As Due By Many Titles

{{Quote box|align=right|width=330px|tstyle=text-align: left;|halign=central|quote=

As due by many titles I resign

::Myself to thee, O God. First I was made

::By Thee; and for Thee, and when I was decay'd

Thy blood bought that, the which before was Thine.

I am Thy son, made with Thyself to shine,

::Thy servant, whose pains Thou hast still repaid,

::Thy sheep, Thine image, and—till I betray'd

Myself—a temple of Thy Spirit divine.

Why doth the devil then usurp on me?

::Why doth he steal, nay ravish, that's Thy right?

Except Thou rise and for Thine own work fight,

::O! I shall soon despair, when I shall see

That Thou lovest mankind well, yet wilt not choose me,

And Satan hates me, yet is loth to lose me.Chambers 1896, pp. 157-158.

}}

In comparison with many of Donne’s Holy Sonnets, the structure of this poem is completely reversed.Spurr 1991, p. 170. The usual "despairing tone" of the octave is here moved to the sestet.Spurr 1991, p. 170. Instead of developing "the problems of fallenness and estrangement" in the octave and allowing them to be resolved at the end, the poem "reverses this process and concludes by refuting what it initially seeks to affirm."Linville 1984, p. 150.

There is a common interpretation for this reversal. In the 1633 print edition of Donne’s poems, "As Due By Many Titles" was placed first, opening the main cycle of twelve sonnets.Stringer 2005, p. lxii. The octave here is "less dramatic" than the sestet, which would be "appropriate for the first poem of a meditative sequence that begins traditionally with an opening prayer."Esch 1955, p. 49. Thus, the sonnet was described as "a preparatory prayer before making a meditation."Gardner 1952, p. xl.

The structure of the poem was also called "organic," as "every part depends on, and reacts on the other parts."Simon 1952, pp. 123-125. Through "a series of parallel phrases governed by strongly placed subordinating elements (initial as, when, till, and the carefully qualifying and placing which and whose)," the first two quatrains connect with each other, which produces the effect of "order and proper relationship."Bellette 1975, p. 329. However, as the typical sequence was reversed, the logical purpose of the octave "is destroyed" in the rest of the poem by the "unsatisfying paradoxes" of the closing couplet.Bellette 1975, pp. 329-330.

The octave has a "relatively moderate, logical tone and feeling," whereas in the sestet the speaker is "more emotional," being "indignant at Satan but also at God."Ray 1990, pp. 38-39.

The speaker begins with enumerating his titles (his "legal rights or entitlements" towards God),Smith 1971, p. 625. calling himself a "son,"(5) "servant,"(6) "sheep,"(7) "image"(7) and "temple"(8) of God, and these signify "both God’s lawful possession of the creature and the status of the creature."Shaw 1981, pp. 43-45. By using the insistent repetition of pronouns of the first and second person (especially possessives), the speaker attempts to create a "permanent and inevitable bond" with God.Pallotti 1993, p. 173. However, he confronts these titles afterwards in the sestet with the fact that the devil "usurps" him (that is, "unjustly claims possessions" of the speaker),Mallett 1983, p. 56. expecting God to act for his individual sake. This highlights a "highly formal relationship between [him], God and the devil, under a dominant legal metaphor, employing the ideas of landed property and usurpation."Stampfer 1970, p. 243.

The accentuation in this sonnet is said to violate poetic principles.Winters 1967, p. 75. In the sixth line, "the language had to be deformed in order to fit the line into a pentameter pattern."Winters 1967, p. 75. The fact that Donne often violates the poetic form might be due to his "relative unawareness of the nature and importance of sound."Winters 1967, p. 75.

It may also be observed, that the lines in the final couplet are hendecasyllabic (that is, there are eleven syllables in a line); "[t]he addition of me to the end of each line breaks the meter and spoils the rhyme."Coles 2015, p. 921. However, there is a possible explanation for that – two of the enjambments in the poem (in its beginning and in the middle) "are also completed by the same word: I resign/Myself (1 and 2) and I betrayed/Myself," (7 and 8) and thus they both have corresponding elements in the other part of the poem.Coles 2015, p. 921.

It is noted that the theme of abandonment by God is scarcely expressed in the Holy Sonnets.Denonain 1956, p. 151. It never becomes a central theme, with the exception of "As Due By Many Titles."Denonain 1956, p. 151. The main concern of this sonnet is "the problem of election."Lewalski 1973, p. 266. The speaker sets forth a variety of titles, which suggest that he tries to appeal to God through "conventional submission" (giving a "facile and general" catalogue of sins and debts).Sicherman 1971, p. 85. However, in the sestet which follows, the speaker realizes that Satan has gained control instead.Lewalski 1973, p. 266. The speaker begins to fear that he might not be one of the elect.Lewalski 1973, p. 266. Although "he belongs to God by right," he still feels that "God has abandoned him and only the Devil seeks him."Reeves 1952, p. 100. The divine presence is distant and unfelt.Stampfer 1970, p. 244.

