FREE ESSAY ON JOHN DONNE

JOHN DONNE

Purify my heart for I have sinned: An Irony
In John Donne??s ??Batter my heart, three-personed God; for You,?? the moral and
religious qualms of the speaker are manifest in a sonnet which seems at first almost like
an avowal between lovers. These convictions of guilt, which stem from his sexual emotion,
are what induce desire for a creator/creation relationship with God. With further
analysis, the violent and sexual slant on the relationship is also revealed. 
The first expression provides the reader with an initial framework for the mood of the
poem. Donne says, ??Batter my heart,?? (1) This opening word is the first of an upcoming
myriad of terms of violence. The impression given is that the speaker is either a
vulnerable and/or masochistic person. However, it becomes evident in the lines ensueing
that the speaker is somewhat disconcerted. 
Batter my heart, three-personed 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. (1-4)
In lines 1 and 3, he is asking God for torment, to be overcome. In lines 2 and 4, he is
requesting to be fixed, mended, made new. The speaker is vascillating between the two; he
seems indecisive. The verbs in lines 2 and 4 oddly parallel eachother. They are
thematically similar; complementing, but at the same time contradicting. ??Knock??
corresponds to ??break,?? as ??breathe?? does to ??blow,?? and so on. Nonetheless these
lines allude to the subordinate role that he takes.
In line 5, a complication emerges. He is ??to another due.?? (5) There is another
character in the poem who has seized him by force, ??like an usurped town.?? (5) In the
appropriation of a town, the usurper must be the new ruler of the town, the authoritative
leader who snatches the reins of power from the original leader. This image of an
??usurped town?? makes an interesting metaphor for Satan??s heist of a man??s soul from
God. It is the Christian belief that the human spirit, originally owned by God, is at a
constant battle with the devil, who in turn provides perpetual temptation to which the
Christians fall, and want God to mitigate. The speaker says, ??Labor to admit You, but
Oh, to no end!?? (6) He desires and works to admit God as the beholder, the controller
and owner of his spirit, but the Devil??s seizure is ??to no end.?? His defense of the
??viceroy?? in him ??proves weak and untrue.?? (8) A town is also not quite as unyielding
as it appears from the outside. 
We saw from line 1 that the speaker wants to be taken by God. Since he is ??betrothed
unto?? God??s enemy, he needs for God to break his tie to Satan, and to ??imprison?? him
so that he would unsusceptible to the Devil??s domination. Like someone snared in a
defective marriage, he must be ??divorced?? or ??untied?? from the knot. The manner in
which Donne describes this depicts the violent nature of how he wants God to rescue him.
He says, ??Take me to You, imprison me.?? (12) It is also obvious in his use of harsh
verbs- batter, knock, o??erthrow, break, blow, burn, usurp, break, imprison. It seems to
me that the speaker is so keenly aware of his sins and shortcomings that it is imperative
that God not only saves him from his sinful ways, but does so in an intense, brutal
manner. It is a role which he wants God to play because he feels the need to be rebuked
in two divergent respects; that of the creator and of the restorer. These particular
yearnings of treatment demonstate the elevated fervor and passion of his religious
conviction, which in this case is accompanied by brutality to recompensate his sins.
This passion is implicated with a sexual character. ??Batter my heart.?? (1) In layman??s
terms it would say ??hurt me.?? Interestingly, the word ??heart?? during Donne??s era had
a sexual connotation. (A Dictionary of Shakespeare??s Sexual Puns and their Significance)
This definition does not actually come into play until the concluding lines, where he
speaks of being raped by God. ??Except You enthrall me, never shall be free,/ Nor ever
chaste, except You ravish me.?? (13-14) Donne??s choice of words is imperative in
ascertaining the sexuality of the poem. The word ??enthrall?? means to captivate, charm,
and hold in slavery. The previous and following phrases, ??imprison me,?? and ??never
shall be free,?? (13) indicate that Donne used the word in every meaning. This has both a
violent and a sexual slant; he is enslaved forcefully and sexually. This foreshadows the
fornication which will take place in the next line. ??Ravish?? is a key verb, holding
significant meaning. It first seems a mere reference to the act of transporting with
strong emotion (esp. joy). However, upon closer inspection, the multiple meanings of the
word create an entirely new perspective on the poem. The other meanings of ??ravish?? are
to seize and carry off by force, to kidnap, to rape and violate, and in Shakespearian
times, to rob, plunder. Donne desired for God to seize him from the ??usurper,?? the
Devil himself. The aforementioned word ??chaste,?? meaning virginal and celibate, bestows
coherance on the definition as rape. Referring back to the opening line of the poem, the
usage of the word ??heart?? as a sexual reference now makes sense. Perhaps it also
signifies the vagina; connecting the ??battering?? of a ??heart?? to a beating of the
vagina, to rape. He is asking God to ??break?? him (rape him), to make him ??new.??
In the concluding line, the speaker states that he will ever be ??chaste, except You
ravish me.?? Taken literally, the phrase contradicts itself. How does one claim that he
will never be virginal, unless he has been raped? It is apparent here that Donne sees a
rape from God as purification, a rebirth of virginity; once again, giving emphasis to his
need to be punished for his transgressions. This brings into question the exact nature of
Donne?? s relationship with God, and how and why he is so spiritually dependent on God.
It is almost curious that God seems to be playing all of these differing roles. Donne
wants God to be the ??three-personed God,?? (1) playing three different roles, the
creator/destroyer, restorer/purifier, and raper. The speaker is asking God to purify him,
to help him escape Satan??s grasp, but at the same time he wants to be raped. He wants to
be recreated, made ??new,?? but at the same time ??mended,?? rectified in morals. The
whole intent of the poem seems contradictory, but it is very telling of the speaker??s
religious standing. Donne sees rape as a sort of purification of the soul. It sanctifies
??chastity?? rather than annihilating it. He requests this violence to cleanse him of his
sinful defilements. He wants God to beat the sin out of him because he is tempted by it.
His soul is married to the temptation of the world, to the devil and sin. Hence, needs
God to imprison him because he feels helpless, aimless; he needs direction. However he
cannot see himself free from sin??s deathly grip. This explains the irony of the
concluding lines. The entire poem is filled with irony, and fittingly, the poem ends in a
contradiction. 
Analogous to the irony of rape as a means of purification, God builds up as he tears
down. Donne??s religious principle is revealed in this metaphor, in his shocking request
to be ravished into chastity. He is a man who is in desperate need of being forgiven and
purified by God, a man who sees violence as the only effective means of doing so.