Holy Sonnet XIV
Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, youAs yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee,'and bendYour force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due,Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end,Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue.Yet dearely'I love you,'and would be loved faine,But am betroth'd unto your enemie:Divorce mee,'untie, or breake that knot againe,Take mee to you, imprison mee, for IExcept you'enthrall mee, never shall be free,Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Holy Sonnet XIV is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of John Donne, Volume 1 (of 2) Edited from the Old Editions and Numerous Manuscripts, Project Gutenberg ebook #48688; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Donne, Holy Sonnet XIV, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/holy-sonnet-xiv.html, id L20855.
Form and metre
Holy Sonnet XIV is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBAABBAC-CDDD youA · mendB · bendB · newA · dueA · endB · defendB · untrueA · faineC · enemie · againeC · iD · freeD · meeD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you | 10 | /˘········ |
| As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend; | 10 | ·········· |
| That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee,'and bend | 11 | ··········· |
| Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new. | 10 | ·········· |
| I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due, | 10 | ·········· |
| Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end, | 10 | /········· |
| Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend, | 11 | /˘·/˘····˘/ |
| But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Yet dearely'I love you,'and would be loved faine, | 11 | ··········· |
| But am betroth'd unto your enemie: | 10 | ·········· |
| Divorce mee,'untie, or breake that knot againe, | 11 | ˘/·˘/······ |
| Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Except you'enthrall mee, never shall be free, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
Notes from the edition 4
Herbert Grierson's record of the readings of the early editions and manuscripts, from his Poems of John Donne (Oxford, 1912; Project Gutenberg #48688).
- Line 7 mee should] wee should 1669
- Line 8 untrue. W: untrue, 1633-69
- Line 9 loved MSS.: lov'd 1633-69
- Line 10 enemie: W: enemie, 1633-69
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.