Batter My Heart Tone

John Donne’s petrarchan sonnet “Batter My Heart” is written traditional sonnet format. It is an apostrophe in which the author, hereafter referred to as the speaker, speaks to God. Whether the speaker is Donne himself is debatable as many elements of the speaker’s identity, including their gender, is unclear. Through careful use of imagery and simile,as well as paradox, John Donne delivers a concise image of the speakers desired relationship with God.
The speaker begins their first quatrain by asking the Trinity that is God to stop “[seeking to mend]” him, and rather utilize force to “Batter” their heart into submission(“Batter” 1,2). The usage of the word “seek” implies that God has been unsuccessful in repairing the speaker’s heart(“Batter”
The speaker’s tone seems to shift to one of saddened longing: Not only does he love God, but he has would be “loved fain” if God would love him back(“Batter” 9). This shows the desire that the speaker has been expressing since the very first quatrain, and why he has been battling to admit God into their person in the second: he wants to love God, and he wants God to love him. The speaker continues by explaining to God that what prevents their relationship from coming to fruition is the speaker’s being “betroth'd unto [God’s] enemy”, which evokes an image of commitment with what can now only be a reference to Satan(“Batter” 10). This line brings about a turn in the poem’s meaning, as it makes clear that the usurper referenced in previous quatrains has been none other than God’s uttermost enemy. The speaker, however, maintains the resistance that he has described in the second quatrain, and asks God to once again do what he must to remove their engagement with Satan. The speaker sets himself forth as a woman whom God must “Divorce” from Satan(“Batter” 11). The speaker further emphasizes this image of himself as a woman by asking that God “break that knot again”, a possible reference to a woman’s maidenhead, the breaking of which was used in the author’s time to represent a consummation of marriage(“Batter” 11). Of course, if Satan has already broken the speaker’s maidenhead, it is impossible for God to break it again. The speaker is effectively asking the impossible from God in their desperation to be God’s possession. In what can only be seen as an ironic twist, the speaker asks God to “imprison” him, seemingly only so he can be free from the Devil(“Batter” 12). This interesting use of oxymoron, which also invites a paradoxical interpretation suggests that the speaker wishes to be free by being