Batter My Heart

John Donne gives God a free hand to do whatever needs to be done.

Published by 1633

King Charles I 1625-1649

Charlemagne liberates a besieged Rome.

By Antoine Vérard (fl. 1485-1512), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

This miniature comes from a copy of Ogier the Dane, a romance telling the tale of one of Charlemagne’s knights. The book was published in France by Antoine Vérard (1450-1519), and lavishly illustrated. The picture shows Charlemagne’s army liberating the city of Rome, an event which, in this dramatic form at any rate, did not take place; but in 774 the King celebrated Easter in Rome after holding off the Lombards’ raids on Papal lands, thus earning the gratitude of Pope Adrian I, and in 799 he helped to restore order in Rome after an uprising, for which Leo III rewarded him by crowning him Emperor the following year.

Introduction

In this sonnet, John Donne, Dean of St Paul’s, compares himself to a town occupied by an enemy and now under siege by its true King. The inhabitants want to let him in to liberate them, but their own leading men are too weak or corrupt; so the people send out a desperate message: use all force necessary.

by John Donne ?1571-1631

Batter my heart, three-person’d 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 usurp’d town to another due,
Labour to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov’d fain,
But am betroth’d 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.

by John Donne ?1571-1631

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

Why does Done call Reason God’s ‘viceroy’?

Suggestion

Because reason should rule in God’s name.

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Donne felt like a captive. He asked God to release him. He allowed him to do whatever was necessary.

See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.

IFree. IIHow. IIIMeans.

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