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Essay on Holy Sonnet 14
Holy sonnet 14 is extremely personal poem by John Donne, which explores the feelings of a man tattered between physical desire and spiritual longing. The poem conveys a feeling of utmost ambivalence at one point; Donne expresses his feelings toward God in the line ‘Yet dearly I love you’, yet this profession comes just one line after his description of Jesus as ‘weak’ and ‘untrue’. In fact, the poem is addressed to God Himself, with Donne commanding Him to ‘batter’ his heart, take control of every aspect of his life and reform him from deep within.
The word ‘batter’ is very harsh, emphasizing the brutality of the action, which Donne is commanding God to perform. This brutality is further emphasized by the fact that Donne asks God to batter his heart, something that is seen as very fragile and tender.
The next line expresses Donne's belief that God has not been trying hard enough. The word ‘breathe’ is much softer than the ‘batter’ in the previous line, and this softness serves to emphasize Donne's belief that God is not doing enough to reform him.
Donne's longing for spiritual fulfillment and his desire to break free from his current self is emphasized in the next line, where she speaks of his intentions to ‘rise’ and ‘stand’. These words also carry with them the connotation that Donne is spiritually lost, and wants God to help him break free from his current state; rise above the waste.
This theme of reformation is carried onto the next line, where Donne tells God to ‘break, blow, burn and make me new’. Alliteration of the letter ‘b’ emphasizes the brutality of the actions, which Donne commands God to take. Furthermore, the phrase ‘make me new’ reaffirms the fact that Donne wants God to completely reform him.................
