There are several levels to literary criticism. The first – and most superficial – level examines the work for sounds and images that might contribute to the overall meaning of the piece. This type of analysis is an excellent starting point, but if one seeks to understand the full meaning of the work, one must take into account the life of the author and the circumstances in which the work was composed . Knowledge of the author's background and culture can help the critic draw out all the implications contained in the work. The general consensus on "Holy Sonnets #14" is that Donne's poem is both highly original and overtly sexual; In the poem, according to the traditional view, the narrator hopes to be raped by God so that he can gain salvation. According to this perspective, all of the images in the poem are explicit allusions to rape. While rape imagery is certainly present, it serves only as a vehicle for Donne to evoke biblical allusions which, once understood, inform readers of the true meaning of the work. Without understanding the biblical basis of the poem, the reader cannot properly understand Donne's deep religiosity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The first statement of the poem, “Beat my heart,” contains two distinct allusions. Historically, the tribe of Israel used battering rams to besiege a city. Since the Israelis were following God's orders, there is a historical connection between God beating the walls of cities in the Old Testament and God beating the speaker's heart in "Holy Sonnets #14." The second allusion is contained in the idea of ​​God breaking the narrator's heart. Psalm 51:17 says that “the sacrifices of God are...a broken and contrite heart.” If God were to strike the speaker's heart, he would become a sacrificial, deified entity. When the speaker says that God “knocks,” he is referring to Luke 11:9, where Jesus says that salvation is free for all. seeker: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. » This is an ironic reversal of the action, because in the poem, it is God who knocks, while Jesus says that it is we who must knock at his door. This reversal of action shows us the true nature of the speaker: he knows what he wants - salvation - but he does not want or cannot achieve it, so he asks God to act in his place . He asks God to make him fit to become a sacrificial creature, because he is not capable of doing it himself. The speaker also asks God to “breath” into him the same life that God first breathed into Adam when he “breathed into [Adam’s] nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (King James Bible, Gen. 2:7) Lines four and five are deeply infused with allusion. In the Bible, salvation comes through destruction and rebirth: God destroys the world with a flood so that Noah and his family can start a new life; the Israelis are sent into captivity by the Babylonians so that they may be saved and redeemed; Jesus is crucified and resurrected to offer eternal salvation to humanity. Christian teachings hold that a believer's previous life ends when he is saved; in other words, when he is “reborn” as a Christian. With this in mind, the speaker is theologically accurate when he asks God to “overthrow me and bend/your strength to break me, and blow me, and burn me, and make me new.” God commands Jeremiah to “pluck up, to pull down, to destroy, to demolish, to build, and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). The speaker links himself directly to the tribe of Israel.