A closer look at Sonnet XIV, reveals more about the relationship Donne desired to have with God. In this sonnet a theme of violence and sexual conquest is present. The speaker is asking God to violently possess him. God is in the role of the male aggressor while the speaker is in the traditional subordinate female role. In describing the opening and closing of the poem, Steir states: "They rely on the conception of total spiritual dependence on God, on the need for man to be utterly regenerated by God-'made new'-not merely aided and assisted by him" .
The poem opens by asking God to "batter my heart". The word "heart" in Donne's time had a sexual connotation according to Craig Payne, "heart, also being Elizabethan slang for the vagina". As Payne points out this is to foreshadow much of the imagery of the poem. He is asking God to "break" him in order to make him "new". .
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The speaker seems to be playing "hard to get". He wants to be taken by God, yet his defenses are strong. The image of an "usurped town" reveals this. Like a town that is being held at siege, the speaker has his defenses up. Just as a town must be won over by force so must the speaker. However, a town is usually not as strong as it appears to be from the outside. This can be compared to the speaker who describes his defenses as, "weak or untrue." The speaker states, "Yet dearly I love you." But, a complication arises. The speaker is "betrothed" unto the "enemy". By the enemy, he seems to be referring to the devil and his sinful nature. Like someone trapped in a bad marriage he must be "divorced" or "untied". He cannot break away alone though he must have God's help. .
In order for him to be free from his sinful ways he calls God to violence. He states, "Take me to you, and imprison me." In the most shocking request of all the speaker asks God to ravish him so that he can be "free" and "chaste." It is the act of being ravished or raped that will free the speaker from his sin.
