Batter My Heart

• Plot: Batter My Heart is a plea from the poet to God, beseeching him to overpower his sinful nature and make him pure.
• Structure & Language Techniques: The poem uses a Petrarchan sonnet structure, religious metaphors, paradox, and aggression imagery to portray the speaker’s spiritual struggle.
• Themes & Linking Poems: Key themes include religion, spirituality, love and transformation, with other Donne’s Holy Sonnets as linking poems, which similarly discuss mankind’s relationship with God and desire for redemption.
• Key Quotes: Some prominent quotes include “batter my heart, three-person’d God,” and “imprison me,” illustrating the speaker’s desperation for a personal, forceful encounter with his faith.
• Poet & Context: John Donne, a 17th century metaphysical poet, often intertwined his exploration of spirituality, love, and morality in his works, which was heavily impacted by his own tumultuous relationship with religion and life crises.