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John Donne: Poem analysis » Batter my heart » Synopsis of Batter my heart

As with all the Holy Sonnets, this one has no separate title, merely taking the first half line as a title. It is probably one of the best known of all Donne's religious poems, since its images are so striking and dramatic. Donne uses the language of violent sexuality, as well as images of warfare, to make an impassioned plea to God for some spiritual breakthrough. Just as in his love poetry, Donne desired intensity and a complete experience. The most similar of Donne's other sonnets is As due by many titles.

More on love language: there is a long tradition in medieval poetry of mixing the language of human and divine love, taking images of one to apply to the other. Donne does this frequently in his love poems. The Bible itself contains examples of this approach. In the New Testament, the love of Christ for his church is likened to a husband's towards his wife (Ephesians 5:25). In Christian tradition, the sexual love found in the Old Testament book of The Song of Solomon was also seen as symbolic of the human soul's desire for God.

Today's New International Version
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
King James Version
25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
A sonnet is a poem with a special structure. It has fourteen lines, which are organised in a particular manner, usually characterised by the pattern of rhyming, which changes as the ideas in the poem evolve.
Belonging to the Middle Ages.
The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament scriptures inherited from Judaism, together with the New Testament, drawn from writings produced from c.40-125CE, which describe the life of Jesus and the establishment of the Christian church.
A 'testament' is a covenant (binding agreement), a term used in the Bible of God's relationship with his people. The New Testament is the second part of the Christian Bible. Its name comes from the new covenant or relationship with God.
Title (eventually used as name) given to Jesus, refering to an anointed person set apart for a special task such as a king.
1. Term for a worshipping community of Christians. 2. The building in which Christians traditionally meet for worship. 3. The worldwide community of Christian believers.
Name originally given to disciples of Jesus by outsiders and gradually adopted by the Early Church.
(A 'testament' is a covenant or binding agreement and is a term used in the Bible of God's relationship with his people). The sacred writings of Judaism (the Hebrew Bible). These also form the first part of the Christian Bible.
In literature, something that is chosen to take on a particular meaning by the writer, e.g. clouds as symbols of mutability.
 
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