The Storm
In 1597 an English fleet sailed to the Azores to intercept a Spanish fleet carrying silver. Donne, who joined the expedition as a volunteer, records a storm experienced during the voyage.
Christopher Brooke: Brooke (c. 1570–1628), a friend of Donne’s, was the legal witness to Donne’s clandestine marriage in 1601; his brother performed the ceremony.
4. Hilliard: Nicholas Hilliard (1547–1619) was the first Englishman to paint miniatures.
is worth a history: Is worth more than a large historical painting by someone else.
13. sighed a wind: Winds were understood to be the earth’s exhalations.
14. middle marble room: The ‘middle air’ was believed to be the source of storms.
18. lie but for fees: Remain in prison because they lack funds to bribe the jailer.
22. Sara’her swelling: Sarah, the wife of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham, was overjoyed when, in her old age, she became pregnant with their first child, Isaac (Genesis 17:15–21, 21:1–3).
32. anon: Instantly.
33. Jonah: God sent a tempest to punish Jonah for disobedience. When his shipmates learned that he was responsible for their suffering, they threw him overboard at his instruction (Jonah 1:4–16).
48. last day: Judgement Day.
54. waist: The middle part of the upper deck of a ship.
55. tacklings: Ship’s rigging.
59. ordnance: Instruments of war, artillery.
66. the’Bermudas: Widely known as a tempestuous area.
67. light’s elder brother: Darkness existed before God created light (Genesis 1:2–4).
70. forms: Ideal things of beauty.
72. Fiat: (Latin) Fiat lux, ‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3).
74. I wish not thee: I don’t wish for your presence here.
Text notes: Some manuscripts and later editions use the title ‘To Mr Christopher Brooke from the Island voyage with the Earl of Essex. The Storm’. 11 soothsay 1649] southsay 1633; 21 swelled ms] swole 1633; 47 graves ms] grave 1633; 50 As 1635] Like 1633; 57 tattered ms] tottered 1633; 66 the’Bermudas 1635] and the’Bermuda 1633; 67 elder ms] eldest 1633; 68 Claims ms] Claimed 1633
The Calm
Donne wrote this poem, along with ‘The Storm’, during his voyage to the Azores in 1597.
2. ’suage: Assuage.
3–4. fable … block … stork: In Aesop’s fable a population of frogs petitioned Jove for a king. He first sent a log, but they were dissatisfied and demanded a king that would rule with authority. In reply Jove sent a stork, which ate all the frogs.
12. lead: Used in the roofing of churches.
14. courts removing: Leaving the palace.
15. fighting place: The platform where rigging for the upper mast was placed.
16. tackling: Ship’s rigging.
frippery: Old clothes; tawdry finery; a trifle.
17. No use of lanterns: Lanterns, hung from the mast, allowed ships in a fleet to keep each other in view.
19. Earth’s hollownesses … lungs are: Wind was believed to be the exhalation of the earth.
20. th’upper vault of air: The upper layer of air, believed to be completely calm.
21. lost friends: Donne’s ship became separated from the main fleet early in the voyage.
23. calenture: A disease, affecting sailors in the tropics, which caused delirious sailors to leap into the sea.
26. sacrifice: Burnt offering.
28. walkers in hot ovens: King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had three Jews cast into a furnace for refusing to worship his golden idol. God enabled them to walk out unharmed (Daniel 3:12–28).
33. Bajazet: Beyazid I (1347–1403), Turkish monarch, who was captured and imprisoned in a cage by his rival, Tamerlane (1336–1405).
36. ants … invade: The snake of the Roman Emperor Tiberius (42 BC–AD 37) was eaten by ants, a classic illustration of strength in numbers.
37. crawling … chips: Either a reference to the many insects that invade different parts of a ship or a description of how the boat is slowly moved by oars rather than wind.
45–6. Stag … dies: A deer, which flies from death, is rewarded with life, whereas a dog, which flies towards death, is either rewarded with its prey or dies in the process.
Text notes: 37 jails ed.] goals 1633; 38 pinnaces ms] venices 1633
To Mr Henry Wotton (‘Here’s no more news than virtue’)
title Henry Wotton: Wotton (1568–1639) was a fellow student of Donne’s at Hart Hall, Oxford, and a member of the Cadiz and Azores expeditions of 1596–7; he became a respected lawyer, courtier and ambassador to Venice. Wotton served Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who, at the time this exchange between Wotton and Donne probably began in 1598, was out of favour with Queen Elizabeth.
2. Calis: Cadiz, a reference to the 1596 military expedition.
St Michael’s: The Azores, the destination of Essex’s expedition of 1597.
4. stomachs: Appetite.
6. but: Except.
11. commissary: Deputy.
12. marshal: Arrange or draw up for fighting.
state: Rank or status; moral, spiritual or physical condition.
13. seely: Innocent, pitiable, frail.
14. neat: Pure.
15. Like … hosts: The Spanish conquistadors were notorious for mistreating natives.
22. antics: Performers playing comical grotesque roles.
23. deepest: Most solemn, weighty; most heinous; most influential; most sly or crafty.
projects: Plans, ideas, schemes.
egregious: Prominent; remarkably good or bad.
gests: Exploits; stages on a journey, especially a royal progress through the countryside.
27. At Court: Written while at court.
From Court: Away from the court.
Text note: title Mr ms] Sir 1633
To Mr Henry Wotton (‘Sir, more than kisses’)
This verse letter is Donne’s reply to Wotton’s response to ‘Here’s no more news’.
1. more … souls: In The Book of The Courtier (1528, London: Penguin, 1967, p. 336), Baldassare Castiglione (1478–1529) asserts that, when lovers kiss, ‘this bond opens the way for their souls which … each pour themselves into the other’s body in turn and so mingle that each of them possesses two souls’.
4. ideate: Imagine, conceive an idea.
6. bottle: Bundle.
lock: Handful, armful or bundle.
8. remoras: Sucking fish believed to have the power of staying the course of any ship to which they attached themselves.
11. even line: The Equator.
18. scorpion: Its flesh was said to cure its own sting.
torpedo: An electric ray fish or that which has a benumbing influence.
21. sepulchres: Tombs; also used figuratively in biblical language for hypocrites, whose outward semblance conceals inward corruption.
24. clay: According to Genesis 2:7, God formed man from the dust of the ground.
28. blocks: Blockheads.
lewd: Lay, not clerical; also lascivious.
29. first Chaos: The formless void out of which God created the earth (Genesis 1:1–2).
30. Each element’s: Each of the four traditional elements: earth, air, fire, water.
31. covetise: Excessive desire for wealth.
34. denizened: Naturalized.
35. flinty: Hard, impenetrable.
42. white: Spotless, innocent.
46. Italian: Italians were proverbially corrupt.
48. Inn: Lodge oneself.
59. Galenist: One who believed in the four humours.
62. chemics: Followers of Paracelsus (1493–1541), who believed diseases could be purged with antagonistic remedies.
Text notes: title Mr ms] Sir 1633; 11 even ms] raging 1633; 12 poles ms] pole 1633; 17 or ms] and 1633; 22 there ms] they 1633; 44 for ms] in 1633–69; 52 jail 1635] goal 1633
H. W. in Hiber. Belligeranti
title H. W. … Belligeranti: ‘Henry Wotton fighting in Ireland’. Wotton (see the notes to ‘To Mr Henry Wotton (“Here’s no more news than virtue”)’) fought in Ireland under Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, from April to September 1559.
