Batter My Heart
From ZuluNotes - Free Leaving Cert Notes
| English Poem | |
| |
| Batter My Heart | |
|---|---|
| Subject | English |
| Section | Poetry |
| Paper | 2 |
| Poet | John Donne |
| On syllabus | 2007, 2008 |
| Note | |
Contents |
The Poem
- Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
- As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
- That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
- Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
- I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
- Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
- Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
- But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
- Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
- But am betroth'd 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 chaste, except you ravish me.
Summary
In this sonnet Donne is asking God to save him from the power of the devil. Donne wants God to forcefully overwhelm him as nothing less than brute force will be strong enough to save him.
Theme
Donne asks God to batter down the defences of his sinful soul, defenses which keep him separate from God. Donne wishes to be a prisoner of God's will, as he feels this is the only possible alternative to being a prisoner of the power of his own sin. Donne's overwhelming guilt is evident throughout the poem.
Analysis
Donne begins by arguing that God has been to gentle in his efforts to win his heart. Donne insists that stronger measures are required, and that God must "batter" down the door of his heart. The verb is violent and aggressive. He urges God to break, blow, burn. These forceful verbs create an urgency and are violent in tone. The alliteration of the b sound enhances sense of power need to preform the task. The line also compares God to a blacksmith, who Donne feels can mould his soul.
The comparison of the soul to a captured city shows how Dunne feels willing but unable to admit the rightful ruler to recapture it. He argues that weakness of the flesh prevents his better judgment from expelling his souls usurper. His reason is "captived, and proves weak or untrue."
Here he speaks like a woman forced to wed against her will, speaking to the man she truly loves, and asking him for rescue
In the final four lines, the imagery of brute force and that of romantic love are combined in a startling plea to God. If the poet is ever to feel safe from the evil of sin, God must take possession of him entirely as a conqueror might overthrow a town, or a ravisher might violate a woman. This combination of romantic love and physical violence is a highly dramatic and controversial image.
Structure
The first section of the poem - the octet - poses Donne's problem, that he is imprisoned by sin and Satan and desires freedom.
The sestet then proposes the means by which he can be set free - by the power of God.
Videos
(the third poem in this video)
