I do not find any contradiction between John Donne's Holy
            Sonnet 14 and his Satire 3. In Satire 3, John Donne is telling people how important it
            is to see to their faith, while Sonnet 14 speaks about his personal struggle to do
            so.
In Satire 3, there is "anguish and anger" in Donne's
            tone as he speaks of "fair Religion." His tone throughout gives examples of how one must
            live to avoid losing all to "the enemy." There are three "key" themes in Satire
            3:
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A warning to those who fail to see the
            importance of spiritual truth
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The challenge to ‘seek true
            religion’
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The need to follow one’s conscience at all costs
            or risk damnation
Donne
            explains how terrible it would be for one's dead father to meet "blind philosophers" in
            heaven and later hear that his son was damned to hell. He implores his listener to fear
            damnation: that it is brave to do so:
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Oh, if thou dar'st, fear
            this;
This fear great courage and high valour
            is.
Donne identifies the
            devil as man's foe. He implores the reader to stand fast to what is required of him, to
            protect the world God has created, as he has created us. Don't act
            bravely: be brave!
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Courage of straw!
O
            desperate coward, wilt thou seem bold, and
To thy foes and
            his, who made thee to stand
Sentinel in his world's
            garrison, thus yield,
And for forbidden wars leave th'
            appointed field?
Donne
            explains that to ask a question of righteousness is not wrong. He tells the reader not
            to follow the dictates of a king blindly. He tells us to seek
            truth...
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...though truth and falsehood
            be
Near twins, yet truth a little elder
            is;
Be busy to seek
            her...
Satire 3 puts forth
            the need for us to live spiritual, God-filled lives, and ways to do
            so.
Holy Sonnet 14 notes the imperfection of mankind and
            the poet's struggle to live the
            spiritual life he implores all men to live. Donne begins his sonnet speaking of how he
            wants the Father, Son and Holy Ghost to change him:
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Batter my heart, three-person'd
            God...
He alludes to
            scripture text that presents the person of Jesus waiting for entrance into one's heart,
            found in Revelation 3:20 (NIV):
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Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If
            anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with
            me.
Donne relates to that
            verse when he writes:
...for
youAs yet but
knock...
Knocking infers a
            request to be admitted. Donne is saying, don't just knock—do more;
            and he uses strong verbs in asking the Lord to change him. Donne asks first for a new
            life:
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...breathe, shine and seek to mend / That I may
            rise...
This may allude to
            the forgiveness of his sins ("mend") and his resurrection ("may rise"). When the author
            "stands," he asks God to...
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...o'erthrow me, and
            bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me
            new.
The author knows that
            his mind ("Reason") is taken over by sin and proves him "weak or untrue." He admits that
            he loves God "dearly," "But am betroth'd unto your enemy..." referring to the devil.
            Aware of his sinful nature which he fights but can never defeat, he asks God to make a
            break with him ("Divorce me"), but then to bring him back into God's
            presence:
Take
me to you, imprison
me...
Donne believes that
            unless God captures him, he will never be free: this is a
            paradox—that only being taken by God will he be
            free.
Satire 3 relates that a man must seek out God, and
            then live a spiritual life. Holy Sonnet 14 speaks of how hard it is
            to do so—that man cannot succeed without the power of God
            sustaining him in the face of sin.
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