“Batter my heart, three-personed God” by John Donne

The speaker in John Donne’s poem, “Batter my heart, three-personed God,” greatly utilizes irony in order to portray his feelings and perception of his relationship with God within the poem. Within the poem, the speaker tells of his struggle to stay connected to God. He feels as though he is constantly tempted by the devil, and he cannot escape him. However, there is an ironic situation in the poem. Although the speaker feels imprisoned or trapped by evil and sin, he wants to be rescued from that and then jailed once again by God Himself. Donne writes, “Take me to you, imprison me,” in reference to his desire (Donne, 840). While one might find that strange, that a person’s reaction to new found freedom would be the desire to become trapped again, the speaker has a reason. He feels as though the only way to avoid the devil is to belong to God completely, which resolves the ironic statement earlier.  Furthermore, the speaker ironically states that the way he can become imprisoned in God is if God beats and batters him. While that also sounds like a strange request, the speaker believes that if God breaks him down, he will become a better follower and believer.