3. Respective: Respectful.
9. skeins: Irish daggers.
14. stilled: Distilled.
19. Dishonest carriage: Fraudulent, underhanded or thievish conveyance from one place to another.
seer’s: Both a diviner or magician and someone who secretly unseals and reads a private letter addressed to someone else.
Text notes: Copy-text, Burley ms, Wotton’s commonplace book; 11 attack Grierson] Burley reads attach; 12 arrest] emended by Grierson from crest
To Sir H. W. at His Going Ambassador to Venice
title Sir H. W. … Venice: Henry Wotton was knighted by King James on 8 July 1604, five days before leaving for Venice.
5. taper: A thing that gives a feeble light, a wax candle; a wick.
30. last furnace: Most severe test or trial; the final forging step needed to solidify Wotton’s ‘spirits’.
39. stairs: Jacob dreamed that a ladder connected heaven and earth (Genesis 28:10–12).
To Mr Rowland Woodward (‘Like one who’in her third widowhood’)
title Rowland Woodward: Woodward (1573–1636/7) was a friend and fellow student of Donne’s at Lincoln’s Inn; he later accompanied their mutual friend Sir Henry Wotton to Venice as one of his secretaries.
2. retiredness: Seclusion, reserve.
3. fallowness: Idleness.
11. scales: Of divine justice.
17. Wise, valiant, sober, just: The four cardinal virtues were prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice.
21. crystal glass: Magnifying glass.
26. souls of simples: Essences of medicinal herbs.
31. termers: Those who resorted to London either for business at a court of law or for amusements, intrigues or dishonest practices. Some editors choose the variant ‘farmer’ because it fits the agricultural metaphor.
32. uplay: Store up.
34. Manure: Cultivate, fertilize; also take charge or possession of.
Text note: 31 termers 1633] farmers 1635
To Mr R. W. (‘Zealously my muse doth salute all thee’)
title R. W.: Rowland Woodward (see the notes to ‘To Mr Rowland Woodward’).
6. travailed: Troubled, harassed.
8. vanity: Futility.
12. barren: Fruitless.
Text note: Copy-text, Westmoreland ms, in the hand of Rowland Woodward
To Mr R. W. (‘Muse not that by thy mind thy body’is led’)
2. distempered: Disturbed in mood, vexed.
4. swoll’n: Puffed up, proud.
11. Wright: Probably a misspelling of ‘write’, but also a possible pun, meaning ‘repair’ or ‘mend’.
12. sovereign: Surpassing all others.
Text note: Copy-text, Westmoreland ms
To Mr R. W. (‘If, as mine is, thy life a slumber be’)
3. Morpheus nor his brother: Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, and his brother, Phantasus, both had the ability to metamorphose into different shapes.
7. deed of gift: Means of conveying property while alive.
8. will: Means of conveying property after death.
13. patient: Sufferer.
17. gospel: Glad tidings.
18. Guiana’s: In July 1597 the English were prevented from placing their flag in Guiana in South America.
20. Jew’s guide: Moses, who was allowed to see the promised land beyond Jordan but not to enter it (Deuteronomy 3:25, 27).
23. Spanish business: The attacks on Spain and its fleets in the Cadiz and Azores voyages.
27. all th’All: The entire universe.
28. India: A source of wealth, a mine.
29. If men be worlds: If men are microcosms of the universe.
Text note: 22 O ms] Our 1633
To Mr R. W. (‘Kindly’I envy thy song’s perfection’)
2. all th’elements: The four traditional elements, fire, air, water and earth.
14. recreated: Either to be refreshed by some agreeable object or impression or to be re-created.
Text note: Copy-text, Westmoreland ms
To Mr T. W. (‘All hail sweet poet’)
title T. W.: Most likely Thomas Woodward (b. 1576), brother of Rowland Woodward (see the notes to ‘To Mr Rowland Woodward’).
7. stay: Support.
20. surquedry: Arrogance, presumption.
22. resound: Proclaim, celebrate.
30. zany: Imitator or mimic.
32. Lyon: Lion; also a pun on the title of the chief herald in Scotland.
Text notes: title T. W. ms] I. W. 1633; 15 Before thy ms] Before by thy 1633
To Mr T. W. (‘Haste thee harsh verse’)
1. lame: Halting, metrically defective, with a pun on ‘crippled’.
4. Feet: Both divisions of verse and means of locomotion.
12. Infections: The plague was particularly virulent in London at the time.
13–14. Live I … testament: If Donne lives, T. W. acts as his security deposit (pawns); if he dies, T. W. will be his will (testament).
Text notes: title Mr ms] M 1633; 5–6 ms] omitted 1633
To Mr T. W. (‘Pregnant again with th’old twins’)
Text note: 5 and ms] or 1633
To Mr T. W. (‘At once, from hence’)
2–3. I … of art: He walks to foster (nurse) his art. His lines go to T. W. (his heart), who has been born of art.
9. that: T. W.
12. sacrament: The Church of England defined the sacrament as an outward sign of an invisible presence.
Text note: In many manuscripts and in 1633 this poem is included as a continuation of the preceding poem, ‘Pregnant again with th’old twins’.
To Mr C. B.
This poem was probably written when John Donne and Anne More were separated after her father, Sir George More, learned of their clandestine courtship.
title C. B.: Christopher Brooke (see the notes to ‘The Storm’) was a witness at the secret marriage of Donne and Anne More in December 1601.
1. deserts: Good deeds or qualities.
11. won: Dwell.
12. martyr: Torture.
Text note: 10 fairer ms] fair 1633
title E. G.: The poet Everard Guilpin (1572?–98?), author of Skialetheia.
1. thirst: Thirst for.
2. slimy … bred: Cf. ‘Satire IV’, ll. 18–19.
rimes: Cold mist or fog; possible pun on ‘rhyme’.
4. Parnassus: In Greek mythology, the home of the muses; also Highgate, Guilpin’s residence in London.
6. overseen: Observed; overlooked.
8. Our theatres … emptiness: Theatres closed on account of the plague.
11. spleen: Regarded as the seat of both melancholy and mirth.
12. bearbaitings: A popular spectator sport in which dogs attacked a bear chained to a stake.
law exercise: Practising of law in the courts.
20. this: Highgate.
Text note: Copy-text, Westmoreland ms
To Mr S. B.
title S. B.: Samuel Brooke, who officiated at Donne’s marriage and later became Master of Trinity College, Cambridge University.
3. advice: Forethought, wisdom, judgement.
8. Heliconian spring: The fountain Castalia, whose waters were thought to inspire poetic genius.
9. Siren-like: The Sirens’ song was believed to entrance sailors, who then shipwrecked on the rocks.
10. schismatics: Those who broke from the established church; Roman Catholics who conformed outwardly to the Church of England.
To Mr I. L. (‘Of that short roll’)
title I. L.: Unidentified. Cf. ‘Blest are your north parts’.
4. Sequan: The river Seine.
6. Trent: A river in north central England, presumably near the recipient’s home.
Lethe: In Greek mythology, the river of forgetfulness in the underworld.
9. stretched: Extensive, or expanded.
To Mr I. L. (‘Blest are your north parts’)
title I. L.: Cf. ‘Of that short roll’.
2. My sun: Someone loved by the narrator (perhaps Anne More), who was staying with ‘I. L.’
6. chafes: Burns.
12. help thy friend to save: Help to save thy friend.
15. polled: Their branches cut off, pollarded; also, hair cut short.
