Doubt, Diction, and John Donne
Before approaching this activity, you may have considered some of the following
questions:
Why use a dictionary?
Many literature students would not consider using a dictionary as a research tool.
This activity is designed to highlight how very useful a good dictionary can be for
literary analysis. The Oxford English Dictionary is unique in that it aims to trace
the etymology (or the origin) of each word it publishes. It is updated and revised
every three months, and was actually begun in 1857! You can read more about
the history of the OED here: http://www.oed.com/public/oedhistory/history-of-theoed
But how can a dictionary be useful for literary critics?
When we are exploring literature from other periods of history, it is important to
remember that the meanings of words can change over time. This means that
the subtle nuances of a text can be lost if we do not take the trouble to examine
their sources. This is particularly relevant in poetry, when a poet usually has a
limited amount of time to convey his/her meaning. The OED works by recording
documented usage of words throughout history, for example in plays, poetry,
letters or legal documents. This helps us understand how a word can change its
meaning over time. An analysis of one of John Donne’s sonnets can be helpful
when considering how useful the OED can be.
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Who was John Donne?
John Donne has a fascinating life story. He
was born in 1572 into a Roman Catholic
family. During this period, England was in a
state of religious turmoil and antiCatholicism was widespread. Donne studied
at Oxford and Cambridge, where he had a
reputation for being a gifted writer, but
rather notoriously spent most of his money
on women, drinking and going to the
theatre.
Always restless, he went on an expedition to Spain, later becoming a private
secretary to one of high-ranking members of court. Then he became a politician,
and famously eloped with the seventeen year old daughter of his patron. For this,
he was imprisoned and lost his job. During the early years of his marriage,
Donne practiced law to support his wife and their growing family (they had 12
children). James I asked Donne to take orders in the Church of England, and
after some reluctance, Donne agreed, becoming a Royal Chaplain in 1615. His
poetry often reflects the tension between his religious faith and his love for more
secular affairs. Much of his poetry explores love and sexuality, and the Holy
Sonnets were written towards the end of his career. His fantastic biography also
accounts for some of his literary legacy.
Today, he is known as one of the Metaphysical Poets, the name given to a group
of poets in the seventeenth century who later became famous for their witty and
complex use of metaphor and simile. “Batter My Heart” is a prime example of this
type of poetry and offers a fascinating glimpse into the pressures of seventeenth
century life.
This is a complex poem, and one that really benefits from the kind of historical
research the Oxford English Dictionary offers. If we are to understand the poem
fully, it is essential to investigate Donne’s diction in more detail. If we can find
out the meaning of a word when the sonnet was written (around 1633) it can
shed new light on how we interpret it. You have probably already come across
this kind of problem when studying Shakespeare. For example, Elizabethan and
Jacobean audiences would have found some of Shakespeare’s jokes hilarious,
but to the modern audience they are difficult to understand because some of the
words he uses have fallen out of common use, or their meaning has changed
completely. This is where the OED comes in useful.
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So, how does knowing the historical origins of a word change or challenge your
understanding of the poem?
First of all, let’s remind ourselves of the sonnet we are going to analyse:
Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee, 'and bend
Your 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 lov'd faine,
But am betroth'd unto your enemie,
Divorce mee, untie, or breake that knot againe,
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.
It is unclear who the speaker is, but many critics argue the poem is essentially
autobiographical as this was written around eighteen years after Donne was
pressed into service as a clergyman under James I. For the purposes of this
analysis, I’m going to assume that the speaker is actually Donne. Students often
misinterpret this poem as anti-God or anti-religious but this sonnet is, in fact,
mired in religious belief and profession of Christian faith. The speaker never
doubts the existence of God, merely his own ability to be a dutiful Christian. As
such, the poem is about human frailty and weakness, and offers a refreshing
take on the difficulties of living a religious life.
You have probably already realised that it is difficult to determine whether this is
an Elizabethan sonnet (composed of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet) or a
Petrarchan sonnet (made up of an octave and a sestet). This is because Donne
deliberately merges the two sonnet forms in this poem, symbolising the poem’s
union of both religious and violent imagery.
