Holy Sonnet 14
John Donne
![](http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/D/John-Donne-9277090-1-402.jpg)
Early Life
- 1576-1631
- English poet, satirist, lawyer and cleric
- Recusant Catholic
- Father died when he was four years old
- Raised by mother (related to Thomas Moore)
- Studied at Hert Hall (Now Hertford College), then at Cambridge
- Couldn't graduate, didn't take Oath Of Supremacy
- Became a lawyer, then the Chief Secretary to the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
![](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/uploads/authors/john-donne/448x/john-donne.jpg)
Marriage
- Married Anne Moore in 1601
- Niece of his boss (LKOTGS)
- Against wishes of both her father and the LKOTGS
- Marriage ruined his career, even sent him to prison
- Forced to retire in Pyrford
- In financial insecurity all the time
- His wife bore him 12 children
- 5 children died, either in childbirth or before age 10
- Noted that a dead child meant one less mouth to feed
- Wrote Biathanatos in defense of suicide
- His wife died in 1617
Career
- Elected to Parliament in 1602
- Found a few wealthy patrons that supported him
- Eventually was ordained into the Church of England
- Became Royal Chaplain
- Almost died of typhus, wrote several poems on pain and death.
- Coined some phrases like "no man is an island" and "for whom the bell tolls"
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c7/Canterbury-Cathedral-Church-of-England-1890-1900.jpg)
Death
- March 31, 1631
- Probably died of stomach cancer
- Buried in St. Paul's Cathedral
Holy Sonnet 14
- Probably wrote it around 1618
- Written right after he was ordained into the COE
- Written in loose iambic petrameter
- Petrarchan sonnet
- ABBAABBACDDCEE rhyme scheme
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Stipula_fountain_pen.jpg)
Video
The Poem![](http://secondcousincurly.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/sonnet_xiv-black-margins.jpg)
Basic Meaning
- The poet asks a "three-personed" God to batter his heart
- He feels that God has only been knocking politely
- He asks God to overthrow him, to attack his heart as if it were the gates of a fortressed town
- His heart is like a town captured by an enemy, he wants God to take it back for himself
- His "reason" has been taken captive, and seems "weak or untrue"
- The poet is like a maiden betrothed to God's enemy, he asks God to “divorce, untie,
or break that knot again,” in order to take him prisoner
Paradoxes
- The poet feels that he can only stand when he is completely knocked down by God
- He can only be free once he is God's prisoner
- He can only be chaste once God "ravishes" him
- The speaker is asking God to perform violent actions that would normally be considered sinful in order to help the poet love God
![](http://thefishbowlnetwork.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/middle.jpg)
Word Choice
- Up until this point, Donne feels that God has only chosen to "knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend"
- Donne asks God to "break, blow, burn and make me new"
- He compares himself to an occupied land, he needs God to "batter" the gates
- Finally, he states that God must "enthrall" and "ravish" him, in order to make him "free" and "chaste"
![](http://www.quirkyscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Explosion-Image-by-US-Department-of-Defense.jpg)
Analysis
- Just as Donne was divided between the RCC and the COE, he feels divided between his carnal desires (youth) and his religious spirituality (just been ordained)
- His "reason" that should be helping him believe in God has instead made it difficult for him to have true faith
- He feels "betrothed" to evil, and needs God to "divorce" him
- The speaker needs God to use his "force" to make him "new"
QUIZLET
http://quizlet.com/40272863/holy-sonnet-14-flash-cards/
Bibliography
"John Donne." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2014. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/john-donne>.
"Holy Sonnet 14." BritLitWiki. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. <http://britlitwiki.wikispaces.com/Holy+Sonnet+14>.
"The Life of John Donne." The Life of John Donne (1572-1631). Web. 04 Apr. 2014. <http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/donnebio.htm>.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Donne’s Poetry.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Holy Sonnet 14 John Donne
Holy Sonnet 14 John Donne
By jacquespaye
Holy Sonnet 14 John Donne
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