The Ultimate Spiritual Plateau: An Analysis of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10 In John Donne’s “Holy Sonnet 10,“ the speaker finds himself in an intense struggle to obtain the ultimate relationship, which is to have God in his life. He feels distant from God because of his sins and finds it difficult to accept being saved as a sinner and being free from sin. The speaker wants God to enter his life, but feels unworthy …showed first 75 words of 1488 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1488 total…violent and sexual slant. Analogous to the irony of rape as a means of purification, God builds up as he tears down. Donne’s religious principle is revealed in this metaphor, in his shocking request to be ravished into chastity. He is a man who is in desperate need of being forgiven and purified by God; and, a man who sees violence and spiritual rape as the only effective means of achieving this spiritual plateau.