How are you today? Good.
Why is it hot back there? Is it hot? So I don't
know like should we open the The doors. Khaled, it
is very hot here.
Right. So as I said, we are going to complete
discussing Better My Heart. And after that, to
talk a little bit about the midterm exam.
Before talking, for approaching the poem again. As
it is the case, we have to listen to one or two
reports.
Yes, please.
Just come here. Black stuff. It doesn't matter who
you are or what you do. We all have to face many
difficulties and stressful situations. Life can
leave us feeling stressed, worried, worried,
angry, confused and frustrated. The way we feel
affects everything in our life. When we feel bad,
everything seems worse than it is. Till now, this
is around 24 report, the time has passed too fast
and our exam will be in the next Thursday. And as
usual, Dr. Habib started to ask us about our
reports, and some students read these creative
reports. And after that, he asked about responses.
Then the students started to read their creative
responses. Thank you. OK. Thank you. You have,
like, when you listed some abstract nouns, you say
angry. It should be anger. It should be confusion.
I think this is what I observed. when you listed
some abstract nouns.
Yes, do you want to redeem yourself?
Good morning.
I don't know if you heard about the freedom
riders. There is something happening currently in
Jerusalem. In Jerusalem there are many roads that
Israelis forbid Palestinians to go through. So
there are a few international solidarity figures,
people that are coming in order to make a
statement. They called themselves the freedom
riders in order to draw a parallel between them or
the Israeli apartheid system with what happened
with the black Americans in the 60s because the
black Americans used to be segregated on buses.
And they called themselves once the Freedom
Riders, and they made a statement that, you know,
there should be equality between people. So now
they're doing something similar. They're going to
be boarding Israeli buses on roads today and
tomorrow. So I wanted to write something about
this, sort of. Okay. Okay. Better than apartheid
system, freedom riders on it we go. From the
blacks in the sixties to Palestinian Jerusalem,
peacefully we'll force, break and blow. They're
disguised racist terrorism. Only Israelis in those
buses and roads they say, but our international
freedom soldiers with us that blatant apartheid
they refuse. Imprison me all you like, but in our
land rights and hearts will always be free. Thank
you. I think you made use of the... Yeah, clap for
her. It's good to make use of the poem in encoding
your experience and your, you know, respect for
those who came in solidarity with the
Palestinians.
But last time, I think most of you enjoyed
discussing the poem, even though it was difficult.
Did you or you didn't? Was it easy or difficult?
We agreed, but you enjoyed the width of the
paradoxes, the width of the conceit, or of the
conceits. And I think let us make
a quick revision about what we did last time. I
think last time we looked at the main paradoxes in
the poem, And we listed them like this, batter my
heart in order to mend it. So this is seemingly it
is contradictory. However, when we think of a
guilty person supplicating
or supplicating God for redemption, for
forgiveness. We understand like this, or we
understand that this could be something acceptable
or rational.
Knock me down also, that I may rise, overthrow me,
knock me down. This is a call, or this is again, a
prayer for inflection. You know what's mean
inflection? It is sometimes some people ask God to
inflict them. To, in order like, yeah, to make,
yeah, to be closer to God, to test their belief,
to show how they are faithful, it happens.
Inflection, you know, I was reading or we were
teaching a text in American Lit, the narrative of
Mary Rollinson. And she suffered when she was
taken captive, according to her. And at the end of
the narrative, she was, I like this is what I
looked for inflection. Affliction, like suffering,
disasters, catastrophes, because she thought that
affliction made her close to her creator, that
affliction made her very repentant and, you know,
yeah, like to redeem herself.
