Batter+My+Heart

**OVERVIEW OF THE POEM  In this poem the persona, who is possibly Donne himself, expresses his love and desire to be one with God. He asks god to make him suffer and escape from the shackles of Satans so that ultimately he can achieve salvation. 
 * Batter my heart, three person'd God **

RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND TO THE POEM**
 * 'For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God' (Ephesians 2:8). Donne believed that a Christian cannot overcome his sinfulness (Original Sin) by his own efforts; he must have God's grace.
 * But this poem is a paradox as the persona in the poem is begging god for forgiveness.
 * Christian idea of endurance is explored in the poem. The persona asks to go through hardships in order to become a better person
 * Parallel series of verbs used to explore the different facets of the three person'd God (from enotes):
 * 1) God (representing power): 'knocks' and 'breaks'
 * 2) Holy Spirit (breathes life): 'breathe' and 'blow'
 * 3) Son (play on the word 'sun'): 'shines' and 'burns'


 * STRUCTURE OF THE POEM**
 * A part of his Holy Sonnets (refer to the section on the Holy sonnets for more details)
 * Sonnets generally discuss love or religion; Donne combines both topics often in a shocking manner.
 * Sonnets during Donne's time were generally written in either the Shakespearean style or the older Petrarchan style. Donne combines elements from both sonnet styles: for most part this sonnet follows the Petrarchan sonnet which has two sections, an octave (eight lines) and the sestet (six lines).
 * The words "Yet" (line 9) acts as the volta (turning point in a Petrarchan sonnet ) in this poem. A change in tone can be seen from being violent and telling God to “batter (his) heart” to confessing his eternal love for god. However, Donne uses the Shakespearean style by ending the poem with a rhyming couplet that encapsulates the key idea of his poem.

· Love vs. Lust · Violence · Power Struggle between being under the control of God or Satan.
 * RHYME AND RHYTHM**
 * Sonnets generally use iambic pentameter; however in this poem it has been altered as the first syllable is stressed where as it should be unstressed and all lines do not have alternate stressed and unstressed syllables.
 * And the rule of ten syllables per line has not been strictly followed.
 * There are several  Half-rhymes such as 'enemie' and 'I' that break the regular rhyme scheme.
 * Key Themes:**

**PARALLELISM:**
 * LITERARY FEATURES: **
 * VOCABULARY **
 * Donne seems to uses imperative vocabulary at the beginning the poem, which is unusual as he is addressing God. Yet the show the sense of urgency and desperation of the persona, as a sinner.
 * The plosive in line 4 – “ breake, blowe, burn” creates harsh sounds which mimic the actions of go “battering” the persona’s heart and the battering of the metal in the blacksmithy . It is not enough to mend the sinner he has to be destroyed and re-created.
 * Monosyllabic words add to the violence of the tone and mood.
 * All the actions mentioned in line 2 are amplified in line 4.This portrays the increasing sense of emergency that the persona feels.
 * 'knocks' and 'breaks'


 * 'breathe' and 'blow'


 * 'shines' and 'burns'

PUNCTUATION ** TRIADS (TRIPLE STRUCTURES) ** TONE **
 * The caesuras at the beginning of the poem slow down the pace and add to the force which makes each word sounds almost like a harsh blow.
 * IMAGERY **
 * Blacksmithy conceit: is used to compare the re-creation of Man by God to the purification and re-moulding of metal. In the analogy the actions, “knocke”, “breathe”, “shine”, Breake”, “blowe”, “burn” are usually used by a blacksmith to transform metal and make it something useable. Similarly the persona asks God to use these actions to transform him into a better person.
 * Conceit of the “usurpt towne”: the persona compares his situation of being under the control of Satan to that of a town being captured by an enemy.
 * The image of the town and the blacksmith are connected by battering. The besieged city needs to be broken using a battering ram.
 * Donne personifies “r eason’ as a ‘viceroy’ of God. This amplifies the extent to which the persona feels captive under Satan, even his reason is suppressed.
 * Donne uses marriage imagery to show how he is bound to Satan. Beseeches God to break his soul (which was considered to be feminine) from the shackles of Satan.
 * Uses it to emphasize the idea of the Holy Trinity as seen from the triple verbs ‘breake, blowe, burn’ (line 3).
 * Also when Donne uses marriage imagery ‘divorce mee, untie, or breake the knot’- idea of holy matrimony as sanctioned by God.
 * PARADOXES: **
 * Paradoxes are central to the Christian faith. Christ had to be crucified to save mankind. Only with His death was there a spiritual life through salvation.
 * In line 3 the persona asks god to 'o'erthrow' him in order for him to 'rise'. This paradox comes back to the Cristian idea that one has to undergo pain and suffering in-order gain salvation and become one with god.
 * In the last lines of the poem the persona wants to feel religious ecstasy. The words “ravish mee” have a sexual connotation and might be almost blasphemous.
 * Donne uses similar word in his poem The Flea which could be blasphemous.(compare and contrast to // The Flea // )
 * Passiveness of the speaker (find examples)
 * The poem begins on a dramatic not with an angry yet pleading tone.
 * As the poem progresses the tone seems to become more desperate and yearning.
 * In the third stanza the tone becomes slightly softer as the persona expresses his love for god. The poem ultimately ends on a high note due to words such as 'ravish mee'.

**WORD PLAY**
 * The word 'Enthrall' shows the extent to which the persona is captivated by god.
 * The word 'imprisoned' on its own has a negative connotation but when read in context in the poem, it shows the persona's desperation to be one with god.
 * The word 'ravish' has a sexual connotation. While asking god to 'ravish' him the persona expresses his need to experience religious ecstasy.
 * FIRST PERSON **
 * The repetitive use of “mee” and “I” throughout the whole poem is probably used to create sympathy in the reader’s mind for the persona.
 * Makes it a personal plea
 * Changes the syntax in the poem so that the emphasis falls on the personal pronoun.
 * Eg: Line 7 where the the 'mee' is put together.
 * Eg: Line 9 the emphasis fall on the 'I love you'
 * Eg: Line 12 where in the I at the end of the line is emphasized.