Prayer in metaphysical poetry

“What’s the purpose of living in a world without a God?” Skeptics, agnostics and atheists alike have pondered this question for centuries because a relationship with one’s creator has always been a important element in most people’s psyches. Communication with this God has traditionally been through prayer, and some of the most famous artists and writers in history have used their creations as a kind of alternative prayer to glorify God and the goodness of his creation. Two poems in particular, “Easter Wings” by George Herbert and “Holy Sonnet 10” by John Donne—although both are addressing the same Christian God—differ significantly in the poets’ relationships with God, as evidenced through their uses of tone and voice in their works.

On the surface, the two poems appear quite similar: both address a Christian God, and both are asking for him to exercise a greater divine presence in their lives. But the two poets are very different when it comes to expressing these sentiments. Herbert begins, “Lord, Who createdst man in wealth and store, / Though foolishly he lost the same” (lines 1–2)¹, referring to the Fall of Man in Eden. Herbert immediately seems to be asking forgiveness for a sin he was born into, and then he moves onto what he asks of his Lord, “With Thee / O let me rise…and sing this day Thy victories” (lines 6–9)¹. On the other hand, Donne begins with his request of God, saying, “Batter my heart…God, for, you / As yet but knock” (lines 1–2)², appealing to God that he might be more forceful in entering his life. Then, like Herbert, Donne mentions his natural affiliation toward sin when he says, “But I am betrothed to your enemy [sin]” (10)¹. While both are asking for God’s providence and influence in their lives, Herbert places his qualms before the question while Donne doesn’t waste any time by immediately getting down to business.

Perhaps the most concrete similarity between the subject matters of the two poems are the yearning for oneness with God. As Herbert puts it in “Easter Wings:”

16 With Thee
17 Let me combine,
18 And feel this day Thy victorie;
19 For, if I imp my wing on Thine,
20 Affliction shall advance the flight in me. (16–20)¹

Herbert seems to desire a genuine physical and spiritual symbiosis with his creator, reminiscent of the Christian depiction of Heaven, as time eternal in the presence of God. However, the nature of Donne’s desires are quite different in form. In “Holy Sonnet 10,” Donne wishes that God might do the following:

12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. (12–14)²

Donne wishes for slavery at the hands of his maker in order to gain freedom, for sexual love in order to gain chastity. The paradoxes of these requests provides a truly profound effect for the reader, and Donne’s master/slave and lover imagery utilized to describe his relationship with God are quite different than the way Herbert expresses his rather more traditional aims.

Another key difference between Donne’s and Herbert’s works is that of the tone employed throughout the poems. Beginning with “Easter Wings,” the poem seems triumphant in tone, like a great victory has just been won, perhaps over one’s self, and the narrator is celebrating his and God’s success. For example, after reviewing Man’s errs in the Garden of Eden, Herbert says:

6 With Thee
7 O let me rise,
8 As larks, harmoniously,
9 And sing this day Thy victories:
10 Then shall the fall further the flight in me. (6–10)¹

This feeling of triumph and jubilee can be felt as it is expressed throughout the poem, as if Herbert is celebrating his personal victory over original sin, or celebrating Jesus’ victory over death in Christian doctrine. Either way, the positive attitude is in stark contrast to the nature of most of Donne’s piece. While “Holy Sonnet 10” also concerns an overcoming of one’s obstacles to achieve oneness with God, Donne puts a darker pall over the matter by focusing on the negatives and utilizing dark language of warfare and death to describe his internal struggle. For example, “That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend / Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new. / I, like a usurped town, to another due, / Labor to admit you.” (3–6)² Unlike Herbert, Donne’s personal battle is exactly that: war, a vying between the forces of good, God, and evil, the devil and sin, for the territory that is his soul. He explains to God that the territory naturally belongs to the realm of the Evil One, but that with an extra effort this foreign enemy might be expunged.

The two poems in question have very similar subject matter, for both ask that they might become closer with God by overcoming spiritual hurtles like original sin. However, in the way the requests are presented, the imagery and tone utilized by the two poets, and the difference in the natures of the relationships that Donne and Herbert share with their Lord, the two poems prove quite divergent presentations for God’s love.