Again, we saw the paradox in imprison me to make
me free, and we explicated it. How come, like,
imprisonment can be freedom? Also, the paradox is,
like, enthrall me, never chase except you ravage
me, and we criticize this because this is
something, you know, impolite. It's not, like,
expected. to be in a text like this. We also
talked about the conceit, the conceit in, I like a
usurped town. How come? This is very
contradictory. Now, it's a simile as you see, but
there is no similarity. between the vehicle and
the tenor. They're not similar. The conceit, you
might have read, if you have read in your reader,
the conceit is a striking parallelism between two
dissimilar things. So what are the two dissimilar
things here? As you see, we have I, and the town,
and the usurped town. As we said, like I, the
guilty person, is occupied by Satan, exactly like
a city which is usurped by an occupier. So this is
like the conceit. And this conceit runs through
the poem, but It assumes different shape. Like
later this conceit, it assumes the image of two
couple being like drawn together in unholy
marriage bond. That's why he was asking, divorce
me. So it is like a sustained metaphor. Like when
we understand its aptness, we start to say, my
God, it is very witty, very witty. And we said
there is another conceit. What is the other
conceit?
Yes? Yes.
But it's captive. What is captive? The soul. The
soul is like a captive person. Where is it
captive? In the body. So how is the soul given
freedom? If here God knocks him down, imprisons
him, or makes him dead, then he will be free
again. It is very intellectual. Okay.
And the last couplet, this is, as you see, it is a
sonnet. It is written in a sonnet form. Now,
I think after explicating these paradoxes and the
similes, the conceits, it becomes easy.
Let's see now, after reading this, what is the
theme of this poem? What is the theme of this
poem? What is the theme of this poem? What is the
possible theme of this poem? It could be about
what?
Christian impasse? Why? I like this, Christian
impasse.
Impact. Now I thought impasse. What do you mean by
Christian impact?
Yeah, but like if you say it is Christian impact,
this is very general, like what are you talking
about? So here it is the need for redemption. What
does mean the need for redemption?
Is it only a need for redemption because you say
it is a need for redemption? What does mean a need
for redemption? Yes, like I want you to explain
the words. I don't want you to throw words without
explaining them. So yes, it is about the need, but
the strong need for redemption. Why? How? Yes?
Yes, he
feels guilty. He feels guilty. And when somebody
feels guilty, the need for redemption, this is for
good people, emerges. And this need is very
compelling need. It is very strong need. It is
very strong because he feels he is like too much
guilty, too much sinful.
And I think If you look at the tone of the poem,
like you see how the verbs, like the music, the
strong words, you feel like, I mean, his appeal,
his supplication, which is very strong, is
justified because he feels like he's too much a
sinful man.
I want to go back to the poem and, you know, to
look at it, better my heart, three-person God.
Now, this, I mean, the verb, like if you look at
the verb, it is imperative.
But here, as you see, better my heart, it is a
kind of supplication. It's a kind of prayer. But
we don't expect, we don't expect a poet to address
God in this way. See? But this is exactly a
metaphysical characteristic. Like when they talk
to God, they talk in a very casual and informal
manner. In prison, Better my heart, three-person
God. For you, like three-person, we talk about
this is something central to the Christian creed.
You know, like they believed in the Trinity, so
this is a reference to the Trinity itself. And
look at the number three, the treble blow is there
all over the pole. Like Trinity. So if you look at
the patterns of three, you might find them in one.
Rise, stand, overthrow. Break, blow, burn. You
see? So it is like three, three, three. You know?
So the pattern of Trinity is being referred to in
the poem as a whole. It's very tricky.
as yet, but not breathe, shine and seek to mend.
Look here, we said it is a strong need. It is a
strong need. Why? Because if you look here, he's
asking God to violently shatter his heart,
violently destroy him. And we said, if you are
asking, if you are seeking for such violent
action, it means that the sin is deeply rooted in
you. And this is what is happening in the poet.
This has to do with the Catholic belief of the
poet. And it is very strange because John Donne,
as we said, was forced to convert, to switch
to Protestantism, but he remained faithful to his
creed. He remained faithful. He remained loyal to
his creed. And this poem here, as you see, he's
not like, what is the way of salvation to him?
What is the way of salvation? As we said, for a
Protestant, the way of salvation is just good
deeds. You have to be nice. You have to be good.