The sestet of the poem "implies a state of warfare between God and Satan."Blanch 1974, p. 479. The speaker there becomes "more emotional," being "indignant" at both sides respectively – Satan for having "the audacity to usurp [him]," and God for refusing to act on his behalf.Ray 1990, pp. 38-39. Being tortured by the fear that his fate is contingent upon God’s whims, and that he may not have a place in the divinely ordered scheme,Blanch 1974, p. 479. the speaker in the closing lines despairs and blames God,Yearwood 1982, p. 212. putting "all the responsibility on [Him]."Marotti 1986, p. 255. Thus, lines 12-13 can be considered "theologically controversial," as the speaker "threatens God with his indifference to him."Spurr 1991, p. 171. The poem seems to end "not on a note of confidence even in the possibility of God’s gift of grace, but in sure knowledge of the perverse possessiveness of the Devil."Spurr 1991, p. 171.

As Due By Many Titles presents "a religious self who oscillates uneasily between coherence and incoherence."Derrin 2013, p. 147. The speaker feels helpless against the conflict between God and the Devil.Guibbory 2015, p. 82. Even though he is responsible for his own sins, it does not mean that he is responsible for his salvation.Guibbory 2015, p. 82. This expresses a Calvinist sense of human depravity – the irresistible power of God’s grace cannot be earned or merited.Guibbory 2015, p. 82. "Whether the speaker is claiming salvation on the basis of an achieved condition or throwing himself on God’s mercy" is not certain, and the same tension may be also found in other Holy Sonnets.Strier 1989, p. 368.

In the context of the development of the poem, it has been noted that the speaker’s role "moves from passive acceptance and praise of God’s actions for all mankind to active, desperate appeal for God to act again in his own, individual behalf."Wall 1976, p. 192. In the octave, the first four lines function as a "remembering of the salvation history," and the second part of the octave which follows "shift[s] to the present tense to describe in Biblical terms the speaker’s understanding of his relationship with God."Wall 1976, p. 193. In general, the octave "speaks not just for the individual persona, but also generally and symbolically for all mankind," whereas the speaker of the sestet is more personal, becoming a despaired individual who fears that "God’s reconciliation with mankind may not include him."Wall 1976, pp. 193-194. Due to this ambiguity, the speaker remains caught between two different temporalities.St. Hilaire 2017, p. 597. It disables him from "constructing a clear, future-tense narrative of his own salvation – or, significantly, of his damnation."St. Hilaire 2017, p. 597.

• "Thou Hast Made Me," (Sonnet I), as well as "As Due By Many Titles," both prevent the readers or the speaker from "making an easy division between decree and experience." The speaker’s temporal experience is strictly connected to the eternal capabilities of God. Due to an unresolved ambiguity, the speaker "seems not to know whether to ask about the decree or the process."St. Hilaire 2017, p. 597.
• A major part of the sonnet that precedes "As Due By Many Titles," namely "Thou Hast Made Me," expands upon themes of death and damnation as well as sin and redemption. It reveals the speaker’s "consciousness of sin, his susceptibility to Satan’s temptations, his terror at the thought of damnation, and his prayerful petition for God’s mercy through Christ."Ricks 1988, p. 190.
• A similar emotion of anxiety arising from the fear of being rejected by God is also present in "O, My Black Soul" (Sonnet IV). This feeling emerges from the speaker’s fear that God may not choose him, leaving him vulnerable to the clutches of Satan, to remain reprobate for eternity. In the case of the fourth sonnet, the speaker recognizes his own sinfulness and yearns for the grace that only God is able to give.Papazian 2003, p. 83.
• The sonnet appears to be a plea to be possessed fully by God, but in fact, it is rather a "desperate attempt" to leave a mark of the speaker’s presence visible for the Maker.Fish 1990, p. 242. The same desperation has also been noted in "If Faithful Souls." (Sonnet VIII) Fish 1990, p. 242.
• The first two lines of the poem "Spit In My face" (Sonnet XI) can be considered a "re-signing" (the rewriting and resigning) of the speaker’s intentions towards God, which he announced already in "As Due By Many Titles."Asals 1979, p. 130.
• Both "As Due By Many Titles" and "Batter My Heart" (Sonnet XIV) suggest that "sin is something that happens to the sinner rather than something he does."Skulsky 1992, pp. 116-117.
• "Batter My Heart" is said to share similar images of captivity and liberation with "As Due By Many Titles," where the speaker "complains that he has been usurped by the devil and begs for God to rise and […] fight" for his creature.Skouen, p. 167.
• "As Due By Many Titles" brings to mind "Batter My Heart," in that "the conviction of ravishment by Satan" in the former underlines the speaker’s request for ravishment by the Trinity in the latter.Spurr 1991, p. 171.
• Sonnet II also connects with "Batter My Heart" in terms of structure. Both sonnets reverse the typical movement in which elements opposed in the beginning are resolved at the end.Bellette 1975, p. 330.
• Both "As Due By Many Titles" and "Father, Part Of His Double Interest" (Sonnet XVI) use financial and legal terminology to describe the speaker’s relationship with God.Gładkowska 2018, pp. 77-78.