Let’s have a look at some of Donne’s language in more detail. First of all, note
the aggressive imagery employed throughout (“Batter”, “knocke”, “o’erthrow”,
“breake”) illustrating the tensions within the speaker’s relationship with God. In
the first few lines, he wishes to be made new, literally broken apart and mended
again in God’s image. He urges God to break him with violence as this is the only
way he can live a moral life.
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The “volta” or “turn” comes after the eighth line when the poetic voice admits that
“dearely I love you”. Donne freely admits his love for God but confesses to being
“betroth’d” to God’s enemy, usually considered to be sin or the devil. The sonnet
ends as he asks to be imprisoned by God so he cannot be tempted to turn away
from religion.
If you have looked up some of the highlighted words in the OED, and considered
their usage in about 1633 when the sonnet was written, you may have
discovered the following:
“Usurpt”:
“Usurpt” has a number of meanings but the main ones could be summarised
as “to appropriate wrongfully to oneself”; “to seize or obtain possession of
(territory, land, etc.) in an unjust or illegal manner” and “to assume unjust rule,
dominion, or authority over, to appropriate wrongfully.” In the sonnet, Donne
compares himself to a “usurpt” town, and his diction is extremely interesting.
“Usurpt” implies a hostile takeover, that Donne has been seized by another, more
powerful, force. In this case, it is clearly God’s love which has “usurpt” him, and
as such the military imagery of the invaded town is particularly significant.
“Viceroy”:
When reading the history of the word “viceroy” you should have noticed the
documented 1524 usage of the term: “one who acts as the governor of a country,
province, etc. in the name and by the authority of supreme governor.” This word
is intended to designate power and authority within the sonnet, and has a strong
historical connection to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. This is particularly
relevant as Donne is expressing his anguish about his own inadequacies, and
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perhaps also about the conflicting religious practices of the time
(Protestant/Roman Catholic). Donne claims that God should send a viceroy or
ruler to him, as he feels unworthy to do God’s bidding.
“Faine”:
The next term is interesting as it can be used as both a verb and a noun, but
Donne here employs it as a verb. The sixteenth and seventeenth century
definitions of “faine” were understood to mean “to be delighted or glad, rejoice”
and also “to make glad, to welcome.” This aids our understanding of the sonnet
even more, as the definition of the word reinforces Donne’s intent to let God into
his life. This word also occurs at the “volta” or “turning point” of the poem, when
the speaker states: “Yet dearely I love you, and would be lov'd faine”. This is an
absolutely crucial line in terms of understanding this poem. The speaker is not
saying he does not believe in God; on the contrary, he is arguing that he wants
God to love him in return, to be “lov’d faine.”
“Chast” (or “chaste”):
Again, this word has multiple meanings, and these can impact on our
interpretation of Donne. If you look at the history of the word on the OED, you
can see that it has its origins in the thirteenth century, and is often used in
conjunction with images of female virginity. It can be defined as “pure from
unlawful sexual intercourse; continent, virtuous” and “celibate, single.” However,
if you read on further in the description, you can see that “chast” can also mean
“morally pure, free from guilt, innocent.” This detracts from the supposed sexual
content of the sonnet. “Chast” can also mean “undefiled, stainless pure” and the
later definitions from around when Donne was writing the poem show us that his
reference is not necessarily sexual.
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“Ravish”:
This is a harder word to pinpoint, as it can be used as a noun or verb. If we
examine it as a noun, the definition from about 1620 translates it as “an act of
ravishing; ravishment, rapture.” Critics often interpret this as having deeply
sexual connotations referring to rape. However, tracing the history of “ravish” on
the OED offers a slightly different interpretation. The word was not used as a
term for sexual assault until much later in history; in fact, there are only two uses
of the word in with this connotation during Donne’s writing period, so it seems
quite likely he was referring to something else. There’s no recorded use of
“ravish” again in this context until 1756, more than a hundred years after the
poem was written. So, what did Donne mean in the final line of the sonnet? If you
read the OED description carefully, you’ll see that “ravish” was understood to
mean “to carry away (esp. to heaven) in mystical sense; to transport in spirit
without bodily removal,” dating from about 1330. Bearing in mind Donne’s wish to
be secure in God’s love, this seems a more likely translation.
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I hope that you’ve found this activity useful, and will be able to use the OED in
any future research. Remember that if you liked reading “Batter My Heart”, you
may like to explore more of Donne’s poetry here:
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/donnebib.htm
Enjoy!
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