.Batter My Heart.

Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

--John Donne

One of my favorite sonnets. It became even more dear, and convicting, when I looked up the definitions of the words I only knew the vague meanings of.

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"I, like an usurp'd town, to another due"
u·surp (y-sûrp, -zûrp)

v. u·surped, u·surp·ing, u·surps

v.tr.

1. To seize and hold (the power or rights of another, for example) by force and without legal authority. See Synonyms at appropriate.

2. To take over or occupy without right: usurp a neighbor's land.

v.intr.

To seize another's place, authority, or possession wrongfully.
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"Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend"
vice·roy (vsroi)n.

1. A man who is the governor of a country, province, or colony, ruling as the representative of a sovereign.
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"Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain"
fain (fn)

adv.

1. Happily; gladly: "I would fain improve every opportunity to wonder and worship, as a sunflower welcomes the light" Henry David Thoreau.

2. Archaic Preferably; rather.

adj. Archaic

1. Ready; willing.

2. Pleased; happy.
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"Except you enthrall me, never shall be free"
en·thrall (n-thrôl)

tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls

1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience.

2. To enslave.
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"Nor ever chaste,"
chaste (chst)

adj. chast·er, chast·est

1. Morally pure in thought or conduct; decent and modest.

2.

a. Not having experienced sexual intercourse; virginal.

b. Abstaining from unlawful sexual intercourse.

c. Abstaining from all sexual intercourse; celibate.

3. Pure or simple in design or style; austere.
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"except you ravish me."
rav·ish (rvsh)

tr.v. rav·ished, rav·ish·ing, rav·ish·es

1. To seize and carry away by force.

2. To overwhelm with emotion; enrapture.
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It becomes a lot more risqué (ris·qué (rs-k) adj. Suggestive of or bordering on indelicacy or impropriety.) when you realize the depth and meaning of some of the words Donne uses.

And yet, it almost became more of a favorite of mine for he having used them.