Batter My Heart Three-personed God

John Donne

The Trinity Lucas Cranach the Elder

Holy Sonnet 14

Batter my eye, three-personed God, for you

As yet just knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;

That I may ascension and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend

Your forcefulness to break, accident, fire, and brand me new.

I, like an usurped town to another due,

Labor to admit y'all, but O, to no finish;

Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,

But is captivated, and proves weak or untrue.

Yet dearly I honey you, and would be loved fain,

But am betrothed unto your enemy.

Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;

Take me to you, imprison me, for I,

Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,

Nor ever celibate, except you ravish me.

Summary

John Donne wrote most of his Holy Sonnets between 1609 and 1611. The poem form is variation on a Petrarchan sonnet that ends with a rhyming couplet. The rhyme scheme of the outset eight lines is the usual ABBA ABBA that nosotros would normally see in a Petrachan sonnet. The last six lines rhyme CDCE EE, the couplet not being typical of Petrarchan sonnets.
The poem is written in iambic pentameter, meaning five groups of unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. The speaker in the verse form begins by asking God, who is 3 persons in the Christian religion: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to violently attack and enter his middle. The speaker wants the Trinity to enter his centre, life and heed aggressively and fiercely instead of compassionately and mercifully. The speaker then compares himself to a seized town. The verse form'southward turning point occurs when the speaker states that he wants to allow God enter, but admits to succumbing to the "enemy" who we tin can assume to exist the Devil. The speaker and then asks God to help destroy his ties with said enemy and for God to "imprison" him. The speaker and then explains two paradoxical reasons why he wants all of this; he can't really be free unless God enslaves him, and he can't stay chaste or abstemious unless God forcibly takes him away or profoundly excites him. This extreme use of paradox is characteristic of much of Donne's poetry and of metaphysical poets in general.

line	Concoction my Middle (Holy Sonnet 14)	Analysis
	Concoction my heart, three- personed God; for you	The speaker is referring to the Trinity here: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in Christian Religion. The word "batter" refers to a battering ram which was used to break downwards doors to a castle during this time period.
	Equally nonetheless but knock, breathe, smooth, and seek to mend;	He wants God to "batter" his center rather than the merciful and nonviolent knocking, animate, shining, and seeking to mend that He has been doing all forth. Looking closer at the verbs in this line suggest possible qualities of the 3-personed God: the gentle "knock[ing]" of the Father when he could be breaking, the "breath[ing]" of the Holy Spirit when it could be blowing more than harshly, and the "shin[ing]" of the Son when he could be called-for. The harsher possibilities are brought upwards in line four.
	That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend	We finally become an idea of what the speaker is asking of God, "That I may rise and stand […] and make me new." I interpreted this equally the speaker understanding that in Christianity, ane must endure the human being or worldly life to be worthy of the afterlife with God. The speaker wants to suffer by existence beaten downwards in his nowadays life and then that he volition be deserving of the everlasting salvation that is promised later death.
	Your force to break, blow, burn down, and brand me new.	The alliteration of "b" words in this line emphasizes the intensity and brutality of their meaning within the poem.
5	I, like an usurped town to another due,	The idea of a seized or "usurped" town relates back to the idea of a battering ram mentioned in line one. I'm not sure who the "another" is, maybe it was once endemic by God? Uses a simile to compare himself to a usurped town trying to permit God in.
	Labor to admit you lot, just O, to no end;	Nosotros see that he is trying and failing to allow God into his "town" or his "centre" and past the "O" sigh he seems saddened.
	Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,	Since viceroy means deputy of the sovereign or master, we run across that the speaker is personifying "Reason" and that reason reports to God. Reason is important considering God gave u.s. reason to protect and guard ourselves confronting Satan and temptation. The double use of the word "me" is interesting and nearly seems complacent or narcissistic.
	But captivated, and proves weak or untrue.	Here, I believe the speaker is proverb that reason failed to protect him from evil and cannot be trusted.
	Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,	This line is very straightforward, nevertheless still sounds self-centered when the speaker says, "and would exist loved fain" suggesting that he would love to be loved.
x	But am betrothed unto your enemy.	The speaker is suggesting that he is "betrothed" or engaged to marry the enemy; I presume here that the speaker is referring to Satan as the "enemy."
	Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;	This line refers to the date mentioned in the line prior, and is the speaker asking God to break the knot that he has fabricated with the enemy. The word "again" is interesting because it means that either the speaker is asking for God'due south help again, or is referring to a fourth dimension when God had to break a similar necktie, perhaps referencing the Bible?
	Take me to yous, imprison me, for I,	The speaker is bringing back the captured castle/boondocks metaphor we were outset introduced to in the starting time of the sonnet. Here over again he wishes for God to imprison him, bringing back the idea that Christians must endure pain and struggle in order to get into Heaven.
	Except you enthrall me, never shall be complimentary,	The final two lines are both paradoxical. How can you exist "enthralled" or enslaved, but yet be free?
	Nor ever chaste, except y'all ravish me.	In this line, the speaker either is and always has been celibate, or wants to abstain from now on. The speaker likewise leaves u.s. with multiple meanings in the word "ravish." Ravish tin mean rape, forcibly carry off, or overwhelm with wonder. Any of these make sense within context of the poem. The speaker's apply of paradox and metaphor throughout the verse form bear witness that information technology is hard to describe God in simple language, so similes and metaphors seem necessary at times.

References:

Cranach the Elder, Lucas. The Trinity . North.d. Museum der Bildenden Kunste. Leipzig. WikiPaintings Visual Art Encyclopedia . Web. 5 Dec 2012.

Greenblatt, Stephen, ed. The Norton Album of English language Literature, Ninth Edition. New York and London: West.Westward. Norton & Visitor, 2012. Impress.

Jokinen, Anniina. "The Life of John Donne." Luminarium. 5 Dec 2012. <http://world wide web.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/donnebio.htm>