Donne Updated

Oh, to no end…Donne’s Need for Continual Religious Contradiction

If one were to closely analyze Donne’s Holy Sonnet number 16, and compare that poem to some of Donne’s other poetry, then that reader may realize that their reading of the poem may counter what sonnet 16 is supposed to be about. This contradiction or paradox of analysis correlates with the way that Donne saw the world. The problem with the paradox or contradiction is eventually that contradiction will reflect upon itself and create a new contradiction which will then create a new contradiction, etc. This form of imagery of copies and reflections is a device that Donne wholeheartedly believes in. Sonnet 16 is essentially an argument for how humanity’s need for more is what makes humanity exciting.

However, first let’s discuss the initial popular way of viewing this poem. Holy Sonnet number 16 is deemed highly controversial by readers because it depicts Donne’s desperate need to be conquered in a sexual way by God for the purposes of becoming a more devout being. It appears that Donne wants to transcend his state because humanity in general is so despicable.

It’s ironic that Donne needs violent aid in order to transcend. Why does Donne’s aid have to be violent? The answer could be that Donne continually needs life’s thronging temptations. It appears that this poet enjoys this process of ecstasy like transformation much more than the prospect of becoming a more devout individual. This is no more felt than in the end of the poem when Donne exclaims to God, “Take me to you, imprison me, for I/Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,/Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me” (lines 12 through 14 of Holy Sonnet 16). The problem here is Donne’s need to go beyond spiritual devoutness to a much higher plain. The confusion that a reader may feel upon reading this poem is the concept of Donne’s feeling sinful for merely being devoutly spiritual. How more spiritual can a human being be? Donne will always feel that he is damning God’s name, because of his need for continual religious conflation, as in the sentence where Donne states that, “That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend” (line 3 of Holy Sonnet 16). Why does Donne think that man is too weak to receive redemption on his own, through prayer?

In order to realize why there is a contradiction in Donne’s argument, one should examine Donne’s secular poetry. In The Flea, Donne is frustrated by always being played the unrequited love card. The only thing that Donne receives from the women that he tries to fall in love with is simply flirtation and that is all. Donne becomes so desperate that he invents this argument for consummation based on a flea. In The Damp, Donne metaphorically writes about his frustrations over constantly finding facades inherent in his relationships; Donne would love to strip these facades bare in order to receive the truth. Donne feels that lovers should be equal beings and should not be involved in conquests and wars and “poor victories” (line 9 of The Damp). However, warfare cannot be separated from sexuality, no matter how hard one tries to do so. Façade or conquest and inequality are inherent in human nature. This is why Donne deems it fit to criticize human nature

Interestingly, Donne’s efforts to separate warfare from sexuality in his secular poetry lead to his criticizing humanity and wanting to move beyond to a higher state in his religious poetry. However, in order to evolve, Donne would have to be an unequal in the relationship with God, which Donne equates to a sexual relationship. The contradiction is that Donne has to be conquered by God in order to not be conquered anymore. This is a highly illogical argument. Perhaps one should read and interpret Donne’s frustration in another way. What if Donne, without fully realizing it in his secular poetry, enjoyed being shut out by his paramour? Isn’t this a very human impulse that one would not care to admit? In unrequited love situations, there is always some strange form of hope on the part of the one pursing the uncommitted party; almost as if that person enjoyed the chase more than the actual consummation. It’s apparent from his poetry that Donne has a highly ambitious nature which never ceases. His need is to encompass more and more and to never be satisfied. What Donne writes about in his poetry is a very human impulse. This is interesting, considering that it appears upon first reading of sonnet 16 that Donne is criticizing humanity.

All of this is intrinsic in Donne’s Holy Sonnet number 16. Donne’s asking God to conquer him would inevitably lead to the ecstasy of that moment ending and Donne being metamorphosised. Does Donne really want this to happen? Isn’t it exciting to believe that we want to metamorphosise, when in reality we merely want to look for that beyond and not find it, and ultimately tell everyone about our experience? That’s what Donne does in his poetry. If one were to compare the way God is depicted here (the dispassionate creator who only acts through the two person trinity and not the third (Paglia, pg. 31)) to the passionate Donne, than one would realize that what Donne is writing about in this poem is the exciting aspect of human nature. Donne ultimately feels that if one’s needs are not fulfilled then that makes life more exciting; there is never an end to this process, because one is always searching for new possibilities. This is felt when Donne says , “…but oh, to no end” (line 6 of Holy Sonnet 16). What appear to be criticisms of human nature may not be criticisms at all. Donne, in actuality, is very much in sync with human nature.

There is a similarity here between sex and religious devotion. Donne enjoys being shut out by the one that he loves in much the same way as he enjoys not seeing God’s face; in not transcending to a higher state of being. He doesn’t want the ecstasy of the moment to ever end. Donne may indeed realize this, and this is why he constantly experiences religious guilt, like many other religiously devout people. This is a man who never wants to be fully formed; he never wants to find the final answer to a question. There is a similarity here to Good Friday, Riding Westward. Religion is very enjoyable to Donne because he can never see God’s face; just as in this poem Donne never really wants to see his transformed self. This occurs in the poem when Donne states that, “Yet dare I’ almost be glad I do not see/That spectacle of too much weight for me” (lines 15 and 16 of Good Friday, Riding Westward). Donne’s form of complexity; his always finding his own answers to his questions with another related question, may be present because he can’t make a touching moment of admission like this obvious, or else the moment would become maudlin and false. There is a flaw in this man’s nature; it’s what makes Donne stay a human being.