Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

Aryn Lietzke
Carroll University
Conflicting Commands: A Deconstructionist Analysis of John Donne’s
“Batter My Heart”
John Donne’s “Batter My Heart” is not a typical religious poem. It is filled with violent, and
sometimes even sexual, imagery as well as contradictions. The speaker is addressing God and so the poem is
a type of prayer. But the request that drives it is unclear. It is impossible to determine not only what the
speaker wants, but also what the speaker really values. There are many ambiguities and ultimately
unresolved paradoxes in the poem that create tension. The tension is never resolved. Ultimately, it remains
unclear what values are privileged in the poem. Therefore, the meaning is undecideable.
In “Batter My Heart”, the speaker is directly addressing God and asking Him to do certain things.
He wants God to crash into his heart like a battering ram instead of softly tapping at the entrance (lines 1-
2). This is an unusual request, asking God to batter, or “beat continuously and violently so as to bruise or
shatter” (“batter”) his heart. He continues his painful petitions by saying, “that I may rise and stand,
o’erthrow me” (line 3). This is an example of an aporia, or paradox that is ultimately unresolved. One
cannot be lifted up by being overthrown; it is impossible to ascend by being knocked down or defeated.
Another example of contradiction through ambiguous language in the poem is in the last few lines, when
the speaker asks God to “imprison me, for I / Except You enthrall me, never shall be free / Nor ever
chaste, except You ravish me” (lines 12-14). In these lines, the speaker is telling God to either make him a
slave or “to captivate” him (“enthrall”) in order to make him free. Essentially, he is telling God that he will
never posses liberty unless God removes his free will through force. Then he says that unless God violates
or steals something from him, he will not be pure. Not only is this statement an aporia, but it is asking God
to commit a sin. To rape or forcefully deprive someone of his or her virginity is clearly against God’s laws.
Even if the word “ravish” in this line means simply to steal, that would also be breaking a commandment,
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