He tells us that even if his mistresses" breath did "reek" he would love her anyway. .

             The language John Donne uses is also surprising although it is slightly less obvious than the Shakespearean sonnet. Even though he appears to address God, Donne uses violent, aggressive language. For example, he opens the poem with the words "Batter my heart". One normally connects peace, not war, with God. The first line is written as an imperative, which is interesting, as it is usually accepted that God gives the commands for man to obey. The violent language that is used by Donne to shows that he needs to be ruled by God. Even more surprising is that at the end of the sonnet Donne uses sexual language as he says, "you ravish me". By using this language he is again saying that God must force himself on Donne in order to be able to be overwhelmed by him.

             Both Shakespeare and Donne"s sonnet are set around the same period. However the contents of each sonnet are very different. The period (1577-1631) in which they are set affects each sonnet in different ways. Shakespeare is mocking the courtly conventions of the time. The time that Shakespeare"s sonnet was written in heightens the originality of the sonnet as at that time it would have been almost unheard of to question the traditional love sonnet which was almost universally accepted. The main point of the sonnet was to go against the grain. When interpreting this sonnet we must remember that the language of the time is different that that which we use today. This influences our interpretation of the sonnet. For example, today we would use the word "reeks" as an uncomplimentary description of a bad smell. When Shakespeare uses the word "reeks" to describe his mistress"s breath he is simply saying that her breath smells, not that it smells unpleasant.

             It could be said that John Donne"s sonnet is more personal than Shakespeare"s sonnet as it is addressing a feeling that is probably felt only by him.