"Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,..." -"Batter my heart, three-personed God" by John Donne
Most of the poems this chapter have an intended subject and audience to which they speak. What I realized was that the subjects were much furthur away from the speaker than someone who is engaging in personal diaglogue. The speaker talks about something that is not present or something spiritual. At times, like in "Sorting Laundry," the subject is both far away and represented by another object. The reason for the separation is that distance makes emotion stronger. The speaker in that poem would probably not be as gushy and overdramatic if they were right next to one another. "Batter my heart, three-personed God" addresses God and faith but the distance between God's salvation and the speaker's bleak reality causes a strain on hope and faith. Even "Ozymandias" addresses an acient king. The time is the separation and the stern visage of the sculpture is no longer as menacing as it once was. Distance gets the theme across but does not allow for overindulgence into emotion, which could cover up the meaning.
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