16. list: Desire.
20. Thy son ne’er ward: Never need a guardian because of your early death.
22. her: ‘My sun’ from l. 2.
Text notes: title Mr I. L. ms] M. I. P. 1633–69; 11–12 ms] omitted 1633–69
To Mr B. B.
title B. B.: Possibly Basil Brooke, a Catholic who was knighted in 1604; possibly the antiquarian Beauprè Bell (d. 1577).
3. Fulfilled: Filled up.
4. quintessence: A fifth essence, thought to exist in addition to the four elements – air, earth, fire and water – that supposedly cured all ills.
12. giddy: Mad; foolish.
14. post: With haste.
24. matter: Pun on mater, Latin for mother.
28. confirmed, and bishoped: In many Christian churches confirmation was performed by a bishop.
Text note: 19 muse ms] nurse 1633–69
To E. of D. with Six Holy Sonnets
title E. of D.: Earl of Dorset. The six sonnets have not been identified.
3. lusty: Pleasant, cheerful.
8. maim: Serious defect.
11. drossy: Full of impurities.
12. elixir: Alchemists believed that the Elixir of Life could cure all diseases and turn base metal into gold.
To Sir Henry Goodyere (‘Who makes the past a pattern’)
title Sir Henry Goodyere (1571–1628), Donne’s intimate friend and frequent correspondent. Although known to be extravagant, he was a respected member of the Privy Council under James I.
4. pair: String.
17. diet: Way of eating, living or thinking.
19. garners: Storehouses for grain or salt.
20. sports: Amusements.
22. outlandish: Foreign.
28. prescribe: Assert a right or claim.
30. sink: Receptacle or gathering place.
31. travail: Labour, toil; also a pun on ‘travel’.
33. to spare: To refrain from excess.
42. froward: Perverse, ungovernable.
44. tables: Tablets bearing inscriptions or rhetorical devices.
trenchers: Platters, often decorated with short moral sayings.
48. Mitcham: Donne’s residence from 1606 to 1611.
A Letter Written by Sir H. G. and J. D. alternis vicibus
title H. G. … alternis vicibus: Written in ‘alternating turns’ (Latin). The italicized stanzas were written by Sir Henry Goodyere (cf. ‘To Sir Henry Goodyere’).
25. anchors’: Anchorites.
28. St Edith nuns: St Edith, daughter of King Egbert, and other nuns were expelled from their nunnery at Polesworth by Sir Robert Marmion, who later had a dream vision in which Edith bid him restore the abbey to her successors, lest he suffer an evil death. He repented and restored the nunnery.
Text note: Copy-text, British Library Additional MS 25,707 (A25)
To Mrs M. H.
title M. H.: Magdalen Herbert (d. 1627), an intimate friend of Donne’s and mother of the poets Sir Edward Herbert (1582?–1648) and George Herbert (1593–1633).
1. Mad: Either senseless or fervent with poetic inspiration.
2. suns: A pun, since ‘suns’ and ‘sons’ were spelled interchangeably.
4. rags: Paper was made of rags.
12. they: Princes.
15. die: Pine away with desire.
19. saple’s: Sapling.
20. creature: Creation; one who owes his position and fortune to a patron; an instrument or puppet.
37. any: Any writings.
39. revolves: Both to read and to ponder.
his: Probably refers to Sir John Danvers (1584/5–1655), whom Magdalen Herbert married in 1608.
52. fain: Gladly, willingly.
To the Countess of Bedford (‘Reason is our soul’s left hand’)
title Countess of Bedford: Lucy Harington Russell (bap. 1581, d. 1627), one of Donne’s most valued patrons. She served as a ladyin-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, and was also a scholar and a poet. She had a close relation with Donne for a number of years, and in 1608 gave him permission to name his daughter Lucy. Residing at Twickenham Park, she became the patron of many scholars and poets.
5. squint: Characterized by obliquity of action.
left-handedness: Underhandedness.
6. want: Lack.
10. election: Chosen by God to be saved.
11. accesses, and restraints: Permitting and withholding favour or access.
12. devise: Invent, imagine, by writing her own poetry.
15. implicit faith: Trusting in the authority of another without doubt or inquiry.
16. catholic: Universal.
22. balsamum: Balm; balsam.
27. mithridate: Universal antidote to poison.
29. physic: Medicine.
34. factor: Agent.
35. return home: Return to heaven.
Text notes: 16 voice ms] faith 1633; 36 This ms] Thy 1633
To the Countess of Bedford (‘Honour is so sublime perfection’)
4–6. elements … head: The four traditional elements: earth, water (‘these which we tread’), fire and air (‘those … above our head’).
12. dung: Manure, which generates heat.
18. Sicil Isle: Sicily, where the active volcano Mount Etna is located.
22. clay: According to Genesis 2:7, God formed man from the dust of the ground.
26. quick: Living, animate.
29. specular stone: Transparent stone, once used in mirrors.
34–5. souls of growth … reason’s soul: According to the philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) the soul of man was threefold: the vegetative soul (‘souls of growth’) and sensible soul (‘souls of sense’) were believed to have existed in the body before the rational soul (‘our reason’s soul’) was breathed into man.
44. wit: Reason, intellect.
46. types: Emblems.
Text notes: 13 praisers ms] praises 1633; 27 your heart’s ms] our heart’s 1633; 31 and of such ms] and such 1633; 48 all ways ms] always 1633
To the Countess of Bedford (‘You have refined me’)
4. circumstanced: Placed in relation to other things.
11. dark: Obscure.
12. usher: Introduce.
13. this place: Twickenham Park, the Countess’s residence.
23. loathly: Reluctantly.
25. antipodes: Those who dwell directly opposite to each other on the globe.
37. Rome: The seat of the papacy and Roman Catholicism.
40. invest: Dress or adorn.
41. schools: Theological disputants.
48. th’Escuriall: The Escorial, the sixteenth-century monastery-palace – built by Philip II – in Castile, which became a powerful political centre during his reign (r. 1556–98).
61. nice: Foolish.
69. magazine: Storehouse.
commonweal: Either the public welfare or the body politic.
Text notes: 52 all prophecy ms] and prophecy 1633; 60 thing ms] things 1633
To the Countess of Bedford (‘T’have written then’)
5–6. this … that: Not to have written … to have written.
14. Peter … fane: It was said that St Peter’s Basilica in Rome was built on the site of an ancient ‘fane’ (temple) to Jove, and that St Paul’s Cathedral in London was built on a temple of Diana.
17. denizened: Naturalized.
19. bravely: Excellently.
23. fitness: Propriety.
25–6. Your … preserves: Lucy’s virtue ‘ransoms’ (redeems) the female sex, and her presence preserves the Jacobean court from corruption.
32. Stoop: Humble yourself.
37. new philosophy: The heliocentric theory of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), which placed the sun, rather than the earth, at the centre of the universe.
43. engines: Instruments.
47–8. he which said, Plough / And look not back: ‘And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:62).
50. cockle: Weeds.
55. engraved: Deeply impressed; also ‘ingraved’, entombed.
56. Caskets: Small, often richly ornamented boxes for valuables.
64. stones … seen: Physicians claimed to have removed such objects from their patients’ bodies.
68. Two new stars: The astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) reported new stars in the constellations Cygnus and Sepentarius; Donne is probably alluding to the deaths of Bridget Harington, Lady Markham (Lucy’s first cousin), who died at Twickenham on 4 May 1609, and Cecilia Bulstrode (Boulstred), who also died at Twickenham, on 4 August 1609.
