This entry is adapted from a paper I wrote for class. It is an informal discussion of how a poem's technical elements advance the meaning.

*****************


Holy Sonnet 14
-John Donne-

Batter my heart, three-personed 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 usurped town, to another due,
Labor to admit You, but O, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love You, and would be lovèd fain,
But am betrothed 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.


This sonnet by John Donne is one of my favorite poems. I love the way in which he takes a common subject – a person’s relationship to God – and sets it apart with powerful words and unique images. Rather than discuss the way this poem affects me when I read it from a personal/spiritual standpoint, I hope to show that the technical elements of the poem are equally important in successfully conveying that spiritual meaning.

We can first examine the “pre-critical mass” of the poem – that is, everything that is noticeable without delving into analysis. First, the title tells us that we are reading a sonnet, and the poem’s form agrees. The type of sonnet is debatable. The rhyme scheme does not exactly match that of an English or Italian sonnet. The first eight lines suggest Italian: ABBA ABBA. The next six lines are more typical of an English sonnet, particularly in the inclusion of a final couplet: CDCDEE. It is iambic pentameter, although not all lines are exactly ten syllables. (Sometimes it is difficult to judge with older language – my pronunciation may be incorrect.)

The poem would probably be classified under lyric poetry, due to the nature of its content and the identities of the speaker and addressee. The poem is “primarily about a subject and contains little narrative content… [and] the persona…is closely identified with the poet himself” (Gwynn 9). We know Donne was a great preacher, and thus the subject matter of this poem would likely make Donne the speaker. The poem is not about a certain time or place, but an idea –the speaker knows he is in desperate need of God’s intervention. Lastly, the poem is addressed to God, and speaks so directly to Him that it is much like a prayer.

Another immediately noticeable aspect of the poem is its use of verbs over adjectives. Unlike other poems full of flowering language, Donne constructs lists of active verbs: batter, knock, breathe, shine, seek, mend, rise, stand, overthrow, bend, break, blow, burn, make, labor, love, divorce, untie, imprison, enthrall, ravish. There is also an evident repeated inclusion of the pronouns “You,” “me,” and “I.” Only two lines do not include these subjects, and eight lines include them more than once.

Now we can move on to a technical analysis of the poem’s language, including word choice, figurative language, and symbolism. Examining these aspects of the poem suggest the creative construction Donne used to convey his message.

One of the most stunning aspects of “Holy Sonnet 14” is its use of sound-words. Using onomatopoeia, Donne chooses words that have an auditory significance to the reader. Words like “batter,” “blow,” and “break” are pronounced with sounds similar to the actions they dictate: the crackling strike of BATTer, the forceful thud of BLow, or the crisp snap of “breaK.” Other words have a gentler sound; for example, the passing of air out of the lungs as one says the word “breathe.” The poet employs alliteration, particularly with the “b” sound: batter, breathe, bend, break, blow, burn, betrothed, break. He also uses a variety of vowel sounds in quick succession: knOck, brEAthe, shIne, sEEk, blOw, bUrn. These sounds interact to make the reading experience rough and intense – each word stands out individually as a significant action of either God or the speaker. The implication is that God’s actions to change a man’s heart are neither easy nor comfortable – they are powerful and sometimes very forceful, but with great result.

The poem is not as full as figurative language as one might imagine. There is one simile, in which Donne the speaker compares himself to a town that has been seized by an enemy. The idea of being held prisoner by the enemy runs throughout the poem in a sort of extended implied metaphor: the speaker is “betrothed unto [God’s] enemy” and thus God must break in and seize the speaker for His own. Other “military” words reinforce this idea: “defend,” “captived,” “o’erthrow.”

Donne uses personification in only one specific instance, calling Reason God’s “viceroy in me.” A viceroy is one who serves as a leader of a colony on a sovereign’s behalf. In other words, Donne is saying that our human reason is a servant of God in us. Unfortunately, Donne’s reason is like a viceroy who has failed his sovereign by being captured by the enemy: it is “weak or untrue.” Again, this use of personification links back to Donne’s overarching method of comparing himself - his inability to do God’s will - like a town that has been seized by an enemy. Donne was apparently the master of this literary technique of comparing two unlike ideas, known as "metaphysical conceit."

Lastly, Donne employs two recognizable Christian symbolic ideas within his poem. The first is the image of God knocking at the door of a person’s heart and waiting for admittance. It is directly from scripture, when Jesus says, “Behold! I stand at the door and knock.” Donne the speaker takes the image a step further: he begs God to break in, because he is too weak to open the door on his own. Secondly, Donne in the last two lines applies the Christian idea that true freedom comes from being “captive” to Christ. Though the words seem to be contradictory – how can one be free if he is imprisoned? – a Christian reading the poem would understand clearly that being God’s servant provides the greatest freedom of all.

All of the technical aspects of Donne’s poem – the form, the rhyme scheme, the diction choices, the symbolism – combine to create a highly successful piece of literary genius. One could certainly read this poem and be overwhelmed by the content alone – it is a dramatic and surprising confession of human inadequacy before God. Nevertheless, having an understanding of the poem’s technical aspects merely enhances and supports the themes of the piece. The rough words and military imagery reveal even more dramatically the force needed for God to truly rescue humanity.

This past week we began to talk in class about the matter of poetry - in particular the formal elements of a poem's construction. It is challenging for me to talk about poetry in such academic terms, because it sort of sucks the enjoyment out of reading poems for the sake of poems.

However, on Monday for the first time I was challenged to consider how a poem's meaning was enhanced by its form. My group read a "Sonnet 73" by Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote the sonnet according to appropriate sonnet form of 14 lines, with a specified rhyme scheme, in iambic pentameter. At first, it seemed to me that such strict gridlines left little room to creatively employ the sonnet's structure in the poem's message, but I was obviously wrong. The speaker's attitude towards death - calm, resolved yet sad, at peace - was reflected in the poem's form. A reader is guided slowly and methodically through the words, learning gently and calmly that the speaker's death was near. There is no rushing in the even rhythm of rhyme, no uncontrolled emotional outpouring. It is simple, sad, bittersweet, peaceful.

And now for something completely different.

Recently (due to my ever-approaching honors thesis) I have been pondering the struggle of defining literature as "good" and "bad," or more appropriately "high" and "low." Though my focus will be primarily on prose, I suppose the same struggles exist in the realm of poetry - perhaps even more so. Poetry often seems so personal that to judge or critique is deemed inappropriate. Of course, this is not the case - bad poetry certainly does exist and should be weeded out... or kept in a person's private journal.

I suppose then my problem is with the seperation of high and low. It seems that many post-modern poets have bought into the stereotype of the tortured artist, and so has the academic reader. If it's not sad, tragic, dark, convuluted, disturbing, rebellious, or angry, then not only is it bad poetry, but it is low poetry. Anything joyous or humorous or simplistic is relegated to the pages of the latest "Chicken Soup for the Soul." I don't really think that this is right.

I'll muse some more on this subject another time.

Hello readers. This is my first post. My name is Amy. I am an English major with a writing minor who will be graduating next December, at which time I hope to get married and land a fantastic job at a publishing company. We shall see...

This blog is for my class "Does Poetry Matter." I believe it does, definitely. Of course, this doesn't mean I have to like it all! Some of my favorite poetry comes in the form of song lyrics. I love when writers are clever with their words and phrases.

More to come soon!