• Metaphysical poets
• John Donne
• Holy Sonnets
• Batter my heart, three-person’d God

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|20em|indent=yes}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Asals

| first = Heather

| title = John Donne and the Grammar of Redemption

| journal = English Studies in Canada

| volume = 5

| issue = 2

| pages = 125–139

| date = 1979

| doi = 10.1353/esc.1979.0019

| s2cid = 166340085

| ref = #A1}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Bellette

| first = Antony F.

| title = 'Little Words Made Cunningly': Significant Form in Donne's 'Holy Sonnets' and 'Goodfriday, 1613.'

| journal = Studies in Philology

| volume = 72

| issue = 3

| pages = 322–347

| date = 1975

| jstor = 4173878

| ref = #B1}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Blanch

| first = Robert J.

| title = Fear and Despair in Donne's Holy Sonnets

| journal = American Benedictine Review

| volume = 25

| pages = 476–484

| ref = #B2}}

• {{cite book

|editor1-last = Chambers

|editor1-first = E. K.

|title = Poems of John Donne

|volume = 1

|location = London

|publisher = Lawrence & Bullen

|date = 1896

|oclc = 13840599

|ref = #JD}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Coles

| first = Kimberly Anne

| title = The Matter of Belief in John Donne's 'Holy Sonnets'

| journal = Renaissance Quarterly

| volume = 68

| issue = 3

| pages = 899–931

| date = 2015

| doi = 10.1086/683855

| s2cid = 171037811

| ref = #C1}}

• {{cite book

| editor1-last = Denonain

| editor1-first = Jean-Jacques

| title = Thémes et Formes de la Poésie 'Métaphysique': Etude d'un aspect de la Littérature Anglaise au Dix-Septiéme Siécle

| publisher = Presses Universitaires de France

| date = 1956

| location = Paris

| language = French

| isbn = 2-7059-5851-7

| ref = #D1}}

• {{cite book

| last = Derrin

| first = Daniel

| title = Rhetoric and the Familiar in Francis Bacon and John Donne

| publisher = Fairleigh Dickinson UP

| date = 2013

| location = Madison

| isbn = 978-1611476033

| ref = #D3}}

• {{cite book

| last = Esch

| first = Arno

| title = Englische religiöse Lyrik des 17. Jahrhunderts : Studien zu Donne, Herbert, Crashaw, Vaughan. Buchreihe der Anglia, Zeitschrift für englische Philologie

| chapter = John Donnes religiöse Dichtung

| journal = Buchreihe der Anglia = Anglia Book Series

| pages = 34–69

| volume = 5

| editor1-last = Esch

| editor1-first = Arno

| publisher = Tübingen : M. Niemeyer

| date = 1955

| language = German

| ref = #E1

| issn = 0340-5435}}

• {{cite book

| last = Fish

| first = Stanley

| title = Soliciting Interpretation: Literary Theory and Seventeenth-Century English Poetry

| chapter = Masculine Persuasive Force: Donne and Verbal Power

| publisher = U of Chicago P

| editor1-last = Harvey

| editor1-first = Elizabeth D.

