Preview

Worth The Effort?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
692 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Worth The Effort?
Worth the Effort?

Why become a Christian if I must complete A, B and C? It seems the only way to Christ means completing a laundry list of assignments, which may create the question: why would I still want this after that? When reading “Batter My Heart” by John Donne, some might infer the previous conclusion. An English poet, Donne wrote this piece, one of his holy sonnets, five years before he became a priest. During that time, he remained in the progress of conversion from Roman Catholicism to Anglicanism. Within Donne’s sonnet, on can observe both beautiful literary devices and stylish form, engaging content and an intriguing theme. While this poem’s message could stir up these thoughts, ultimately, Christians don’t follow rules because …show more content…
Written with an octet followed by a sestet, the full poem consists of fourteen lines rhyming in a customary way, creating an attractive flow for this piece. Easily detected and practically placed, literary devices added a beautiful touch. In stanzas seven and eight, Donne portrays reason as a human, a wonderful image for readers: “Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend, But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.” Additionally, uses of Oxymoron provoke audiences to ponder contradictory issues, lines twelve, thirteen and fourteen state: “Take me to you, imprison me, for I, Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.” Clearly, both form and literary devices enhanced and elevated the …show more content…
After reading several times, the theme of contradiction remained prominently displayed in many stanzas. Throughout “Batter My Heart” one may observe the narrator constantly asking the Lord to commit some action against him, then claiming a contradictory outcome. To illustrate, the speaker asks: Take me to you, imprison me, for I, Except you enthrall me, never shall be free.” The former passage portrays an individual pleading for imprisonment to be free, something many may scoff at. It may look unusual for someone to act this way; however, reader’s actually can observe a theme of truly dedicated love. When the narrator asks for all these things, it is because he wants to have these things happen to him out of his trust and love for the
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Wit Play Analysis
    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Wit Play Analysis

    John Donne is made up of various writing such as strong/sensual style, love poems, religious poems and latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires, and sermons. John was an author who was very passionate, yet had difficulty expressing and “to prove that glorified bodies in heaven are essentially identical to the bodies possessed on earth” as stated by Professor Ramie Targoff. Donne believes that the union of body and soul is what “makes up the man.” In Targoff’s writing, she is describing John as a very religious human being who aspires to go to heaven and be holy on earth and the afterlife. Ramie explains and describes Donne’s themes for his books, and what he wrote from a different aspect. As stated in the last paragraph of the book review, “Professor Targoff in this book succeeds in her tight and clear focus on a central topic, overt and implied, throughout Donne’s work. Her support for her arguments is generally quite convincing....” However, John’s work mostly consists of the bond between body and soul. He wrote a book taking the title of “Holy Sonnets” which did not consist of his usual writings. The book's content concludes of nineteen poems which were not published until two years after his death, in 1633. “The poems are characterized by innovative rhythm and imagery and constitute a forceful, immediate, personal, and passionate examination of Donne’s love for God, depicting his doubts,…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    John Donne and W; T Comparative Essay
    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages

    John Donne and W; T Comparative Essay

    A text is essentially a product of its context, as its prevailing values are inherently derived by the author from society. However, the emergence of post-modern theories allows for audience interpretation, thus it must be recognised that meaning in texts can be shaped and reshaped. Significantly, this may occur as connections between texts are explored. These notions are reflected in the compostion of Edson’s W;t and Donne’s poetry as their relationship is established through intertextual references, corresponding values and ideas and the use of language features. Edson particularly portrays key values surrounding the notions of the importance of loved based relationships, and death and resurrection: central themes of Donne’s Holy Sonnets and Divine Poems. The purpose of these authors distinctly correlate as each has attempted to provide fresh insight into the human condition by challenging prevalent ideals. Thus, Edson incorporates Donne’s work to illuminate both explicit and implicit themes, creating an undeniable condition.…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    john donne and w;t
    • 786 Words
    • 2 Pages

    john donne and w;t

    Through the comparative study of John Donne's poetry and Margaret Edson's play W;t we are shown the individual context of both writers and their perspectives on relationships and death. Donne represents his assurance of life after death in his Holy Sonnets. Additional to this in his earlier poetry, his valuing of deep relationship being critical to the human experience is reflected by his renaissance belief. Edson's individual post-modern context is apparent in the appropriation and rewriting of Donne's ideas to reflect her own perspective. This is further emphasized in the choices made by each composer to represent their ideas in different textual forms.…

