Having embraced religion, he has switched from love to devotional poems. “Sonnet XIV: Batter my heart, three-person’d God” is one of his well-read religious poems which expresses the intense desire of the speaker for spiritual transformation. So, let us unpack its meaning in the following paragraphs.

Batter My Heart Summary

The speaker in the first quatrain of the sonnet addresses God to strike his heart. He asks God in a grave tone to use all his might to break the spell of his soul from temptation.

The second quatrain conveys his degenerating spiritual state. He admits that God’s enemy has enchanted his soul, and the reason, the representative of God, could not break his bond with sin.

The speaker is in trouble. He reminds God in the third quatrain that he truly loves him. Unfortunately, he cannot love him due to the enslavement of his enemy. He appeals emotionally to break his bond.

At last, he admits he needs him for his redemption. Without him, he can never be free and purified.

Analysis

Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.

The sonnet starts with an imperative clause: “Batter my heart” and addresses the three-personed God. The three-personed God refers to the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Addressing the Holy Trinity is an example of an apostrophe.

God is silent throughout the poem. Like the God in “Sonnet XIV: Batter my heart, three-person’d God, the Sun in The Sun Rising, Death in Death Be Not Proud, the beloved in A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, etc., we have noticed the addressee is silent in most of Donne’s poems and the speaker plays a dominant role. 

The speaker asks the Holy Trinity to batter his heart for spiritual redemption. The clause “Batter my heart” is a strong and violent imagery that conveys the intensity of the urge of the speaker to be free from the evil influence of Satan.

Additionally, we need one thing to keep in mind the clause “Batter my heart” is an example of hyperbole. The speaker does not want God to beat him severely, rather he means to intervene forcefully in his soul. Overall, The first line of the poem highlights the theme of the sonnet: the cry for the rescue of the speaker’s soul to the Holy Trinity.

The phrase “for you” indicates the Holy Trinity. He wants Him to break his heart forcefully as of now God has only knocked, breathed, shone, and sought to mend the heart of the speaker. It highlights that God has been trying to revive his soul but to no avail.

However, these attempts have not brought any significant change to the speaker that he needs for the transformation. Therefore, he wants the Holy Trinity to take a serious step, that is battering his heart to purify his contaminated soul. 

This forceful approach to purifying the soul contrasts with the gentle approach that the speaker mentions in the second line “knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend”. The second approach emphasizes his desperation to be free from the bondage of sin.

The tone of the sonnet is authoritative. It is peculiar because usually in a devotional poem, the speaker remains humble and shows reverence to the almighty. For instance, many of George Herbert’s poems like “The Collar” express the speaker’s politeness to submit himself to God. 

On the other hand, the speaker in Donne’s “Sonnet XIV” does not sound humble in any way. The absence of words like “request”, and “please” complements the argument.

Though he wants to surrender himself to the Holy Trinity his approach to spiritual revival is different from others. It is contradictory for wishing to be reverent and commanding at the same time.

We can interpret the clause “That I may rise, and stand” as the speaker’s hope for redemption from sin, He may rise from sin and stand as a piteous being. There is always a possibility of hope though sin has already corrupted his soul.

He also acknowledges that without God’s intervention, it is impossible to transform himself into a new being. Therefore, he says coercively “o’erthrow me, and bend/Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new” to suggest an impactful intervention to his soul. It also highlights the mood of the poem. 

Even if it causes pain to him; he is willing to endure anything to reach his goal of being free and purified. The use of the alliteration “break, blow, burn” in the fourth line conveys the sense of agitation of the speaker and the urgency of the situation.

These four lines as a whole express the speaker’s desire for spiritual renewal and growth.

I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.

The second quatrain expresses the speaker’s dreadful spiritual life. He uses the simile, “like an usurped town”, to compare his state of soul to that of a devastating town that has been seized by an enemy. The comparison implies the speaker is under foreign control.

Consequently, his soul is owed to another. The word “another” in the fifth line possibly refers to Satan or sin or the speaker’s pride that is resisting him from coming into contact with God’s grace.

The speaker is trying his best to allow God to enter his soul and purify him as he is certain that God is the only one who can rescue him. The phrase “to no end” means there is no progress in his effort of overcoming sin. The phrase “but oh” emphasizes the sense of disappointment in the speaker.

He expresses discontent, not for the fruitless struggle, but also expresses dissatisfaction for the reason, God’s viceroy. The reason should have saved him from spiritual degeneration. The speaker uses the metaphor of a viceroy. 

It is the job of reason to work on behalf of the best interest of a person. Similarly, the primary task of a viceroy, whom the speaker personifies as a ruler of the speaker’s soul, is to guide him in his spiritual life.

The viceroy should be the ruler of the speaker’s soul. But it has failed to prevent the speaker from the temptations of sin, Instead of becoming immune to the foreign power, the evil force has weakened the reason in the speaker and proved untrue to its role: resisting the soul from becoming corrupted. 

Unlike the expectation, the reason has failed to do his job and other force has imprisoned him. 

Here it seems the speaker whines to God for not preventing him at the right moment and he is doubting his reliability over God. 

Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy:
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,

In this quatrain, the speaker affirms that he loves him dearly. The adverb “dearly” reinforces his deep love for God. He also expects that God would accept him and would gladly love him. 

Since reason is weaker than sin, therefore, the speaker needs God’s assistance. 

He “would be loved fain” expresses the speaker’s faith in God that despite his attachment to sin, God would love him.

The problem is the speaker is now engaged with God’s enemy. We can interpret it as indulgence in sinful activities. He has engaged himself with God’s enemy and his spiritual state is similar to that of an engaged person who cannot estrange from the other easily. The speaker is unable to break the bond of his entanglement with the enemy.

He ardently asks God to break the bond that he has been developing with God’s enemy. The use of the imperative sentence, “Divorce me, untie or break that knot again” maintains a commanding tone and reinforces the desperation of the speaker.

The use of “again” could refer to a previous attempt by God where he rescued the speaker. Unfortunately, he has again indulged and made his life worse. Now, he wants to break any kind of association with the enemy and wants to be connected with Him again. 

The speaker does not mean to divorce with sin rather it is a metaphorical expression that suggests the speaker’s desire to be separated from sin and to be united with God.

The speaker is so serious about his situation that he goes on to use another imperative clause: “Take me to you”, and “imprison me” to suggest his willingness to surrender to God. He thinks it is better to be imprisoned in God’s custody than to be captive of sin. He wants God’s protection for he wants to feel secure.

The last two lines of the third quatrain of the sonnet continue to express the speaker’s longing for a profound change in his spiritual life with the help of God.  

Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

If God does not help him, he shall never be free. He wants to be controlled by God’s love and grace.

Unless God takes control of his soul by force and purifies the soul and frees it from corruption, he would never become morally pure. 

The repetition of “except you” in the last two lines of the sonnet stresses the speaker’s belief that without God, he can never be free and pure.

The speaker uses the violent image “ravish me” to convey the seriousness of his urge to be sanctified by God.

Structure

The sonnet follows the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet, with fourteenth lines, each written in iambic pentameter and rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Like all Shakespearean sonnets like Sonnet 18, Sonnet 30, Sonnet 116, Sonnet 130, etc., the sonnet also consists of three quatrains and one couplet.