Monday, July 1, 2013

Are there any contradictions or inconsistencies between John Donne's Holy Sonnet 14 to his depiction of true religion in Satire 3?

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
you


As 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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