    • 786 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Donne and W; T Speech
    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Donne and W; T Speech

    Donne’s poetry attempt to answer the mere impossible questions of life, death and love in eccentric and unexpected chains of reasoning, his complex figure of speech, elaborate imagery and bizarre metaphors creates a sense of vibrancy for the reader as they become enthralled in the emotions and meanings behind his poems.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Reader Response to "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
    • 834 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Reader Response to "For Whom the Bell Tolls"

    Most of John Donne’s writing is similar to the religious sonnets of Anne Vaughan Lock, because of the dark, gloomy and despairing tones (Evans par. 2) Donne frequently wrote and preached on themes of death and mortality, but in “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, there is no “gloomy obsession with death but rather confirmation that even in seeming isolation, the isolation of a sick man’s closet, God has us speak to and serve one another” (Helm par. 10).…

    • 834 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Response To Meditation XVII
    • 786 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Response To Meditation XVII

    When study this text it is evident to the reader to see the symbolism of the bell, which is a constant representation of death during his time, along with the emotional influence it takes on Donne. It can be confusing to…

    • 786 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Holy Sonnet 14 By John Donne And Countee Cullen
    • 157 Words
    • 1 Page

    Holy Sonnet 14 By John Donne And Countee Cullen

    John Donne and Countee Cullen both talk to God about the problems that they have that only lead them to experience negative moments in their lives. Donne’s negative experience that he suffers with is his free will. In Donne’s poem “Holy Sonnet 14”, Donne asks God to take away his free will because he believes that his free will has made him weak and imperfect and the only thing wants is to be perfect in the eyes of God. Cullen’s has negative experiences as a writer because he is a black poet and he feels that God made him a black poet at the wrong time and he ask God why would he make him suffer. Donne and Cullen suffer with different conflicts because while Donne requests for God to free him with temptation which is a conflict within himself.…

    • 157 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    In Donne's Poetry the Religious and the Erotic are Dangerously Confused. Discuss
    • 1196 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Donne's Poetry the Religious and the Erotic are Dangerously Confused. Discuss

    The erotic and the religious are confused immediately, as the poem begins with the warlike phrase “batter my heart”1. The verb ‘batter’ could refer to a battering ram, conveying the urgency that Donne requires God to act, as though he is in the middle of a conflict of faith of such magnitude his desperation makes it akin to a siege. Erotically, a battering ram can be seen as a phallic symbol involving rape, as it forces its way into the kingdom through the doors which were meant to only allow desirable people through. The sonnet is written according to Petrarchan custom, with 14 lines in iambic pentameter. However, this line begins with a stressed syllable as opposed to an unstressed one, creating a trochee. While this plosive does reflect the ferocity of the act commanded, beginning with a stop could also symbolise how he knows should not command acts from God, as though he is forcing it out in order for it to bypass his bane, “reason”2. As a result, this strongly demonstrates how Donne is reliant on force in order to overcome his qualms and anxieties.…

    • 1196 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Wit and Donne
    • 1571 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Wit and Donne

    As with many poets in the Renaissance area Donne was obsessed death. He was intrigued by the mystery of death and, due to his Catholic upbringing and his own Christian values, was convinced of the existence of an afterlife. What Donne struggles with within these Holy Sonnets is how he can settle on a particular view on the subject. One of the Holy Sonnets, “Death Be Not Proud”, presents Donne’s inner conflict. In this particular poem John Donne states that death is something that should not be feared but conquered, due to the faith he has in the presence of an afterlife. Through the personification of death in the first two lines, “Death be not proud, though some have called thee/Mighty and dreadful”, death is given a personality, an identity. It is due to this literary technique that Donne can put an emphasis on the idea that Christians have victory over death, and the promise of eternal life. That it is in this afterlife that death, no matter how “Mighty” or “dreadful” will have no hold over them. Donne is able to directly address death, and speak his mind in a way in which is normally restricted to person-to-person communication. During the 17th Century mortality was a big issue in society with the average woman giving birth to between 8-10 children.…

    • 1571 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Change In Edson's Poems
    • 2452 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Change In Edson's Poems