You have to be... It is like in Protestantism,
like free will is given space. But in Catholicism,
the only way of salvation is the body. It is, you
know, the way Jesus Christ, according, you know,
to them, saved all the people by his body, by
torturing, by being tortured on the cross. So
here, as a Catholic, and this is what is called
substantiation. It's like it is the body which
secures for you salvation.
That I may rise and stand, overthrow and bend.
Your force to break, blow, burn. Like, look here.
I mean, look at the alliteration. Your force,
boom, boom, to break, to blow, burn, and make me
new. This is like he wants to be new. What does he
mean by new? Yeah, a new person without sin. And
we said last time here the idea of original sin is
there in the background. So once he is burned,
once he is broken, he will be a new person.
I like an usurped town to another due. So there is
a conflict here. Do you see a conflict? What is
the conflict? Like, I like a usurped town to
another due. Labor to admit you but owe to no end.
Like, we have a conflict here. What is the
conflict? We have a running conflict.
Yes, it's possessing, it's stronger. So now here,
as he say, to another due and labor to admit you.
Labor, my deeds are directed to you, but it is in
vain. So the conflict is like he was trying to be
loyal you know, obedient to God, but Satan was
forbidding him all the time. And that was the
conflict. That's why he asked God to intervene in
order to release, free, emancipate him from life
Satan.
Reason your viceroy in me should defend Reason is
your viceroy. Here, we said it's a metaphor. And
we said the conceit starts by analogy.
Reason, which is like here, it's a metonymy of the
soul. It is the representative of God in man. It
is captive. It is captive in the human flower.
What is the human flower? The body itself. The
body, the human flower. This is like I'm just
talking about a poem for Andrew Marvell, I think.
No, for Henry Vaughan. It's like he was referring
to the human flower. Reason your viceroy in me
should defend, but is captive. and proves weak or
untrue. If you remember when we talked about the
characteristics of metaphysical poetry, we said
their poetry is argumentative. Like, look here, if
you look, but, you know, take, do this. It is like
argument. He's arguing. But is captive and proves
weak or untrue. Yet dearly, like, look here, but,
yet, These are signs of argumentation. It's very
important like when we are discussing a poem like
this, and this could be in the final exam, discuss
this poem with reference to it's metaphysical or
in the light of the metaphysical characteristics
of poetry or the characteristics of metaphysical
poetry. So you have to talk about the conceits,
you have to talk about the paradoxes, you have to
talk about the language, the argument, you have to
talk about the abrupt beginnings because when we
are talking about metaphysical poetry, when we
read the poem, We see that the poem starts in a
very surprising manner. Better my heart three
person God. This is very surprising. This is very
abrupt. It is unexpected from a poet to start
saying better my heart three person God. So this
is what we call abrupt beginning.
Yet dearly I love you and would be Loved, feign, I
mean vain, but I'm betrothed into your enemy. Look
here, it is the conceit itself, but it is assuming
another image. So we are moving imagery here.
Again, it is a little bit homely. It is a little
bit domestic. It is unusual of John Donne, who was
always referring in his images to emergent
sciences like astronomy, astrology, botany. Here,
he's talking about homely images.
I don't know why. It could be because the conflict
is too much. He's referring to himself as a
sinner. Yet dearly, I love you. Look here. This is
the casual manner. This is the informal manner we
talk about. This is how they talk to God. Yet
dearly, I love you and would be loved in vain, but
I'm betrothed into your enemy. Betrothed, engaged.
We're moving from the image of occupation to an
image of being married or engaged to Satan,
somebody, you know, a loathsome, a hateful person,
a person you cannot put up with. Imagine when you
are like brought, you know, in this relation with
a person you are not in love with, you just want,
divorce me, you know, I don't want this.
So be careful. Divorce me, untie, or break. Like
look here, the three, divorce me, untie, or break.
Look at the verbs. Three, three. You know, the
patterns of the three is repeated all over.
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again.