81. aspersion: Sprinkling.
82. complexion: Temperament.
85. thralls: Enslaves.
90. cordial: Restorative, reviving, especially to the heart.
Text notes: 5 debt ms] doubt 1633; 7 nothings ms] nothing 1633; 14 hath ms] have 1633; 20 all it, you ms] all, in you 1633; 30 is ms] it 1633; 32 Stoop ms] Stop 1633; 60 vice 1635] it 1633; 75 you ms] your 1633
To the Countess of Bedford, on New Year’s Day
1. two years: One beginning, one ending.
3. meteor-like: Any atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon.
perplexed: Entangled.
16. tincture: The quintessence of a thing, which may be imbued into material things.
28. corn: Particle.
44. disport: Amusement.
45. comport: Agree with, accord with; suit.
47. ingress: Enter, invade; specifically ‘go in to’ carnally.
60. state: Financial status.
63–4. dis-enrol / Your name: Remove your name from the Book of Life, which lists the names of the redeemed.
Text notes: 10 times ms] time 1633; 18 spirits ms] spirit 1633; 35 praiser ms] prayer 1633; 47 Which ms] With 1633
Begun in France but never perfected
This poem was written while Donne was staying in France in 1611–12, though it remained unfinished.
1. dead and buried: Due to his absence from England.
6. embalms: Preserves from decay.
11–12. First I … stock: Having praised Elizabeth Drury in ‘The First Anniversary’, Donne betrays a certain anxiety lest he lose Lady Bedford’s patronage.
20. complexion: Temperament.
24. less: Inferior.
26. Desunt cætera: (Latin), ‘The rest is lacking.’
Text notes: 5 begot 1633] forgot ms; 14 or 1633] and 1649–69
To the Lady Bedford (‘You that are she’)
title Lady Bedford: Lucy, Countess of Bedford. This poem may commemorate the death of Lucy’s close friend Lady Markham, the subject of Donne’s funeral elegy, ‘Elegy on the Lady Markham’ (‘Man is the World’).
7. Cusco and Musco: Cuzco, the Incan capital city in Peru, and Moscow.
22. contracted: Acquired, collected, taken in.
26. recollect: Collect together again.
34. both rich Indies: The East Indies were known for spices, the West for precious metals.
37. forced: Constricted by force.
42. without: At a loss.
43. faithful book: The Bible.
44. Judith: In the Bible, the widow Judith saves Israel by defeating Nebuchadnezzar’s general, Holofernes. Judith remained faithful to her husband forever, and never remarried.
Text notes: title 1635] Elegie to the Lady Bedford 1633; 20 were 1635] was 1633; 42 can 1635–69] can can 1633
To Sir Edward Herbert, at Juliers
title Sir Edward Herbert, at Juliers: Herbert (1582?–1648) was the son of Magdalen Herbert (see the notes to ‘To Mrs M. H.’) and the elder brother of the poet George Herbert. A poet himself, Edward was also a philosopher, soldier and ambassador to France. In 1610 he travelled to Juliers, a duchy in the Netherlands that would be besieged by Protestants at the beginning of the Thirty Years War. He was knighted in 1603, and made Lord Herbert of Cherbury in 1629.
1. kneaded: Reduced to a common mass.
2. ark: Place of refuge; an allusion to Noah’s ark, which preserved all the world’s species during the great flood (Genesis 6:13–8:19).
3. jar: Discord.
8. couple: Come together sexually.
10. disaforested: Stripped of privilege; reduced to ordinary standards.
11. Impaled: Fenced in.
15–17. Else man … worse: Coming upon two men possessed by demons, Jesus cast the demons out into a herd of swine, which caused the herd to run suddenly into the sea (Matthew 8:28–32).
24. Hemlock: A plant, poisonous to man, but food to birds (‘chickens’).
31. his pleasure: His own pleasure.
his rod: His own punishment, by living sinfully.
43–4. For knowledge … opium: In some men, knowledge causes a delirious fever (‘calentures’), while in others it acts as a cooling sedative (‘opium’).
45. brave: Excellent.
profession: Declaration.
50. mart: Any public place for buying and selling; originally any of various international book fairs central to the publishing trade of early modern Europe, including one held twice a year in Frankfurt until 1749.
To the Countess of Huntingdon (‘That unripe side of earth’)
title Countess of Huntingdon: Elizabeth Stanley (bap. 1587, d. 1633), stepdaughter of Donne’s employer, Sir Thomas Egerton.
1–3. That unripe side … ate: America, where the natives went naked like Adam before the Fall.
16. atomi: Smallest particles, atoms.
22. cross-armed: The conventional pose of an unrequited lover.
24. white-livered: Cowardly.
57. sueth: Pursues, both legally and romantically.
83. curious hit: Skilfully imitated.
85. what is more: God.
87. next: Shortest.
92. zanies: Imitators or mimics.
100. large: Free.
Text notes: Copy-text, 1635; 69 sigh ms] sin 1635; 74 and ms] I 1635; 107 dares ms] dare 1635; 121 men ms] man 1635; 123 Their ms] There 1635; 125 violent ms] valiant 1635; 128 feigned ms] fancied 1635; 128 which only tempts man’s appetite ms] omitted 1635; 130 contract in ms] contracted 1635
To the Countess of Huntingdon (‘Man to God’s image’)
1–2. Man … in her: God created man in his own image (Genesis 1:27). Eve was created from a rib of man (Genesis 2:21–3). The Bible is ambiguous as to whether she too was created in God’s image. The Bible specifically states that God breathed a soul into man (Genesis 2:7), but does not indicate that He did the same for woman.
3. Canons: Canon law.
4. prefer: Advance in status or rank.
13. Magi: The three wise men who were guided to Christ’s manger by the Star of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1–12).
17–18. If … doth bend: Many believed that the sun was nearer the earth than in the past, and this was taken as a sign that the earth was dying.
22. She fled to heaven: Possibly a reference to Astraea, goddess of justice, who fled to the heavens because she was so disgusted with man’s corruption.
26. informed: Shaped, fashioned.
transubstantiates: Transforms, transmutes.
38. Crab and Bull: Cancer and Taurus.
41. one: Her husband, Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon (1586–1643).
58. long ago: Donne had met her many years before, when she was twelve, and her mother married his employer, Sir Thomas Egerton.
Text notes: 13 the ms] which 1633; 47 do so ms] to you 1633; 66 and ms] or 1633
A Letter to the Lady Carey, and Mistress Essex Rich, from Amiens
title Lady Carey, and Mistress Essex Rich: In late 1611, while Donne was in Amiens with Sir Robert Drury (1575–1615), Sir Robert Rich (1587–1658) passed through and probably persuaded Donne to write this verse letter to his sisters, whom Donne may never have met. They were the children of Penelope Devereux (the heroine of Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella (c. 1582)), who left Robert Rich (1559?–1619), 3rd Lord Rich and later 1st Earl of Warwick, to live with Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy (1563–1606). Lettice Rich, the eldest daughter, married Sir George Carey of Cockington, Devon. Essex Rich later married Sir Thomas Cheke of Pirgo. Although their father was probably Lord Rich, their mother’s notoriety cast doubts on their parentage.
7. convertite: Convert.
9. Pardons: The Protestant Reformation criticized the Roman Catholic Church for selling indulgences.
12. faith alone: The Church of England believed in justification by faith alone, while the Roman Catholic Church maintained that good works were also necessary for salvation.
