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| Holy Sonnets I and XIV | ||||||||||||||||
| Donne wrote the Holy Sonnets during a period of turmoil in his life. His true vocation seemed indiscernible, yet he knew that he would find happiness only through religion. With King James' offer to make him an Anglican minister tugging at his Catholic bred heart, Donne realized that his spiritual turmoil was not based on religion, but extended beyond that to his personal relationship with God. Donne was concerned with God's role in his life. He stresses his need for God in the Holy Sonnets. But, more importantly, he reveals that, in his capacity of understanding, he may never reach heaven because he is a sinner. Donne cannot conceive of ever being allowed into heaven as a sinner. Donne's need for God's constant presence in his life and Donne's wavering faith in the redemption of man are illustrated in Holy Sonnets XIV and I, respectively. | ||||||||||||||||
| In Holy Sonnet XIV, Donne concentrates on God's involvement in his life. He knows he needs God in order to enter into heaven. He also knows that only he, himsef, may allow God into his heart and that God - by way of humanity's free will - will never force faith or grace up on any man. However, in this sonnet, Donne asks God to force His way into his heart and make him change into a man who is spiritually worthy of heaven. | ||||||||||||||||
| In the first four lines of Holy Sonnet XIV, Donne asks God to do everything possible to him so that he may be spiritually clean. The violent actions he describes emphasize his need for God to change him. In the first line, Donne acknowledges the Trinity. "Batter my heart, three-personed God. . ." (line 1). This requires the reader to apply Catholic doctrine to the reading of the piece. Donne then declares God's supreme power. ". . . For you / As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend; / That I may rise and stand. . ." (lines 1-3). This supreme power grants God the ability to do anything. Donne then asks God, through violent metaphors, to use this power to change him spiritually. ". . . O'erthrow me, and bend / Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new" (lines 3-4). With the roles and abilities of each established, Donne metaphorically speaks of God's changing him in the next four lines. | ||||||||||||||||
| Donne speaks of himself as a town usurped by God. "I, like an usurped town, to another due" (line 5). Donne uses "usurped" - to seize illegally - rather than "defeated" because he knows that God may not force Himself into humans' hearts because of free will. Donne, although he asks God to envelop him, knows that, because he is human, he will fight back. "Labor to admit you, but O, to no end" (line 6). The "reason," that God granted him, will attempt to keep God out of the "town." "Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend" (line 7). Reason fails. With this failure of reason comes the victory of God, the victory of faith. "But is captived, and proves weak or untrue" (line 8). One's faith must extend beyond one's reason in order to have eternal life. Donne?s mention of reason follows the theme of God's | ||||||||||||||||
| Donne knows that God may not enter one's heart unless that person allows God to enter. However, he needs God in his life so much that he asks God to force His way into his heart. Donne knows that God cannot, through his reason. Donne abandons reason throughout the sonnet so as to live on faith alone. By way of the poem itself, Donne has defeated reason for faith. Donne's intense faith is established and his love for God is expressed in the next four lines. | ||||||||||||||||
| In lines nine through twelve, Donne states that God would love him willingly and contentedly if he were not so influenced by the devil. "Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain / But am betrothed unto your enemy" (lines 9-10). Donne professes his love for God and notes that the he falls prey to the devil. Because of this "marriage," Donne asks God to "divorce" him from Satan and to take him as prisoner. "Divorce me, untie or break that knot again; / Take me to you, imprison me, for I" (lines 11-12). Again, Donne asks God to do something that only Donne may do himself. His begging the Lord to "imprison" him leads into the them of the final couplet. | ||||||||||||||||
