Batter My Heart

"Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free"
"Batter my heart, three-personed God"
John Donne


This poem is a prayer of repentance to the "three personed God," or the Trinity. The man (or woman) praying may have committed a very bad sinful deed--possibly even a mortal sin. I'm not sure what exactly the man has done, but he does say, "betrothed unto your enemy," which means he most likely gave into the Devil's work/temptation. Also, he states, "Divorce me, untie or break that knot again," so maybe the man has cheated on his wife? Well anyway, throughout this entire poem the man pleads to God for forgiveness for his actions. He feels as though he will not be properly forgiven if he is not punished for his sins first.

Since this poem is addressed to the Trinity, there are separate parts that directly speak to Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. I'm going to guess that "knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend" address God because he presents challenges to us, gives us life, and helps to guide us and seek to forgive one another. "That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend" may be addressed to Jesus, because He rose from the dead, and he was overthrown, or crucified. Throughout his suffering, he was able to "rise and stand" and recover from the pain. Finally, the portion "Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new" may be addressed to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit appeared in the form of tongues of fire at Pentecost, so that's why I think the burn reference may have been made. Also, the symbol for the Holy Spirit is the dove, and the dove is a sign of new life, which makes sense with the part of "make me new." I could be totally wrong as to whether or not these inferences are right, but they seem logical.

And finally, there are lots of paradoxes in this poem:

• "That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me"
• "Imprison me, for I, Except you enthrall me, never shall be free"
• "Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me"

None of these make sense particularly, but these paradoxes reveal the man's desire to go through whatever steps that are necessary so that he may be healed of his wrongdoings and sin.