John Donne was offered the position of Anglican priest and shortly thereafter he wrote the holy sonnet "Batter My Heart" among other poems. ... The term "batter" is used in this poem to describe the speaker's desire for God to force His way into his heart and is making a demand for God to do so. ... This is a very interesting and symbolic part of the poem because it implies that God is the attacker and He is going to have to do significant damage in order to save the speaker's heart. ... "Batter my heart" i. ... Here the speaker wishes to be broken free from ...

• Word Count: 1793
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

At the "turn" of the poem, the speaker admits that he loves God, and wants to be loved, but is tied down to God's unspecified "enemy" instead, whom we can think of as Satan, or possibly "reason." ... The first line of "Batter my Heart, three- personed God, for You" begins with "batter my heart, three-personed God, for You as yet but knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend." The word batter denotes in context to this poem, to strike with repeated blows of an instrument or weapon, or with frequent missiles; to beat continuously and violently so as to bruise or shatter. ....

• Word Count: 1898
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School