18. their humours: Their temperaments, as determined by their predominant humour – phlegmatic, sanguine, melancholy or choleric.
21. phlegm: Equanimity, one of the four humours.
31. parcel-gilt: Partially gilded.
32. complexion: The particular combination of the four humours thought to determine a person’s temperament.
34. aguish: Fitful.
several: Separate, distinct, various.
40. that part of you: Your body.
Text notes: This is the only known poem in Donne’s handwriting, with his punctuation which is followed in the text. 13 are 1635] is 1633; 30 this 1635] their 1633; 41 scarce] but little authorial correction 53 ecstasy ] ecstasy I see authorial correction
To the Countess of Salisbury, August 1614
title Countess of Salisbury: Lady Catherine Howard (1593?–1672), daughter of Thomas, 1st Earl of Suffolk, married William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury.
6. periwigs and ’tires: Wigs and apparel (attires).
14. being vapoured: Having passed away; dissipated.
18. gold-ingot: Bars of gold.
34. largeness: Liberality, generosity, unlike the ‘littleness’ of the ‘Court, city, church’ (l. 16).
39–44. For had God … earth: According to the Bible, man was created on the sixth day, plants and fruits on the third, and the ‘lights in the firmament’ on the fourth (Genesis 1:14).
48. that you: That you are worthiest.
52–4. We first … no name: It was believed that plants have the ‘soul’ of growth, animals, sense and growth, and man, growth, sense and reason.
64. walks: Walkways or haunts; course of conduct.
74. Illustrate: Enlighten; make luminous.
76. one born blind: The blind bard Homer, or, possibly, Tiresias, the mythological blind prophet of Thebes.
Text notes: 2 and 1633] omitted 1635–54; 57 any 1633] any, if I 1635
Anniversaries
To the Praise of the Dead, and the Anatomy
title To the Praise of the Dead: Presumably written by the satirist, Joseph Hall (1574–1656), a supporter of the Church of England, and later bishop of Exeter and of Norwich. When An Anatomy of the World was first published in 1611, this poem appeared as the dedicatory epistle. Like Donne, Hall portrays the decay of the world as a sign of the world’s imminent end.
See note to ‘The Harbinger to the Progress’.
5. state: Estate.
15. last nephew’s eyne: Eyes of our descendants.
42. presage: Indicate or suggest; predict; portend.
44. burden: Also, a song’s refrain.
Text note: Copy-text, 1611
The First Anniversary. An Anatomy of the World
‘The First Anniversary’ commemorates the death of Elizabeth Drury, the daughter of Donne’s patron Sir Robert Drury. She died on 17 December 1610 at the age of fourteen. The first edition of 1611 was entitled An Anatomy of the World. Wherein, by the occasion of the untimely death of Mistress Elizabeth Drury the frailty and decay of this whole world is represented.
title Anniversary: The yearly commemoration of a saint’s death-day.
Anatomy: Dissection of a body; a detailed examination or analysis.
4. see, and judge, and follow: Corresponding to the faculties of the rational soul – memory, understanding and will.
6. inmate: Poor, temporary lodger.
7. that queen: Elizabeth Drury, but probably also Queen Elizabeth.
progress: A monarch’s stately journey through the countryside.
8. standing house: Permanent home.
13. vital spirits: Elements in the blood that were believed to unite body and soul.
19. consumption: Wasting of the body by a disease.
21. agues physic are: Agues, or violent fevers, were thought to be curative.
24. in a lethargy: Near death.
31. thy name thou hadst: The name that you had.
32. o’erpast: Passed over, forgotten.
33. font: The baptismal font.
36. her coming: Elizabeth Drury’s birth.
41–2. none / Offers … that’s gone: Since no one has celebrated her death in verse.
48. A strong example … law: An example equal in status to law.
50. resolved: Dissolved.
52. our weakness: The weakness of those left in the world after her death.
57. intrinsic balm: Restorative substance, necessary for life.
68. inanimate: Animate, infuse life into.
76. new world: Paradise within man.
82. weedless paradises: Like the Garden of Eden before the Fall.
98. precipitation: A witty pun, drawing on the root meaning, ‘to fall head first’.
99. witty: Wise, ingenious.
102. For man’s relief: Eve was created as Adam’s helpmate (Genesis 2:20–23).
105. that first marriage was our funeral: By eating the apple, Eve condemned mankind to death.
107–10. And singly … our kind: These lines pun on the words ‘death’ and ‘dying’, which had a sexual double meaning since it was believed that orgasm shortened one’s life.
111. yet: If.
we do not that: Because our offspring are less than men.
112–26. There is not now … direct: Before the Fall, man was immortal. There were giants upon the earth in those days, in the time of the biblical patriarchs (Genesis 6:4).
116. in minority: While a minor.
128. Methusalem: Methuselah, the biblical patriarch who was a symbol of longevity because he lived 969 years (Genesis 5:25–7).
134. three lives: Ninety-nine years, the traditional length of a lease.
136. span: Unit of measurement representing the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger or forefinger – approximately nine inches.
148–9. to gold / Their silver: Adam and Eve were thought to have lived in the Golden Age, the biblical patriarchs in the Silver Age.
151. damped: Stifled, choked, extinguished, deadened.
159. new diseases: Probably syphilis and influenza.
167, 169. This man: Christ.
173. depart: Part.
176. they called virtues by the name of she: In Greek and Latin the words for virtues are feminine, as are most abstract nouns.
178. alloy: An admixture of an alien element that lowers the value or character, or detracts from the purity of the original element.
180. poisonous tincture: Donne poisons the alchemical meaning of ‘tincture’ (a purifying spiritual principle) by equating it with original sin.
203–4. And now … after fifty be: ‘They that be born in the strength of youth are of one fashion, and they that are born in the time of age, when the womb faileth, are otherwise … ye are less of stature than those that were before you. And so are they that come after you less than ye, as born of the creature which now beginneth to be old, and is past the strength of youth’ (2 Esdras 5:53–5 in the Apocrypha).
205. new philosophy: New discoveries in science and astronomy, especially Galileo’s (1564–1642) observation that the earth revolves around the sun, which challenged the traditional view of the earth as the centre of the universe.
206. The element … out: ‘All the other three elements, earth, and water, and air abound with in habitants proper to each of them, only the fire produces nothing’ (John Donne, Sermons, ed. George R. Potter and Evelyn M. Simpson, 10 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1953–62), VII, 184).
211. so many new: New planets and stars, discovered by astronomers in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
212. atomies: Atoms, motes; also anatomies.
214. just supply: Rightful support or succour.
230. West … the East: The West Indies were known for precious metal, and the East Indies for spices and perfumes.
234. single money: Small coins.
248. age’s darts: The missiles, spears or arrows thrown by age.
255. eccentric parts: Deviations from the regular, circular movement of the heavenly spheres.
263–7. zodiac … run: Capricorn (the Goat) and Cancer (the Crab), two of the twelve signs of the zodiac, known as the tropics, were thought to check the sun’s movement toward the poles.
278. meridians and parallels: Longitudes and latitudes of the sky.
286. Tenerife: A volcanic peak on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
295. vault infernal: Medieval theologians thought hell was at the centre of the earth.
296. except that: Unless.
314. resultances: Emanations, reflections.
319. type: A person, object or event from the Old Testament that prefigures something in the New Testament.
