In this poem, God is a companion to be questioned and one to be beleaguered but above all loved. The sonnet begins in a brutal and violent manner, utilizing strongly accented verbs that wring like hammer blows;

"Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you As yet but knock; breathe, shine, and seek to mend..."

The line acts out the furious attack that will break his enslavement to sin and make him God's captive. In lines three to four, he pleads to be besieged by the power of God in order that God may shatter and re-create him;

"That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new..."

Alliteration slows down the rhythm as it is fiercely stressed. The persona goes on to extend the idea of violent physical effort with the metaphor of confronting armed conflict; in this...