Batter My Heart Analysis

Even though Donne and Milton write similar by using lyric poetry, they disagree on how a person’s relationship with God should stand. By observing this difference readers learn that even though poets may use the same style of poetry, they have different ways of writing about their thoughts. For example, Donne’s poetry mixes divine with erotic love imagery that is not usually found in sonnets. In most of Donne’s work, the reader has to dissect and break down the lines in order to really comprehend what he is trying to say. Milton however, is pretty straight forward and uses many similes that constantly describe crises in his own personal life. In “Batter My Heart Three person’d God,” Donne writes about the relationship between him and God, but instead of something happy and uplifting he uses a harsh, negative tone. The first eight lines of the poem he is essentially asking God to come in his heart, but not in a way most Christians nowadays would. He is wanting God to transform him in this rough, not so sweet way. In the fourth line, Donne asks God to …show more content…
Donne uses a more violent, hands-on way of describing their relationship when most Christians could not imagine looking at God like that. Unlike most poets who talk about love and relationships as a perfect, beautiful thing, Donne embraces the dark side and reveals quite the opposite. It can also be taken that he loves God so much that he wants God to make him hit rock bottom in order to be built back up in the way he wants. However, Milton does not want anything corrupt or evil to happen to him, just so he can serve God in the “perfect” way. He learns at the end of the poem there is not a perfect way to serve Him. Overall in “Batter My Heart Three Person’d God” Donne wants bad things to happen to him so he can gain strength in God, whereas in “When I Consider How my Light is Spent” Milton stresses over the hardship he is faced