338. Wicked is not much worse than indiscreet: Because discretion was the ability to distinguish between good and evil.
343–4. compassionate turquoise … well: Turquoise, it was believed, turned pale if its wearer was unwell, losing colour completely if the wearer died.
347. the first week: According to Genesis 1:1–2:2, God created the earth in one week.
351. enow: Enough.
352. various rainbow: The rainbow, in all its varied colours, the sign of God’s covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:8–17).
364. verdure: The green of new vegetation.
368. to her: Compared to her.
376. colours: Cosmetics.
elude: Trick, deceive.
380. father … mother: Traditionally, the sky and the earth.
387. meteors: Atmospheric phenomena, especially comets, considered ominous and portentous.
389. worms: Serpents.
390. Egyptian mages: The Egyptian magicians who turned their rods into serpents in Exodus 7:10–12.
391. artist: Alchemist.
392. constellate: Construct a charm under a particular constellation.
396. correspondence: Active communication; concordant or sympathetic response; similarity, agreement.
400. Embarred: Prevented.
407. one dying swan: It was thought that swans sang only once, on the verge of death.
417–18. transubstantiate / All states to gold: Alchemists sought an elixir capable of transforming base metal to gold.
422. stay: Support.
426. our age was iron: The Iron Age, which came after the ages of Gold, Silver and Bronze, was a period of the world’s decline.
432. travail: Toil; trouble, hardship, suffering.
440. punctual: Exact, proceeding point by point.
452. Be got: Pun on ‘begot’.
but then: Only then.
456. concoction: Ripening, bringing to a state of perfection.
465. The law, the prophets, and the history: Referring to various books of the Bible.
467. in due measure: Both ‘with due reverence’ and ‘in verse’.
474. enrols: Records with honour, celebrates.
Text notes: Copy-text, 1611; title The First Anniversary 1612; marginal notes added in 1612; 144 scarce 1612 errata] scarsc 1611; 153 close-weaving 1633] close-weaning 1611–25; 217 there 1612 errata] then 1611–69; 259 there 1612 errata] then 1611–69; 262 towns 1612 errata] towers 1611–69; 273 reeling 1621] recling 1611; 474 fame 1612 errata and 1633] same 1611–25
A Funeral Elegy
Like ‘The First Anniversary’ and ‘The Second Anniversary’, ‘A Funeral Elegy’ commemorates the death of the fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Drury. It was published with ‘The First Anniversary’ in 1611.
3. jet: Black coal polished to a high sheen.
porphyry: A hard, purplish red rock.
4. chrysolite: A green-coloured gem.
6. two Indies: The West Indies, known for jewels, and the East Indies, known for spices.
8. escurials: The Escorial, built by Philip II north-west of Madrid, is the historical residence of the Spanish king.
28. This organ: The elegy itself; a melody or song.
38. sundered: Separated; divided into parts or fragments.
41. Niger: A river, believed to be part of the Nile, running underground for part of its course.
50. throne or cherubim: Third- and second-rank angels.
52. tasteless: Unable to taste.
56. last fires: Fires of the Last Judgement.
61. through-light: Transparent.
62. exhalation: Breath; vapour.
65. emulate: Rival with each other.
73. balsamum: Balm.
76. dye: ‘Dye’ with another colour, and ‘die’, or reach sexual orgasm.
82. ecstasy: An out-of-body, trance-like rapture; a frenzy.
96. Fellow-commissioner: A joint chief or officer.
Text note: Copy-text, 1611
The Harbinger to the Progress.
The italics, used in 1635 for this poem and ‘To the Praise of the Dead’, distinguish the dedicatory poems from Donne’s. 1633 printed Hall’s poems in roman typeface, Donne’s in italics.
title Harbinger: One that goes before to announce someone’s approach.
36. Laura: The female subject of Petrarch’s poetry.
Text notes: Copy-text, 1612; 15 relate 1621] re-relate 1612; 27 high 1612 errata] by 1612
The Second Anniversary. Of the Progress of the Soul
2. this world … everlastingness: Nearly every Renaissance thinker rejected the eternity of the world.
7. struck: Lowered.
8. won: Acquired.
20. Knell … cracking: The sound of a bell ringing immediately after a death or at a funeral.
strings: The strings of fate.
23–4. some days … Before the sun: The sun was not created until the third day (Genesis 1:16–19).
27. Lethe: River in Hades whose water caused the dead to forget.
44. Venite: God’s call to man on Judgement Day.
45. (margin) disestimation: To lower in regard.
46. safe-sealing: Confirmation of salvation.
48. hydropic: Unquenchably thirsty.
53. try: To put to the test.
63. stupid: Stupefied.
70. golden times: Earliest classical age, when there was as yet no corruption.
75. indifferent: Neither bad nor good.
86. taper: A candle or other source of light.
92. Division: The execution of a rapid melodic passage.
97. ague: Violent fever.
98. physic: Medicine.
102. sergeants: Bailiffs who arrest debtors.
120. Saint Lucy’s night: The winter solstice, considered the longest night of the year.
127. mithridate: Universal antidote to poison; panacea.
135. humours: The four humours (blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile) thought to determine one’s health and disposition.
151. pretend: Claim using the law.
158. sink: Sewer.
160. two souls: Growth and sense. It was believed that plants have the ‘soul’ of growth, animals, sense and growth, and man, growth, sense and reason.
163. obnoxious: Liable or exposed to harm.
165. unlittered: Unborn.
169. anchorite: Religious hermit.
171. ordures: Excrement.
173. prison: The body.
174. After: After birth.
181. piece: Weapon, firearm.
192. intense: Turbulent, tumultuous.
195. baits: Stops.
try: Find out.
198. Hesper … Vesper: Hesperus, the evening star.
199. Argus’: The hundred-eyed mythological herdsman slain by Mercury who used magic to close his eyes.
208. undistinguished: Without stops; too fast to be distinguished.
224. Mintage: Minting of coins.
226. prefer: To advance; raise.
236. tutelar: Guardian.
242. electrum: Alloy made of gold and silver, less perfect than pure gold.
268. lay: Wager.
276. piercing of substances: The Stoic doctrine opposed to Aristotle’s theory that substances can be mixed by compounding.
281. stiff: Intractable.
294. watchtower: The mind.
302. full: Completely instructed.
317. ballast: Weigh down.
324. conversation: Association, engagement.
354. joint-tenants: Those holding an estate jointly.
382. accidental: Not essential.
391. cozened coz’ner: Deceived deceiver.
412. casual: Produced by chance; accidental.
414. arrest: Allow to rest.
420. enow: Enough.
426. rods: Punishments, chastisements.
432. thrust: Crowd.
435. pitch: Peak.
460. pre-contract: Pre-existing contract of marriage.
479. apostem: Abscess.
504. rolls: Rolls of parchment filled with writing on both sides.
508. circle: Symbol of perfection.
