Holy Sonnet 14
“Holy Sonnet 14” is a love narrative from John Donne. It is apparent Donne is writing to the Christian God when he addresses the “ three-personed God.” Donne is crying out for God to break him completely, that he might be brought closer to God. Donne knows that while he is seeking God, he also has reservations in his faith, stating he is “betrothed unto your enemy” still falling in sin that pleases the devil rather than God. Donne pleads for God to tear him from evil stating “Divorce me, untie or break that knot again.” He wishes that he might be made a prisoner of God, taken captive in God’s love.
Donne’s use of imagery depicts his passionate pursuit of God in a sexual manner. The sensual prospective Donne uses was characteristic of the renaissance.
Flea Bait
John Donne describes love in two of his poems “The Flea” and “The Bait.” While, the poems both are centered on love, they do approach the subject from different directions, though, they are not without similarities. Both poems use elements of nature to illustrate love. In the first poem, “The Flea”, a flea is symbolic of love. In the second poem, “The Bait,” the relationship between the fish and the bait represents love. Both poems describe one individual tempting another’s heart. “The Flea” has a male narrator attempting to seduce a woman. “The Bait” has a male narrator describing a seductive woman as bait on a hook, enticing him. Both poems end on a down note. In “The Flea” the woman squishes her suitor’s flea, suggesting she will not succumb to his persuasion. In “The Bait” a fish, representing the narrator, falls to the lure of a woman, represented by bait. Through two different poems, John Donne achieves two different and informative perspectives on love.
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