| editor2-last = Maus

| editor2-first = Katharine Eisaman

| date = 1990

| location = Chicago

| pages = 223–252

| isbn = 0226318761

| ref = #F1}}

• {{cite book

| last = Gardner

| first = Helen

| title = John Donne: The Divine Poems

| chapter = General Introduction

| publisher = Oxford UP

| edition = 1

| date = 1952

| editor1-last = Gardner

| editor1-first = Helen

| pages = xv-lv

| location = Oxford

| isbn = 9780198118367

| ref = #G1}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Gimelli Martin

| first = Catherine

| title = Experimental Predestination in Donne's 'Holy Sonnets': Self-Ministry and the Early Seventeenth-Century 'Via Media'

| journal = Studies in Philology

| volume = 110

| issue = 2

| date = 2015

| pages = 350–381

| jstor = 24392036

| ref = #M1}}

• {{cite book

| last = Gładkowska

| first = Dorota

| title = Postać w kulturze wizualnej. Tom 1: Ujęcia literackie

| chapter = Sonety święte Johna Donne'a - oblicza Boga zakodowane w układach tekstu

| publisher = Katedra Filologii Angielskiej Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie

| pages = 63–81

| date = 2018

| location = Olsztyn

| language = Polish

| isbn = 978-83-937060-7-5

| editor1-last = Krawczyk-Łaskarzewska

| editor1-first = Anna

| editor2-last = Bruszewska-Przytuła

| editor2-first = Daria

| editor3-last = Przytuła

| editor3-first = Piotr

| ref = #G3}}

• {{cite book

| last = Guibbory

| first = Achsah

| title = Returning to John Donne

| publisher = Ashgate

| edition = 1

| date = 2015

| location = Farnham

| isbn = 978-1409468783

| ref = #G2}}

• {{cite book

| last = Lewalski

| first = Barbara Kiefer

| title = Protestant Poetics and the Seventeenth-Century Religious Lyric

| publisher = Princeton UP

| date = 1973

| location = Princeton

| isbn = 9780691639871

| ref = #L2}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Linville

| first = Susan

| title = Contrary Faith: Poetic Closure and the Devotional Lyric

| journal = Papers on Language and Literature

| volume = 20

| issue = 2

| pages = 141–153

| date = 1984

| issn = 0031-1294

| ref = #L1}}

• {{cite book

| editor1-last = Mallett

| editor1-first = Philip

| title = John Donne: Selected Poems: Notes

| publisher = Longman

| date = 1983

| location = Harlow

| isbn = 0582022746

| ref = #M2}}

• {{cite book

| last = Marotti

| first = Arthur F.

| title = John Donne, Coterie Poet

| publisher = U of Wisconsin P

| date = 1986

| location = Madison

| isbn = 978-0299104900

| ref = #M3}}

• {{cite book

| last = Pallotti

| first = Donatella

| title = English Studies in Transition

| chapter = Periculosa et Pestilens Quaestio: Interrogative Discourse in Donne's Holy Sonnets

| publisher = Routledge

| editor1-last = Boitani

| editor1-first = Piero

| editor2-last = Clark

| editor2-first = Robert

| date = 1993

| location = London

| pages = 167–184

| isbn = 9780415098335

| ref = #P1 }}

• {{cite book

| editor1-last = Papazian

| editor1-first = Mary

| title = John Donne and the Protestant Reformation: New Perspectives

| publisher = Wayne State UP

| edition = 1

| date = 2003

| location = Detroit

| isbn = 978-0814330128

| ref = #P2}}

• {{cite book

| last = Ray

| first = Robert H.

| editor1-last = Gottlieb

| editor1-first= Sidney

| title = Approaches to Teaching the Metaphysical Poets

| chapter = Ben Jonson and the Metaphysical Poets: Continuity in a Survey Course

| publisher = The Modern Language Association of America

| date = 1990

| location = New York

| isbn = 9780873525299

| pages = 89–96

| ref = #R1}}

• {{cite book

| editor1-last = Reeves

| editor1-first = James

| title = Selected Poems of John Donne

| publisher = Heinemann

| edition = 1

| date = 1952

| location = London

| isbn = 978-0435150037

| ref = #R2}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Ricks

| first = Don M.

| title = The Westmoreland Manuscript and the Order of Donne's 'Holy Sonnets'

| journal = Studies in Philology

| volume = 63

| issue = 2

| pages = 187–195

| date = 1988

| jstor = 4173529

| ref = #R3}}

• {{cite book

| last = Shaw

| first = Robert B.

| title = Call of God: The Theme of Vocation in the Poetry of Donne and Herbert

| publisher = Cowley

| date = 1981

| location = Cambridge

| isbn = 978-0936384047

| ref = #S7}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Sicherman

| first = Carol M.