511. Here … place: The Roman Catholic France.
Text notes: Copy-text, 1612; 10 Though 1612 errata] Through 1612–25; 42 vanish 1612] banish 1625; 45–6 (margin) disestimation 1612] estimation 1625–33; 46 sealing 1649] fealing 1612–39; 67 was 1612 errata] twas 1612–25; 103 thrust 1612] trust 1669; 129 on 1621] no 1612; 137 won 1612 errata and 1633] worne 1612–25; 153 a long 1621–33] along 1612; 234 make 1612–33] wake 1635–9; 266 new 1612] knew 1635–9; 292 taught 1612 errata and 1633] thought 1612–25; 314 print 1612 errata] point 1612–33; 338 will 1612 errata] lies 1633–69, wise 1612–25; 353 thought 1612 errata] thoughts 1612–25; 380 whither 1612 errata] whether 1612–33; 398 vow 1612 errata and 1633] row 1612–25 and 1635–69; 416 Thinks 1633–69] Think 1612–25; 423 world 1633] worlds 1612–25; 435 up 1633] upon 1612–25; 477 redress 1612 errata] reders 1612–25; 516 invoke 1612 errata] ivoque 1612, inroque 1621
Epicedes and Obsequies
Elegy (‘Sorrow, who to this house’)
3. wonder: Perplexity; astonishment; grief.
8. store: Plenty.
9. sweet briar: A rose with strong hooked thorns and aromatic leaves.
10. that: That tree.
15. venturers: Adventurers; also, persons involved in a commercial or trading venture.
20. schoolmen: Medieval theologians.
21. What … beget: What ease of mind can hope offer that we shall see him.
Text note: title ed.] Elegie VI 1633, Elegie on the L. C. 1635
title Lady Markham: Lady Bridget Markham, cousin and friend of Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford, died on 4 May 1609 at Twickenham Park, Lucy’s home, three months before the death of Lucy’s relative, Cecilia Bulstrode.
2. lower parts: Body.
5. pretend: Stretch forward; lay claim to.
12. God’s Noah: In the biblical story of Noah’s ark, God flooded the Earth to eliminate corruption and then vowed never to flood it again.
14. inborn stings: Pangs caused by original sin.
15. spectacles: Public acts; mirrors; glasses.
23. limbeck: Apparatus used in distilling and alchemy.
24. mines: Precious metals.
26. last fire: God’s final judgement.
32. th’elder death by sin: Eve brought sin and death into the world by eating the forbidden apple.
33. attempt: Try to conquer.
35. unobnoxious: Not exposed to harm from either death.
38. virginity: Spiritual purity.
44. all sinners be: After Eve ate the apple, mankind was tainted by original sin.
49. cherubim: The second order of angels, below the seraphim.
55. even: Free from variations, equable, unruffled; perfect mean between extremes; fair, impartial.
56. How … titles: She used her elevated social station and wealth to do good as a patron; also, her own ‘titles’, or writings, were ‘good’, i.e. pious and smart.
meet: Appropriate, proper.
Text notes: 29 when the sea gains, it ms] the sea, when it gains, 1633–69; 42 breaks ms] cracks 1633–69; 44–5 1635–69] omitted 1633; 58 women 1635–69] woman 1633
Elegy on Mrs Bulstrode (‘Death I recant’)
title Mrs Bulstrode: Cecilia Bulstrode (Boulstred), daughter of Edward Bulstrode, died on 4 August 1609 at the age of twenty-five.
8. Into his bloody … jaws: War, plague and famine, three causes of death in the Book of Revelation.
14. monastic: Like monks, subject to an oath of silence.
16. sponge that element: Absorb that water.
18. organic: Like a church organ.
20. heavenly hierarchy: Heaven was traditionally thought to have nine orders of angels.
24. four monarchies: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, mentioned in the Book of Daniel.
Antichrist: Christ’s great adversary.
29. our … breath: Our bellows (or lungs) and breath wear out.
36. not ours, nor thine own: Not belonging to us on earth or to Death, but to God.
37. more stories high: Too exalted for Death to reach.
38. offered at her lower room: Made an attempt upon her body.
40. But thou … fort: Death, thou cannot capture either the captain (her soul) or the fort (her body).
42. rest for: Wait to be reunited with.
65. by tempting: By tempting her to sin.
67. crossed: Thwarted.
72. such: Such creatures as she.
Text notes: 5 and the meat ms] there are set 1633; 10 fruit ms] first 1633–69; 61 grown ms] been 1633–69
Elegy upon the Death of Mrs Boulstred (‘Language, thou art too narrow’)
Simply called ‘Elegie’ in 1633, the poem eulogizes Cecilia Bulstrode, the subject of ‘Elegy on Mrs Bulstrode’ (‘Death I recant’).
4. wears and lessens: Tires and diminishes.
6. bar: Court of law.
7. estate: State, condition.
10. fifth and greatest monarchy: England, which was preceded by the monarchies of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome; the fifth monarchy is supposedly ruled by ‘one like the Son of man’ (Daniel 2:38–44; 7:13–14).
11. that: Because.
she: The subject of the poem.
15. palace: Her body.
21. saphirine: Transparent like sapphire.
22. jet: A dense, semi-precious black form of coal polished to a shiny brilliance.
24. crystal: Transparent stone or glass. The manuscript variant ‘Christian’ adds another possible meaning.
ordinance: Decree; a possible pun on ‘ordnance’ meaning artillery; apparatus.
34. virtues cardinal: The four cardinal virtues: justice, fortitude, prudence and temperance.
35. cherubim: The second order of angels just below the seraphim (see l. 52).
38. fruitful tree: When Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in Eden, she brought death into the world.
40. Her … laws above: Love her more than we love God and His laws.
41. tears: Weep.
44. We’had had … holiday: We would have had a saint and would now celebrate a saint’s holy day.
45. bush: The Burning Bush where Moses saw God (Exodus 3:2).
52. that order: The seraphim.
58. Lemnia: The reddish clay, mined on the island of Lemnos, believed to be an antidote to poison in classical antiquity.
60. took up spruce: Her coffin will grow into a spruce tree.
Text notes: title ms] Elegie 1633, Elegie XI. Death 1635–54]; 21 for 1635] to 1633; 62 waste 1633] break 1635–69
Elegy, On the Untimely Death of the Incomparable Prince, Henry
title Henry: Henry, Prince of Wales and son of King James I, died from typhoid fever on 6 November 1612 at the age of eighteen. Donne’s elegy was first published in Joshua Sylvester’s 1613 collection of poems, Lachrymae Lachrymarum (3rd edn), honouring the prince.
7. Quotidian: Everyday, common.
9–11. th’enormous greatnesses … providence: God’s greatnesses transcend human understanding and can only be understood through faith.
13. eccentric: Moving in an orbit around faith, which is not at the exact centre.
15–16. reason … one: At its extreme, reason becomes concentric with faith; death destroys the distinction.
23. distracted: Drawn apart.
30. torpedo: Electric ray fish.
31. bent: Persuaded or swayed.
44. Still stay … dust: Remain alive, distressing the dust of the earth by failing to return to it in death.
49. thrown lowest down of all: Sunk to a new low by the prince’s death.
52. plot for ease: Plan to ease ourselves of our sorrow by dying.
54. mandrakes: Poisonous plant, thought to resemble the human form, which supposedly shrieked when uprooted.
63. faster: More firm or certain.
65–6. reason … With causes: Reason, the source of understanding of cause and effect.
67. substances: Aristotelian essence of the object.
68. accident: Perceptible, variable qualities of an object.
73. steal in: Secretly add.
84. narrow: Narrow-minded.
85. baiting: Halting; stopping for rest and refreshment.
90. she-intelligence: Angels were thought to control celestial bodies.
