#13
In general, this is a very strong and touching poem, but I think that the author wanted to get one of his main points across by using paradoxes. Donne wanted to let the reader know that most of the time, situations have to get worse before they truly get better. For example, the text says "If you don't imprison me, I will never be free." This makes no sense when read literally, but the speaker will never be free from sin if they aren't punished and repremanded. This whole poem can be summed up by the theme "Break me down to Build me up." The human race will never know how to do things the right way if they don't get punished for the wrong. Also, once we have done wrong, we can't just sprint back to where we were before we fell behind. We have to learn to crawl, then stand, then walk, then jog, and finally reach where we were. It's a hard thing to do, but sometimes our hearts have to be battered before they are renewed.
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