Batter My Heart Pear 2 Analysis Flashcards
“That I may rise”
Feels deflated by the weight of the world and by this agonising personal struggle.
“stand”
Stand up for his faith and his beliefs – to feel reinvigorated.
“o’erthrow me”
Paradox: How can you make someone stand by overthrowing them? Metaphorically: overpower, make him do what he should be doing. Victory comes through defeat. The speaker urges God to act aggressively. He realises that God must strike him down and take full control of his life in order for him to be transformed.
“break”
Alliteration: “break, blow, burn” – plosive “b” sound repeated here to highlight the aggression of the verbs. He wants God’s involvement to be a furious bombardment.
“blow, burn”
Image of a blacksmith at his forge. Where the Bible speaks of God as a potter, making us from clay, this is far more aggressive which ties in with the speaker’s desperation for salvation.
spondee further emphasises the harsh alliteration here.
“make me new”
Links to the Christian theology of a Christening - meaning that your sins are forgiven and you’re reborn.
line 2 and 4 comparison
Exact, intensified equivalents. Expectation of God’s violent intervention. Doesn’t want to be healed (“mend”) but reborn.
