John Donne in his ‘Holy Sonnet No 14’ opens himself up, completely expressing how he feels about his relationship with God. This is written well after his young, wild days and he writes in current and utmost humble state. One thing I really appreciate about this sonnet of Donne’s is that he isn’t trying to impress anyone through elaborate word choices or creative uses of metaphors. He writes in very sincere language, as if he is writing directly to God. He has a line at the end of the sonnet that says, “except you enthrall me, never shall be free, Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.” This to me speaks volumes, and has me wondering about how I can strengthen my relationship with God through writing my thoughts down.I’ve never been the best at journaling, but I do try to make an effort to keep a spiritual journal to write down thoughts and impressions as they come. I have found that when I do this, I feel closer to God. I really like the example of Donne writing in a deeply heartfelt manner; his sole desire is to become changed by God and to become one with him. I feel like if we were to take the time to write out our feelings toward God, we would see a strengthened relationship with Him.
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I think you're right--there's a lot of power in journal writing. I think each of us has our specific way of showing our devotion, whether it's through music, speaking, teaching, or in Donne's case, poetry and journal writing.
ReplyDeleteAs a terrible journal writer myself, I often attribute my aversion of writing personal experiences with what I think is a lack of anything interesting to say. I wonder if something as profound as Sonnet 14 from Donne started as a form of expression solely and then grew into the infamous devotion we study today. Perhaps its not for us to decide if we have anything interesting to write or not, something I am still trying to convince myself of.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea that you point out that he wrote for nobody else. His writings reflect his true, unfiltered feelings towards God. In modern times we often feel ashamed or uncomfortable expressing our true feelings, especially in times of trials. Donne does a difficult and brave thing to share those intimate feelings with the world through his writings.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the sincerity in Donne's writing is what makes it powerful. Sometimes as writers we try too hard, when the most effective thing is to just be sincere and transparent. I appreciate this in Donne's writings because it makes it easier for the reader to feel what he feels, which is very persuasive and impactful.
ReplyDeleteExtending this beyond just the spiritual topic which you talked about very well, I think writing and recording more than just our spiritual and personal lives is very important. Our thoughts and ideas regarding politics, profession, or even poetry are important to record because it is your idea, or at least your interpretation of an idea, and deserves recording. By writing things down we can work them out easier and even expand on them and create even better ideas.
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