FREE A Three-Personed God by John Donne Essay (original) (raw)

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.
I, like an usurped town to another due, .
Labor to admit You, but Oh! To no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,.
But is captive, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love 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 chaste, except You ravish me.
John Donnes' Batter my heart, three-personed God, for You the sonnet begins with the speaker asking God (along with Jesus and the Holy Ghost; together, they are the Trinity that makes up the Christian "three-personed God") to attack his heart. The speaker wants God to enter his heart aggressively and violently, instead of gently. Then, in line 5, the speaker explicitly likens himself to a captured town. He tries to let God enter, but has trouble because the speaker's rational side seems to be in control. At the "turn" of the poem, the speaker admits that he loves God, and wants to be loved, but is tied down to God's unspecified "enemy" instead, whom we can think of as Satan, or possibly "reason." The speaker asks God to break the speaker's ties with the enemy, and to bring the speaker to Him, not letting him go free. He then explains why he wants all of this, reasoning with double meanings: he can't really be free unless God enslaves and excites him, and he can't refrain from sin unless God carries him away and delights him.
The first line of "Batter my Heart, three- personed God, for You" begins with "batter my heart, three-personed God, for You as yet but knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend." The word batter denotes in context to this poem, to strike with repeated blows of an instrument or weapon, or with frequent missiles; to beat continuously and violently so as to bruise or shatter.

1. John Donne's use of death

John Donne uses poetry to explore his own identity, express his feelings, and, most of all, he uses it to deal with the personal experiences occurring in his life. ... John Donne was born into a prosperous Roman Catholic family in London in 1572. ... These harsh experiences brought out a fascination with death in John Donne. ... Death is not all-powerful, since it is part of God's creation. ... It is very clear that John Donne has a severe obsession with death. ...

2. John Donne

John Donne Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation 17 Ann's father, Sir George More, was furious when he became aware of the secret marriage. ... Donne's hope for worldly success was gone. ... It was during this time period that Donne supposedly wrote his "sad letter to his Wife" that contained the following well known line: "John Donne, Anne Donne, Un-done." ... The court decided in Donne's favor. ... He quotes the following line from a letter Donne wrote, "if God should ease us with burials, I know not how to perform even that" (73). ...

3. John Donne And Metaphors

John Donne turns this tool into an art form in his poetry as he weaves absurd relationships between two or more seemingly unrelated ideas. ... In this poem metaphors of attack and assault are used to describe what Donne feels is necessary for God to do in order to make him obedient and faithful. It is particularly effective in this poem because Donne is feeling guilty and saddened by his inability to obey God's will. ... For example in line 4 he asks God to "break, blow, burn, and make me new". ... From comparing sex to a flea, lovers to a compass, and God as a violent aggressor, Donn...

4. Interpretation of John Donne's

METAPHYSICAL CONCEITS IN DONNE"S "THE RELIC" In most, if not all, of his works, John Donne uses the concept of "metaphysical conceits" to extensively compare one thing to another. ... Donne uses this word to describe he and his lover after they are deceased. ... Donne uses this definition of the word to describe himself and his deceased lover. ... When referring to the "Bishop" and the "King", Donne is clearly speaking of God and Christ. ... And it is in this description that yet another of Donne's metaphysical conceits becomes clear. ...

5. Critical study of john donne

John Donne Although all of Donne's poetry is often different in subject matter and form, "The Sunne Rising" can be shown representatively of his work, as they remain notably similar in tone and emotion to the other work he displays. ... He intectually utilizes the conceit of god being a blacksmith to imply the violence that must be inflicted upon donne to make him pure. ... He ask god to break his bond with satan and concludes the sonnet with another two striking. Freedom can only be achieved by being imprisoned by god. His final paradox is that he cannot be chaste (pure) until he i...

6. The Speaker in John Donne

In John Donne's poem, "Batter My Heart, Three-Personned God; For You", Donne expresses many different themes throughout. ... For example when Donne says, "divorce me, untie or break that know again," he no longer wants to be connected to Satan and is asking for God"s help. ... The way that Donne uses these terms can be related back to the metaphor of invasion and resistance because this just proves that he feels that a higher power such as God or Satan will always overcome and have power over him. ... In conclusion, as we see Donne go back and forth from both forces w...

7. John Donne - "The Sunne Rising"

John Donne - "The Sunne Rising" Donne's Songs and Sonnets do not describe a single unchanging view of love; they express a wide variety of emotions and attitudes, as if Donne himself were trying to express his experience of love through his poetry. ... Taking for instance one of Donne's poems "The Sunne Rising" by itself will give us an insight into Donne's attitude to these values, but treating the poem as if it were part of a life experience. ... The adulteration of people was an issue of interest for Donne. ... One might go as far as suggesting that human love ...

8. John Donnes Ideas on Love And Salvation

To understand John Donnes ideas on love and salvation the responder must understand the context in which Donne writes. As a 16th century poet Donne lived in a time where everyone believed in god. ... In the context of John Donne's time the spheres around the earth were the largest structures imaginable. ... The alliteration "To Brake, Blow, Burn" shows the repetitive crushing that Donne feels is necessary of god in order to make a person clean of sin. ... In this case God. ...

9. Speech on John Donne's religious and love poetry

It is fair to say that John Donne is acknowledged for his explorations beyond physical aspects in life during the period of the Renaissance. ... The emotional tension is seen through the brutally violent nature of masochism: "Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you As yet knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend" Donne's use of alliteration with the words "break", "blow" and "burn" enhance this tone with furious bombardment which represent the release of his bonds with sin and an urge to strong commitment. ... Donne pleads to be freed despite his established masochist nature. ......

10. John Donne

John Donne was born in 1572 to a London merchant and his wife. The characteristic elements of John Donne's poetry are plentiful. ... John Donne has written many poems with a love theme, often with an idealized view of sexual love. ... John Donne is also known for his religious poetry, which he mainly wrote between 1618 and 1631. ... John Donne sadly died in 1631. ...

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