Imagery and symbolism in Batter my heart

Force and bending into shape

The sonnet Batter my heart is dense with imagery. The verbs in the first quatrain suggest a variety of activities: from the domestic picture of a housewife cleaning and polishing to a blacksmith or metalworker bending into shape some obstinate object. The biblical image of a furnace used to shape us, as seen in Isaiah 48:10 and Ezekiel 22:20-22, is echoed here.

Under siege

In the second quatrain, the central image is of a besieged town, perhaps picking up on the opening word ‘Batter', as in a battering ram to break down a city's gates. Interestingly, another religious writer of the same century, John Bunyan, uses this image as the central symbol in his fiction The Holy War. The simile is an extended one, as the poet works out its details. Reason is ‘your viceroy', or governor, but is powerless to act. Donne is unable to reason himself into a better spiritual state. It is as though God's forces are outside, but Donne cannot get to the gates to let them in – hence the need for the battering ram.

Rape!

In the sestet the imagery becomes markedly sexual – and paradoxical.

More on paradox: see Affliction I by George Herbert

Donne is portrayed as in love with God but betrothed to his enemy. In his time, when arranged marriages were not uncommon, this could happen. So the ‘Divorce mee' means God is to dissolve the betrothal, undo the knot of the engagement. Then come the clinching paradoxes: that of ‘enthral/free', where to enthral means to enslave, mentally or morally. The sexual overtones are made explicit in the last line, where ‘chast/ravish' are set alongside each other. In the sonnet As due by many titles, Donne talks of the Devil ravishing him, a more obvious use. But God ravishing?! The shock reverberates through the whole poem.

Investigating Batter my heart

Look at the male/female roles in Batter my heart
- Which role does the poet take?
Compare this role with that taken in much of his love poetry
- What significant differences do you see?

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right. ²For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name. ³The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. ⁴Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass, ⁵I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them. ⁶You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. ⁷They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, Behold, I knew them. ⁸You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel. ⁹For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. ¹⁰Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. ¹¹For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. ¹²Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last. ¹³My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together. ¹⁴Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. ¹⁵I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. ¹⁶Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit. ¹⁷Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. ¹⁸Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; ¹⁹your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me. ²⁰Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob! ²¹They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out. ²²There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked.

¹Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. ²For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. ³I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. ⁴Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; ⁵I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. ⁶Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. ⁷They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. ⁸Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. ⁹For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. ¹⁰Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. ¹¹For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. ¹²Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. ¹³Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. ¹⁴All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. ¹⁵I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. ¹⁶Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. ¹⁷Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. ¹⁸O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: ¹⁹Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. ²⁰Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. ²¹And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. ²²There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations. ³You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! ⁴You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. ⁵Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult. ⁶Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. ⁷Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. ⁸You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. ⁹There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. ¹⁰In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. ¹¹One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. ¹²In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God. ¹³Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst. ¹⁴Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. ¹⁵I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you. ¹⁶And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹⁷And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. ²¹I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. ²²As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; I have poured out my wrath upon you. ²³And the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation. ²⁵The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. ²⁶Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. ²⁷Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. ²⁸And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, Thus says the Lord God, when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. ³⁰And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. ³¹Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.

¹Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ²Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. ³Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. ⁴Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. ⁵Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. ⁶Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. ⁷In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. ⁸Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. ⁹In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. ¹⁰In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. ¹¹And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. ¹²In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. ¹³Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. ¹⁴Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it. ¹⁵And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. ¹⁶And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. ¹⁷And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ¹⁸Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. ¹⁹Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. ²¹Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst therof. ²²As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you. ²³And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ²⁴Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. ²⁵There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. ²⁶Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. ²⁷Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. ²⁸And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. ²⁹The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. ³⁰And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. ³¹Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.

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