As yet but knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, overthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn and make me new.
I, like a usurpt town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason, your viceroy in me, I should defend,
But is captive, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy:
Divorce me, untie or break that know again;
Take me to you, imprison me, for I
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish me.
- John Donne, Holy Sonnet 74. "Batter my heart" (update language mine)
Donne was a master of the extended metaphor (although English teachers would tell you they're called metaphysical conceits) and wove together seemingly unrelated topics to construct a vibrant image.
Did you catch that he compared his heart to a city under the devil's rule ("I, like a usurpt town, to another due"), and that Donne is begging God to come into his heart ("I...Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end"). Maybe you noticed that Donne sees himself as married to the devil ("...betrothed unto your enemy:") and is begging God is sever that relationship ("Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again:"). Does it surprise you that Donne begs for God to pull him into himself, to ravish, enthrall, imprison him? Are you shocked at Donne's brutal, warlike tone? Are you offended?
Why?
Some people are offended by a poem of such passion for God, such angst and rawness of heart, or misunderstand the rawness of emotion as sacrilegious towards a pure God. I envy Donne's ability to craft an image out such incongruent pieces, and I envy his openness of heart that allowed him to release that passion. I don't think God minds it at all when we burst open with love and passion for him. In the last lines, Donne is overwhelmed with his brokenness and filth and begs God to clean him up and bring him back to himself. It's a praise, a lament and a salvation story all in one.
Wouldn't it be worse if Christians were always socially appropriate and dutiful, always proper and politically correct? When did it become such an outrage to be fiery, outspoken people of such love and passion that offends rather than sits back in silence? Do you think the Apostle Paul was a wallflower, or that Peter was known as the one who always said the right thing?
Every time I think I'm doing alright, some other deficiency gapes back at me, or some rough spot rasps out to be filed down. Some days I ride too high, and once I've fallen off and see how far I've wandered, I ache for God to take back my heart, to be divorced from the power that rules the self. But it's not just God that makes this happen - I have to move, too. It's the both of us working out salvation, it's God who readies my hands for action and my heart for love.
I'm still a work in progress (but aren't we all?). I wish I could write as fluidly as Donne, with his vivid images and gripping style, but I'm just not there yet. I wish I could be as outspoken about my faith and convictions as Donne, but then again, God is still working all that out in me, and that part's not finished yet.
I'm not Donne yet, because I'm not done yet.
Donne was a master of the extended metaphor (although English teachers would tell you they're called metaphysical conceits) and wove together seemingly unrelated topics to construct a vibrant image.
Did you catch that he compared his heart to a city under the devil's rule ("I, like a usurpt town, to another due"), and that Donne is begging God to come into his heart ("I...Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end"). Maybe you noticed that Donne sees himself as married to the devil ("...betrothed unto your enemy:") and is begging God is sever that relationship ("Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again:"). Does it surprise you that Donne begs for God to pull him into himself, to ravish, enthrall, imprison him? Are you shocked at Donne's brutal, warlike tone? Are you offended?
Why?
Some people are offended by a poem of such passion for God, such angst and rawness of heart, or misunderstand the rawness of emotion as sacrilegious towards a pure God. I envy Donne's ability to craft an image out such incongruent pieces, and I envy his openness of heart that allowed him to release that passion. I don't think God minds it at all when we burst open with love and passion for him. In the last lines, Donne is overwhelmed with his brokenness and filth and begs God to clean him up and bring him back to himself. It's a praise, a lament and a salvation story all in one.
Wouldn't it be worse if Christians were always socially appropriate and dutiful, always proper and politically correct? When did it become such an outrage to be fiery, outspoken people of such love and passion that offends rather than sits back in silence? Do you think the Apostle Paul was a wallflower, or that Peter was known as the one who always said the right thing?
Every time I think I'm doing alright, some other deficiency gapes back at me, or some rough spot rasps out to be filed down. Some days I ride too high, and once I've fallen off and see how far I've wandered, I ache for God to take back my heart, to be divorced from the power that rules the self. But it's not just God that makes this happen - I have to move, too. It's the both of us working out salvation, it's God who readies my hands for action and my heart for love.
I'm still a work in progress (but aren't we all?). I wish I could write as fluidly as Donne, with his vivid images and gripping style, but I'm just not there yet. I wish I could be as outspoken about my faith and convictions as Donne, but then again, God is still working all that out in me, and that part's not finished yet.
I'm not Donne yet, because I'm not done yet.
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