“Stand still, and I will read to thee,
A lecture, love, in love’s philosophy.”
- John Donne, Lecture upon the Shadow
For the exceptionally intricate John Donne (1572-1631), love played a crucial role in his life, and ultimately became the basis of his poetry in all different aspects and forms. In essence, life had become love for him: the love for women, his wife and God. Either physical, emotional or religious, Donne’s poetry includes the omnipresence of romance, passion and worship provide a unique scope to love in every angle, theoretical and practical. To develop his philosophy of love, Donne sought to deeply understand it through his different experiences of its joys, pleasures and even sorrows. He thus went on a quest for discovery, …show more content…
Through his holy sonnets, Donne explores the relationship with God, as well as questions the authenticity of faith. Through the sonnet Batter my heart, three-personed God, the speaker pleads to God to “renew” his soul as he feels he has been trapped by God’s enemy, Satan. The destructive and violent diction such as “batter”, “break”, “blow”, and “burn” sheds light on Donne’s state of unease and despair. In addition, the alliteration of the “b” sounds also intensifies the brutality of their sense in the poem. The speaker metaphorically implies that he wants God to use his force in order to strike his heart. Donne thus places great importance on faith, as the speaker is willing to face suffering and hardship to purify himself. Furthermore, a tone of entrapment is conveyed throughout the sonnet with the use of a simile: “I like an unsurped town, to another due.” The speaker compares himself to a city that has been conquered by foreign invaders and seeks to God to be his liberator and destroy his sinful nature. However, he also creates a paradoxical effect, as he begs God to “imprison”, “ enthrall” and “ravish” him. This shows the extent to which the speaker is frustrated, as he strongly desires to be raped and enslaved by God. Donne integrates both concepts of perversion and purity, which insinuates sexual connotations. Indeed, Donne compares religious enlightenment to sexual violence, which is perhaps revolutionary for his
A lecture, love, in love’s philosophy.”
- John Donne, Lecture upon the Shadow
For the exceptionally intricate John Donne (1572-1631), love played a crucial role in his life, and ultimately became the basis of his poetry in all different aspects and forms. In essence, life had become love for him: the love for women, his wife and God. Either physical, emotional or religious, Donne’s poetry includes the omnipresence of romance, passion and worship provide a unique scope to love in every angle, theoretical and practical. To develop his philosophy of love, Donne sought to deeply understand it through his different experiences of its joys, pleasures and even sorrows. He thus went on a quest for discovery, …show more content…
Through his holy sonnets, Donne explores the relationship with God, as well as questions the authenticity of faith. Through the sonnet Batter my heart, three-personed God, the speaker pleads to God to “renew” his soul as he feels he has been trapped by God’s enemy, Satan. The destructive and violent diction such as “batter”, “break”, “blow”, and “burn” sheds light on Donne’s state of unease and despair. In addition, the alliteration of the “b” sounds also intensifies the brutality of their sense in the poem. The speaker metaphorically implies that he wants God to use his force in order to strike his heart. Donne thus places great importance on faith, as the speaker is willing to face suffering and hardship to purify himself. Furthermore, a tone of entrapment is conveyed throughout the sonnet with the use of a simile: “I like an unsurped town, to another due.” The speaker compares himself to a city that has been conquered by foreign invaders and seeks to God to be his liberator and destroy his sinful nature. However, he also creates a paradoxical effect, as he begs God to “imprison”, “ enthrall” and “ravish” him. This shows the extent to which the speaker is frustrated, as he strongly desires to be raped and enslaved by God. Donne integrates both concepts of perversion and purity, which insinuates sexual connotations. Indeed, Donne compares religious enlightenment to sexual violence, which is perhaps revolutionary for his