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Comparison of Poems by Mark Jarman & John Donne

Comparison of Poems by Mark Jarman & John Donne

In the “Unholy Sonnet; after the Praying” by Mark Jarman and “Batter my Heart, Three-personed God, for You” by John Donne, there lies very common subject matters. Both poems are expressing a feeling that the author has about his religion and it’s purpose in his life. Yet, although the subjects both poems are addressing are the same, the messages being delivered are slightly different.

The likenesses within both of the poems are very great. They are similar in that the both are talking about their common religion, which seems to be Christianity. The common theme in both poems is centered on what the speaker in the poem wants God to help him do. Both speakers share the belief that being sin free is very hard work. This is shown in Jarman’s poem when the speaker states, “After the praying, after the hymn singing, / After the communion, after the hand wringing” (Jarman 1, 4). This is shown in Donne’s poem when the speaker states, “That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend / Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new” (Donne 3). So as you see one of the main common themes is that being good and pure is no easy task.

Although both poems are very similar, the points of views are very different. In the poem by Jarman, the author is trying to portray the feeling that one gets after he or she is done repenting for past sins and praying for forgiveness. It is present in the uncomfortable feeling that the sinner is still not fully clean, and that personal desires will always be present. In the lines stating,

“There is, as doctors say about some pain
Discomfort knowing that despite your prayers
Your listening and rejoicing, your small part
In this communal stab at coming clean,
There is still one stubborn remnant of your cares intact” (Jarman 9),

This is where Jarman’s major point is made. In reading these lines, one can confer that the speaker doesn’t really hold much worth in what he does in the church. It is almost like he is in a play portraying the character of an honest person but when the show is over he is still that same person he is.

In Donne’s...

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