John Donne's Holy Sonnet "Batter my heart".

This Holy Sonnet has been constructed to conform to the Italian or Petrarchan structure of a sonnet, with two quatrains and a sestet with an ABBA-ABBA-CDCDDD rhyme scheme. The basic rhythm is iambic pentameter, although certain lines, such as the second one, may be seen as spondaic. "Batter my heart" is an imperative to God by the narrator and it conveys separate yet related concepts and emotions in three 'partitions' that are created as a …

…intangible deity that is too 'evolved' to communicate on our level, but believes that it is necessary and that one must 'beg' for His acceptance if needs be. Like the many self-help books of our era, this poem could be seen as John Donne's fanatics guide on conducting a proper relationship with the Lord -abandoning one's worldly freedom through absolute devotion for a greater cause. Works Cited: Donne, John. John Donne's Poetry. 1992. Norton Critical Edition.