| title = Donne's Discoveries

| journal = Studies in English Literature

| volume = 11

| issue = 1

| pages = 69–88

| date = 1971

| doi = 10.2307/449819

| jstor = 449819

| ref = #S9}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Simon

| first = Iréne

| title = Some Problems of Donne Criticism

| journal = Langues Vivantes

| volume = 40

| issue = 18

| date = 1952

| pages = 114–132

| ref = #S4}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Skouen

| first = Tina

| title = The Rhetoric of Passion in Donne's 'Holy Sonnets'

| journal = Rhetorica

| volume = 27

| issue = 2

| pages = 159–188

| date = 2009

| doi = 10.1525/rh.2009.27.2.159

| jstor = 10.1525/rh.2009.27.2.159

| ref = #S12}}

• {{cite book

| last = Skulsky

| first = Harold

| title = Language Recreated: Seventeenth-Century Metaphorists and the Act of Metaphor

| publisher = U of Georgia P

| date = 1992

| location = Athens

| isbn = 9780820313610

| ref = #S11}}

• {{cite book

| editor1-last = Smith

| editor1-first = A. J.

| title = John Donne. The Complete English Poems

| publisher = Penguin Books

| date = 1971

| location = Harmondsworth

| isbn = 9780140802368

| ref = #S5}}

• {{cite book

| last = Spurr

| first = Barry

| title = Praise Disjoined: Changing Patterns of Salvation in Seventeenth-Century English Literature

| chapter = Salvation and Damnation in the Divine Meditations of John Donne.

| publisher = Peter Lang

| editor1-last = Shaw

| editor1-first = William P.

| date = 1991

| pages = 165–174

| location = New York

| isbn = 978-0820414607

| ref = #S3}}

• {{cite journal

| last = St. Hilaire

| first = Danielle A.

| title = The Grammar of Salvation and the Poetics of Possibility in Donne's 'Holy Sonnets'

| journal = Studies in Philology

| volume = 114

| issue = 3

| pages = 591–608

| date = 2017

| doi = 10.1353/sip.2017.0021

| s2cid = 171831213

| ref = #H1}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Stachniewski

| first = John

| title = John Donne: The Despair of the "Holy Sonnets"

| journal = English Literary History

| volume = 48

| issue = 4

| pages = 677–705

| date = 1981

| doi = 10.2307/2872957

| jstor = 2872957

| ref = #S2}}

• {{cite book

| last = Stampfer

| first = Judah

| title = John Donne And The Metaphysical Gesture

| publisher = Funk & Wagnalls

| edition = 1

| date = 1970

| location = New York

| isbn = 0671209280

| ref = #S8}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Strier

| first = Richard

| title = John Donne Awry and Squint: The 'Holy Sonnets,' 1608-1610

| journal = Modern Philology

| volume = 86

| issue = 4

| pages = 357–384

| date = 1989

| doi = 10.1086/391724

| jstor = 437982

| s2cid = 161292070

| ref = #S10}}

• {{cite book

| editor1-last = Stringer

| editor1-first = Gary A.

| title = The Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne

| publisher = Indiana UP

| location = Bloomington, Indiana

| volume = 7

| date = 2005

| issue = 1

| isbn = 978-0253347015

| ref = #S6}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Wall

| first = John N. Jr.

| title = Donne's Wit of Redemption: The Drama of Prayer in the 'Holy Sonnets'

| journal = Studies in Philology

| volume = 73

| issue = 2

| pages = 189–203

| date = 1976

| jstor = 4173904

| ref = #W1 }}

• {{cite book

| last = Winters

| first = Yvor

| title = Forms of Discovery

| publisher = Swallow

| edition = 1

| date = 1967

| location = Chicago

| isbn = 978-0804001199

| ref = #W2}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Yearwood

| first = Stephanie

| title = Donne's 'Holy Sonnets': The Theology of Conversion

| journal = Texas Studies in Literature and Language

| volume = 24

| issue = 2

| pages = 208–221

| date = 1982

| jstor = 40754681

| ref = #Y1}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite book

| editor1-last = Grierson

| editor1-first = Herbert J. C.

| title = The Poems of John Donne

| volume = 2

| publisher = Oxford UP

| date = 1912

| isbn = 9780199692361}}

• {{cite book

| last = Guibbory

| first = Achsah

| title = Returning to John Donne

| publisher = Ashgate

| edition = 1

| date = 2015

| location = Farnham

| isbn = 978-1409468783}}

• {{cite book

| editor1-last = Stringer

| editor1-first = Gary A.

| title = The Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne

| publisher = Indiana UP

| location = Bloomington, Indiana

| volume = 7

| date = 2005

| issue = 1

| isbn = 978-0253347015}}

{{wikisource|Holy Sonnets/Holy Sonnet 2|As Due By Many Titles}}

• [http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/donnebib.htm The Works of John Donne] at luminarium.org

{{John Donne}}

Category:1633 poems

Category:Sonnets

Category:English poetry collections

Category:Poetry by John Donne

Category:English poetry

Category:Poems published posthumously