John Donne Paraphrase of Donne's Term Paper

The poem emotionally appealing and with such invigorating language, is easily translatable as a sermon. The reader could easily manipulate the tone of the poem with slight incensed articulation by accenting the poem as horrifying, delightful, spiritually persuasive or even amusing tone. Throughout the reading of this sonnet, despite its recognition towards God, the sonnet still mimics the consistency Donne always had in his poetry. Consider the plethora of emotional content in this poem. It is hard to pin down one singular emotion. The emotions in Holy Sonnet Fourteen advance on a continuum like the wavelength of colors presented in a rainbow. Although the poem as a reaction to secularism is not obvious, consider his satires. His satires dealt with human instincts, corruption in the legal system and the problems of true religion. (Honig, 37) Hence most of these satires dealt with secular problems. His biggest obsession sex, masked as love, was just another by-product of secular frustration from his unstinted engrossment in material things.Just like his continuation of the sonnet form, those same sentiments from his satires carried over into his later work.

Holy Sonnet 14, in its entirety, violently repels against Donne's secular self. The redeemed self, however, remains protected, because the intention is / make me new/. Considering the explosive wording in the poem, these words are not mere exercise in semantics; it is as if God exorcises and pulls these things out of Donne. The language, however, retains enswathing beauty; the pain in this poem is nothing but exquisite.

The yearning voice in this poem conveys that the poet struggles to break whatever habit holds him back. The material world, I imagine, is hard to shed. However, his poetic dictation in Holy Sonnet Fourteen, like his earlier works addresses God with the same veracity as he did with his favorite pastime, love. Donne knows that he can finally rely on his poetic talent to save him from….....