Holy Sonnet 14 (Batter my heart) - John Donne
/Holy Sonnet 14 (Batter my heart) - John Donne/
An Impassioned Plea for Divine Intervention
Note: Below is John Donne’s “Holy Sonnet 14,” often referred to by its opening words, “Batter my heart,” presented in full (public domain). Each line is repeated to reflect the requested format, though both lines remain in Early Modern English, which is very close to modern usage.
Original (Early Modern English) / Modern English (Identical Text)
Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Labour to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
In “Holy Sonnet 14,” John Donne crafts a passionate petition to the “three-person’d God,” a clear reference to the Holy Trinity in Christian doctrine. The poem sees the speaker beseeching God not for gentle guidance but for a forceful intervention. Donne’s dramatic language—“break, blow, burn”—reveals that the speaker feels trapped or compromised by sin, likening himself to an occupied city that needs an overwhelming power to reclaim it.
Throughout the sonnet, Donne juxtaposes physical and spiritual imagery. He speaks of being betrothed to God’s “enemy,” capturing the sense of a soul under the thrall of sin or evil. The speaker views human reason, designated as God’s ‘viceroy,’ as having failed to protect him from moral corruption. Only divine takeover, he insists, can set him free. Paradoxically, the idea of being “ravished” or imprisoned by God becomes, in Donne’s eyes, the path to spiritual liberation.
This bold plea both shocks and moves through its intensity. Rather than seeking a gradual redemption, the speaker demands a radical upheaval. Donne’s fiery words suggest that true grace cannot be half-measure: if we are thoroughly bound to sinful impulses, only a mighty break of those bonds can realign us with the divine. Hence, the final couplet underscores that real purity, or “chastity,” can be won only by divine rapture—an enthrallment so profound it defeats every opposing force.
By mixing the language of love and warfare, Donne highlights the complexity of the soul’s struggle. On one level, the speaker acknowledges sin and yearns to break from it; on another, he experiences an almost romantic longing for God’s fierce, transformative presence. “Holy Sonnet 14” thus resonates as both an urgent confession and a testament to faith’s power to reorder a life from within.
Key points
• Uses violent imagery of forceful intervention to illustrate spiritual renewal.
• Positions God as both rescuer and captor, highlighting paradoxes of divine-human relationships.
• Suggests that human reason alone is insufficient to combat sin.
• Concludes that true freedom and purity come only through a total surrender to God’s power.