Summary

The speaker implores a three-personed God to assault him, asking to be broken by God's power despite his efforts to stand. He imagines that this assault will destroy him but eventually "make [him] new" (4).

The speaker compares himself to a town that has been usurped by an intruding force and is laboring to let God in, but to no avail. He notes that all reason, the force that should protect him, has been captured and is "weak or untrue" (8).

The poem switches focus as the speaker explains that he loves this three-personed God but is "betrothed" to an "enemy" (10). As such, he implores God once again to assault him and destroy all other bonds he might have. He asks to become God's prisoner, and laments that he will never be free unless he is held captive by God. As the poem concludes, the speaker...