    Donne’s poems are interesting in the way they often present an ongoing thought process, rather than a story with a distinct beginning and end. Donne being from the literary culture; many of his poems reflect this mid-way change of heart, as he is comfortable dealing in ongoing reflection and experience, rather than static facts. One of Donne’s love poems, ‘The Sunne Rising’ centres around Donne, in bed with his lover, annoyed at the sun for disturbing their slumber. “Busie old foole, unruly Sunne” he writes. Donne, in personifying the sun, and describing such a thing in paradox (“unruly sun”), supports the idea that literary culture places more emphasis on emotion and description than logical fact. The structure of ideas throughout the poem thereafter is fluid. Donne is initially annoyed at the sun for its punctuality, saying that a love like his knows no time, and the sun would be better off chastising late schoolboys. As the poem progresses, Donne goes from annoyance, to mocking the sun's supposed power (“Thy beames, so reverend… I could eclipse then with a winke”), to then feeling content, and almost bad for the sun. Donne writes “Thou sunne are halfe as happy’as wee, in that the world’s contracted thus”, in which he is stating that the poor, old sun must have an easier job shining down on him and his lover, as their entire world is confined to each other. It is this notion of fluidity of ideas that further reflects the literary culture of Donne’s poems. He uses his writings, not to record tangible fact and feeling, but to support the idea that both his thoughts, and the subjects of his writing, can easily be written flexibly, as they are both…

    • 2452 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    To Be Or Not To Be: Hamlet Discussion Questions
    • 1369 Words
    • 6 Pages

    To Be Or Not To Be: Hamlet Discussion Questions

    The two main words that I found were both in the same line, Line 2. “Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,” The two words are mighty and dreadfull, the way that Donne uses these words to get his point across. 6. There was one main thing that surprised me when I first started to read this poem. Donne is a really brave to face death and tell death that he isn’t afraid of what it has to bring.…

    • 1369 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Holy Sonnet
    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Holy Sonnet

    The first literary device to catch the reader’s attention is personification. Personification is the most important and powerful poetic device used in the “Holy Sonnet #10”. It is mainly used when describing death, personification captures the entire purpose of the poem at each point and Donne’s feelings are displayed very thoroughly at these points. For example, in the very first 2 lines of the poem he writes, “[d]eath, be not proud, though some have called thee” (1) “[m]ighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;” (2). Donne describes how people think of death as “Mighty and dreadful” (2). “Mighty” shows the possible power of death over all living things, and “dreadful” shows the suffering of people, how much there terrified of death. By using personification to address death directly, as though it were a person, allows the reader to easily communicate his/her feelings towards it. Similarly Donne uses personification to make his poems more dramatic and interesting or to convey a certain mood so that his readers can interpret and understand more.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    John Donne's The Apparition
    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    John Donne's The Apparition

    In John Donne’s poem, The Apparition explores the emotions of a jilted lover, rejected for someone who, in the eyes of the writer, is obviously inferior. For convenience, I will refer to the "I" of the poem as "he" and the subject as "she".…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Tone Of The Poem Song By John Donne
    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Tone Of The Poem Song By John Donne

    In the poem “Song” by John Donne, the poet presents the listener with a closed form consisting of three stanzas. Each stanza is amplified with one sestet that exhibits a rhyme scheme, ABABCC, and a concluding rhyming triplet. Donne uses this form to create a light tone, a song of romance. However, the lyrical approach is undercut by the disenchantment that the speaker encounters with a woman. The disenchantment ignites the speaker to view all women as inconsistent and disloyal, despite the poet’s theme: the temptation of women may lead to misunderstanding and deception.…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Batter My Heart
    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Batter My Heart

    Donne writes this poem in the style of a sonnet. It is written in ABBA ABBA CDDCEE rhyme scheme. While most sonnets were typically written about loving a woman, Donne writes of God with sexual overtones. The line “Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me” is charged with sexual overtone. The speaker is stating that he will never be pure unless he is seduced or physically taken by God. The Christian walk and relationship with the creator is to be intimate and closer than what the eye can see. For there to be communion, communication and connection there must be a level of intimacy that lost people aren’t accustomed to. As it is with a lover your inner most thoughts and fears and struggles and desires are shared, so the writer describes his urge for an unrestrained intimate relationship with his creator where the sinful nature is violated so that true freedom can be found.…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics