John Donne - Life, Batter my heart, Holy sonnets analysis PDF

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Life, Batter my heart, Holy sonnets analysis ...

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JOHN DONNE (1572-1629) Donne was born in 1572. His parents were both Catholics and Donne received a Roman Catholic education, before going to Oxford. He started a career as diplomat, but he was ruined after his clandestine marriage with the niece of his employer, Ann More. He was dismissed and had to find a new job. Donne started to convert to Anglicanism, after his wife's death and became the Dean of Saint Paul's Cathedral, supported by some friends. John Donne is considered the initiator of his way of making poetry: metaphysical poetry, which convey some hidden meanings, that the reader needs to examinate very deeply in order to understand them. The clearest distinguishing feature of Metaphysical Poetry is the conceit, a sort of intellectual, very complex metaphor, where the poet exploits every field of knowledge for comparison. It is the theoretical expression of an idea. Donne's use of the conceit is a way of bringing into poetry is being an intellectual man, his knowledge and interests, since the poet was expected to be a man of "wit" showing not only his sensibility, but also his cleverness. Every Donne's poem is an expanded conceit or a range of conceits. His poems are different because he uses no regular devices, as others do, in order to convey a conceit rather than just writing a sonnet. (Shakespeare wrote in a clear and direct way) The first part of Donne's literary production his called "Love poems", because it talks about his lover. The second part, the "Holy Sonnets" is concentrated on his conversion and is about the human relationship with God and religion in everyday life, but from an intellectual point of view. "Batter my heart", "Holy sonnets" • classic sonnet's form: 4 stanzas, 2 quatrain, 2 tercets; • no regular metre; • rhyming couplets; • poem meant for himself or for a helitarian group of people. So, it was not meant for the public. Donne wrote because he felt the need to do it and because he wanted to have its ideas clear to himself. We know, that he probably wrote also for his wife and after her death for a small group of friends, who decided to public his work; • words from the field of battles and lots of contrasts (strong and weak verbs); Donne, who's a deeply religious man, understands that being a sinner is part of his nature. So he struggles for God's salvation. The conceit contained in the

poem is the comparison between Donne's soul and an usurpate Kingdom: the usurpate King is the Devil and Donne is serving him, since he's a sinner, he feels like he's working for the Devil himself. Donne's soul wants to welcome God, but his reason cannot support him: Donne feels like he's not serving God in the way he should. In fact, in spite of his faith is nature imposes him to sin. In line 1,Donne asks God to break through the walls of his heart and reach him. In line 2 Donne seems to reprimand God for not using sterner measures with him. The soft consonant sounds and the long vowels of the verbs in this line stress the gentle methods used my God. In line 3 Donne introduces a paradox: he asks God to overthrow him so that he may rise. In the final line of this quatrain God is described as an alchemist who breaks down base matter and transforms it into gold. The explosive “be” sound of the three verbs in the final line stress the urgency of the poet’s need for God’s help. These verbs are in contrast with the verbs in the second line and suggest the stronger methods which God should use with the poet. In the second stanza Donne compares himself to an usurpate town. Reason itself, which is God representative in him, has been imprisoned by the devil and has become weak. In the third stanza Donne introduces another image, the image of a woman that loves a man but is betrothed to his enemy: he asks God to divorce him, to break that knot again. In the fourth stanza Donne introduces two paradoxes in order to convey the idea of his urgent need for God’s help. These paradoxes emphasize the dramatic action that he would like God to perform in order to save him: he asks God to imprison him so that he will be free and to ravish him so that he may be chaste (Donne tells God that he will only be free if He imprisons him and he will only be chaste if he ravishes him). In the second quatrain Donne compares himself to a "town" conquered by a usurper (the devil) to whom Donne is now subdued. This is a conceit. Donne tries to let God into the town (into himself) but he fails. Reason itself, which is personified as an intermediary between God and Donne, should defend him, but it is powerless because it is itself a prisoner of the devil. In spite of his love for God, the poet feels that he is promised in marriage to God's enemy, the devil, from whom he cannot escape. So, in order to be set free, he paradoxically asks God to imprison him, since he will never be free unless God enslaves him and he will never be chaste unless he violates him....