Untie, or break. It's a simple language. Divorce,
anti, you know, but the idea is very subtle. You
know, it's been very subtle, very witty. Why?
Because it's a paradox. When you are asking God to
divorce you, it means like divorce here is seen as
something good because you are going to get rid of
You know, Satan. Divorce me, untie or break that
knot again. That knot again. Break it. Take me to
you. Imprison me. Yes. So now you understand what
is a paradox easily. Take me to you. Imprison me.
For I accept you. Enthrone me. never shall be
free, nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. Now,
the last line is irksome, disturbing. However, it
should be understood within the Christian context
of divinity like Mary and Jesus, how Jesus came
when God blew his spirit in Mary. So here, this
ravishing is seen as an act of chastity because
Mary was made chaste when God blew his spirit in
her. She was, and even in Quran, she was a chaste
woman, a purified woman. But like he's using it,
and this is like, again, a characteristic of the
Medieval Skalp poetry in general, and a
characteristic of John Donne in particular. They
were using erotic images. These are erotic images.
When I say erotic, you know,
They have to do with obscene images.
Now, the form of the poem, what is the form of the
poem? It is a sonnet. And what kind of sonnet it
is? Is it a Shakespearean sonnet? It is what? So
A, B, B, A, huh? No, D, U, A, huh? B, B, A, C, D,
C, D, E, E. What kind of, you know? It doesn't
sound to be, huh? It is Petrarchan. It is
Petrarchan. And as we saw at the beginning of the
course, the patriarchal sonnet was used.
Yeah. Yes, it has two parts. But here the part, it
has the octave and the system. What is he doing
here and what is he doing here? You see here, he's
supplicating. He admits that he's a sinner. And
here, he's supplicating further. But in the
couplet, he concludes the whole argument.
He summarizes the whole argument by saying, except
you enthrall me, you never shall be free. Or never
chase except you ravish me. It is a conclusion.
But it's very interesting because one student told
me yesterday like, look here, I like this on it
because it is a mixture between Italian, the form
and the English, you know. Like because this state
is similar to the system of Shakespeare. I mean,
like Shakespeare when he was creating this and
this is similar to Petrarch or like Sir Thomas
Wyatt. I think he was using very traditional way
because this is a love. A love poem, a love poem
between man and God. So he was using that. And in
fact, he was in this poem also and in other poems
satirizing courtly lovers. John Donne didn't like
courtly lovers. They thought they were crazy. He
thought they were not good people.
Yes. I think the meter, again, it is iambic
pentameter. But what happens if you look at the
verb here, blow, rise, stand, overthrow, like
sometimes you have the, he variates and you have
like here, burn, So he variates three stresses.
Divorce me. Take me. Take me to you. Imprison me.
Divorce me. Divorce me. Untie. Break. So he's
variating with the rhythm just to suit. It is a
very noisy poem. And as we said at the beginning,
the sentiment of the poem cannot be felt unless
you read this poem aloud. So you might have
observed me reading it aloud and you can listen to
on YouTube you find some people reading it. So it
starts by being like this, Bear my heart, three
person God, like somebody who's gasping, who's
like in a real crisis situation, who's aspiring
for redemption. And then, at the end, take me to
you, imprison me for I, except you enthrall me,
never shall be free, nor ever chaste, except you
ravish me. So it should go like this, because this
is the only way. But this is, as you see, it is
very Catholic, isn't it? You know, I wish we had
time to study like George Herbert and to see how
George Herbert ended his poem not like this. He
ended his poem by showing that man should have
this submission to God, this obedience. He was
rebelling, and at the end of a poem called The
Caller, he heard, like, somebody calling because
he was rebelling, and he said, I don't want to be
a priest anymore. It's a prison to me. And at the
end of the poem, he heard me thought I heard
somebody calling, child. And I replied, my lord,
it's an act of obedience. Okay, I want you to be
obedient, obedient. Want you to have obedience and
to study hard. And if you have any question now,
you can ask before we switch off and talk about
the midterm exam. Do you have any question? Okay.