| "Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, / Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me" (lines 13-14). After asking God to "imprison" him, Donne avows that only through God's imprisonment or enthralling of him, may he be free. Imprisonment is not freedom. Moreover, he relates God's complete control over him as being raped by him. Yet he states that through this "ravishing," he becomes "chaste." Raping does not maintain chastity. These paradoxical comments are Donne's cry to God asking Him to, by any means, cleanse his soul so as to make him fit for eternal life. Holy Sonnet XIV focuses on Donne's intense need for God in his life. He asks God to break even Catholic dogma so that he may be worthy of heaven. He only asks to be cleansed because Donne did not have a strong belief in the salvation of a sinner. | ||||||||||||||||
| In Holy Sonnet I, Donne devotes more lines to himself, his feelings, and his vulnerability, rather than to God. Donne asks God to forgive him then relates his feeling of terror. He is terrified of death, which is the only event he sees in his future, and is, therefore, concerned with the condition of his soul. Only through seeking goodness through God may he enter into eternal life. | ||||||||||||||||
| The first four lines of Holy Sonnet I include Donne's asking God to forgive him. "Thou hast made me, and shall thy work decay?" (line 1). Through this, he acknowledges God as maker and himself as creation. With the act of creation is love from the creator to the created. Donne asks this God how, if God loves him, He could let him fall to sin. Donne then moves on to forgiveness. "Repair me now, for now mine end doth haste" (line 2). Donne again states God?s supreme power and emphasizes His power of forgiveness. Then, he writes, "I run to death and death meets me as fast" (line 3). He feels that death is coming soon which leads him to sorrow. "And all my pleasures | ||||||||||||||||
| are like yesterday" (line 4). The pleasures of Donne?s life have become as meaningless as yesterday. They are gone, negligible, and will forever remain in the past. In the next four lines, Donne relates the flesh?s wastefulness of time with his sadness. | ||||||||||||||||
| I dare not move my dim eyes any way, | ||||||||||||||||
| Despair behind, and death before doth cast | ||||||||||||||||
| Such terror, and my feeble flesh doth waste | ||||||||||||||||
| By sin in it, which it towards hell doth weigh. | ||||||||||||||||
| (lines 5-8) | ||||||||||||||||
| Donne cannot live in the past - his longing for past pleasures and their ending send him into despair and he cannot look to the future. He only sees death as his future and he is terrified because he knows that the "flesh is sinful by nature (line 8) and, if he dies at present, | ||||||||||||||||
| he would go to hell. Donne can find no solace in the physical world because he knows that "it towards hell doth weigh." He needs God?s forgiveness to cleanse his soul. | ||||||||||||||||
| In the next four lines, Donne states that through God?s forgiveness, he may reach heaven. However, Satan and the flesh are so strong that he needs God to support him at every hour. "Only thou are above, and when towards thee / By thy leave I can look, I rise again" (lines 9-10). Donne knows that only through God and doing God?s work may he "rise again." "But our old subtle foe so tempteth me / That not one hour myself I can sustain" (lines 11-12). By this, Donne admits that Satan and the physical world tempt him to the extent that he cannot fight the evil by himself for even an hour. He needs God?s presence every moment of his life. Otherwise, he would fall to sin and his soul would be in mortal danger. In the final couplet, Donne asks God to work through him. | ||||||||||||||||
| "Thy grace may wing me to prevent his art / And thou like adamant draw mine iron heart" (lines 13-14). Donne knows that God_s grace may defeat the devil. He uses the metaphor of adamant to describe God as unyielding and more powerful than all. The metaphor of Donne's iron heart is used to describe man's naturally flawed, and thus lending itself to sin, heart. In this final couplet, Donne acknowledges man's need of God. Only through God?s forgiveness will man be redeemed for his sin. | ||||||||||||||||
| Donne's life of turmoil during the writing of the Holy Sonnets afforded him the opportunity to account for his personal relationship with God rather than his religious affiliation. These poems are closer to his heart than any scripture passage because they come from his direct relationship with God. Donne knew that, regardless of creed, people would be accountable for their sins. Donne felt that he needed God at every moment of his life to comfort and guide him. Donne wrote of his dubious belief that a sinner can be forgiven. Donne lived what he knew, asked for what he felt, and believed what he wrote. | ||||||||||||||||
| Honestly, I don't remember writing this. But, whatever. | ||||||||||||||||
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