honest neighbors both lose their pleas
- Excuses about time, examples and Scripture fail
- The hardest questions about mercy, decree and Adam
- Sentence, eternity and the shorter poems that follow
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El Día del Juicio Final
by Michael Wigglesworth · 1662
At midnight a light turns night to day, and every sleeping soul must answer to the Judge.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readEspañol
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In short
Picture a quiet night, with all the world asleep. Everyone sleeps after an evening of drinking, sure that nothing will ever change.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A sick minister turns his pulpit into rhyme
Michael Wigglesworth was born in 1631 and came to New England in 1638 at the age of seven. His Puritan father left a comfortable home to worship freely. The family spent its first winter near New Haven in a cellar dug into the ground.
The father wanted a clergyman for a son. Michael learned Latin, entered Harvard in 1647, graduated in 1651 and stayed on as a tutor. In his own short life story he says he first studied for praise and rank, and then found a change of heart that turned him toward the ministry.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1662
- Language
- Español
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Wigglesworth, Michael. The Day of Doom. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-day-of-doom.
Wigglesworth, M. (2026). The day of doom. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-day-of-doom (Original work published 1662)
Wigglesworth, Michael. The Day of Doom. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-day-of-doom.
@book{wigglesworth2026day,
author = {Wigglesworth, Michael},
title = {The Day of Doom},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-day-of-doom},
note = {First published 1662}
}
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What is The Day of Doom about?
It is a rhymed poem that pictures the Last Judgment. Christ returns at midnight, the dead rise, and every kind of sinner stands trial, makes excuses and is answered, while the saved are welcomed into heaven.
Who wrote The Day of Doom and when?
Michael Wigglesworth, a Puritan minister at Malden, Massachusetts, wrote it. It was published about 1662, sold out its first edition within about a year, and was reprinted many times.
Is The Day of Doom easy to read aloud?
Yes, in the sense that it was made for the ear. Its short, rhymed lines follow a steady ballad beat, each plea and reply is a clear little scene, and the plain words carry the argument.
The author
Michael Wigglesworth
1631–1705 · American Puritan poet and minister
Michael Wigglesworth (1631–1705) was a Puritan minister and poet. He was born in England and moved to New England with his family in 1638. He studied at Harvard College and served as a minister in Malden, Massachusetts. He wrote religious poetry, including The Day of Doom, first published in 1662.
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