Text notes: Letter: faithful ms; thankful 1633. Copy-text, Sylvester, Lachrymae Lachrymarum, 1613; 8 men 1613] man 1633–69; 19 faith could 1613] faith might 1635–69; 22 world to shake 1613] earth to quake ms; 34 through 1613] to 1635–69; 48 will 1613] omitted ms; 71 faith 1613] Fate 1633–69; 73 join 1613] come 1633–69
Obsequies upon the Lord Harrington, the Last that Died
title Lord Harrington: John Harrington, 2nd Baron of Exton, who died on 27 February 1614, was the brother of Donne’s patron, Lucy, Countess of Bedford.
1–3. which wast … continue so: Which was harmony both when first infused in the body and throughout his life.
4. organ: Church organ, symbolizing the harmony of God’s creation.
6. pervious: Permeable.
30. hardest object … sight: Most difficult to discern, to understand.
31. glass: Mirror.
37. trunks: Tree trunks, which put near-by objects in perspective.
46. humours: The four humours – blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile – believed to determine one’s health.
58. his minutes: Details of his life.
74. thrust: Throng together.
80. long breathed chronicles: Long-winded histories.
85. repair: Make his way.
101. balm: Healing medicine.
110. man, the abridgement: Man, the microcosm of the world.
114. equinoctial: The equator.
124. torrid zone: Hot equatorial region.
calentures: Tropical disease characterized by delirium; also, burning passion, zeal.
126. agues: Acute fevers.
hydroptic: Insatiably thirsty.
135. fly: Speed-regulating device used in clocks.
140. at every will: According to everyone’s wishes.
157. prodigy: Extraordinary event or sign.
178. triumph: Victorious Roman generals marched in triumph through the city.
199. engines: Destructive weapons.
200. diverse mine: From diverse sources or means.
210. vicariate: God’s vicar or representative on earth.
233. Pompey: Pompey the Great (106–48 BC) demanded a triumphant entry into Rome, but he provoked laughter when his chariot, towed by four elephants, wouldn’t fit through the city gates.
246. it: The triumph.
Text notes: title Obsequies upon the Lord Harrington, the last that died ms] Obsequies to the Lord Harringtons brother. To the countess of Bedford 1633; 7 men’s ms and 1635–69] man’s 1633; 35 truly our ms] our true 1633–69; 39 being 1635–69] living 1633; 63 should 1635–69] would 1633; 66 Who 1635] Which 1633; 102 this ms] the 1633–69; 106 thy death ms] and death 1633–69; 135 fly 1633] flee 1635–69; 158 where ms] when 1633–69; 165 am 1635–69] grow 1633; 193 Then 1635–69] That 1633; 198 acclamations ms] acclamation 1633–54; 225 are ms] were 1633–69
A Hymn to the Saints, and to Marquesse Hamilton
title Sir Robert Carr Later the Earl of Ancrum, Carr requested the following poem on 22 March 1625 to commemorate the death of his friend James Hamilton (1584–1625), High Commissioner to the Parliament. Some believe this is Donne’s last poem.
2. rank: Order of angels.
10. all our orders: Earthly institutions.
14. garter: Hamilton was named a Knight of the Garter two years before his death.
20. comeliness: Gracefulness; handsomeness.
26. sphere of forms: Celestial region where the ideal form of the earthly body awaits the resurrection of the material body.
26–7. before … sepulchral stone: Before his body even reaches his grave.
42. David … Magdalene: King David and Mary Magdalene, both sinners who repented.
Text notes: Letter title To Sir Robert Carr ms] omitted 1633; 2 knew ms] know 1633; 3 subject ms] subjects 1633; 6–7 of him, nor of you, nor … the sacrifice ms] of you nor of him, we will smother it, and be it your sacrifice 1633; 9 much 1633] more ms; 10 loather 1633] loth ms; 12 servant in Christ Jesus 1633] servant ms; poem 1 Whether ms] Whither 1633; 3 Whether ms] Whither 1633; 12 is ms and 1635–69] are 1633; 16 lacks 1633] wants ms; 18 lose ms] lost 1633; 27 body ms] soul shall 1633; 36 in th’eyes ms] in eyes 1633
Epitaph on Himself. To the Countess of Bedford
title Epitaph on Himself: This poem may have been written in 1608, when Donne was seriously ill.
1. cabinet: Private apartment.
2. fame: Reputation.
7. this custom: That of giving, rather than receiving, legacies upon one’s death.
12–13. clay … earth: According to Genesis 2:7, God formed man from the dust of the ground.
14. glass: Made by heating and refining sand.
grow gold: Referring to the gradual alchemical transmutation of base materials into gold; also a pun on ‘grow old’.
20. trumpet’s air: According to the Bible, a trumpet will announce Judgement Day and the bodies of the just will then be raised to heaven (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).
23. well composed: Well prepared for death; also a pun, since he is ‘composing’ lines of poetry, and after death he will ‘decompose’.
Text notes: Copy-text, 1635; first printed in two parts: The introductory epistle and the following ten lines with the Funeral Elegies under the title ‘Elegie’; the full epitaph, without the epistle, among the Divine Poems, under the title ‘On himselfe’; appears as a single poem in mss; 7 choice ms] will 1635; 22 to ms] for 1635
Epitaph on Anne Donne
Donne wrote this Latin epitaph to commemorate his wife’s death on 15 August 1617. It was inscribed on her tombstone at St Clement Danes Chapel, London, where she was buried with the stillborn female child whom she had given birth to seven days before her death. The fullest account of the poem, and the source of the following footnotes and translation, is M. Thomas Hester, ‘ “Fæminæ Lectissimæ”: Reading Anne Donne’, in John Donne’s ‘Desire of More’, ed. Hester.
3–4. Equit[o] … Aurat[o]: Literally, gilt or golden knight, referring to Anne’s father’s title as Knight of the Garter; also a pun on the gilt or golden nights that John and Anne spent together; perhaps also a cross-lingual pun on the guilt of their clandestine courtship and marriage.
5. Fœminæ Lectissimæ: This suggests, as Hester’s essay explains, that Anne was Donne’s ‘best reader and text’.
dilectissimæque: Chosen, or delight of the gods, suggesting that Anne was a type of the Virgin Mary.
8. transactis: The participial form of transigo, ‘to finish’ or ‘to complete’; but also ‘to stab’ or ‘to penetrate’, thus alluding to the sexual union which produced the twelve children mentioned in the following line.
16. Iohannes: This form of the name, which Donne does not generally use, unites ‘John’ and ‘Anne’.
18. Secessit: Could also mean ‘he withdrew’, suggesting the effects of Anne’s death on Donne himself.
19. et sui Iesu: Like Jesus, Anne died at the age of thirty-three.
21. Aug: xv: The date of the Assumption of the Madonna, another Marian association.
Text note: Copy-text, Loseley ms, which may be written in Donne’s own handwriting
To the Lady Magdalen Herbert, of St Mary Magdalen
title Magdalen Herbert: See the notes to ‘To Mrs M. H.’ St Mary Magdalen: The sister of Martha and Lazarus, Mary accompanied Christ and ministered to Him (John 11:1). During the Crucifixion she stood at the foot of the cross (Mark 15:40; Matthew 27:56; John 19:25; Luke 23:49), and then was the first witness of His resurrection (Mark 16:9; John 20:11–18). Some believe that these texts refer to three separate women, all named Mary (see l. 8).
2. Bethina … Magdalo: Mary Magdalen is identified with Mary of Bethany (‘Bethina’), a town near Jerusalem, and her family estates were said to be at Magdala (‘Magdalo’).
jointure: Jointly held.
6. Fathers: Church Fathers.
12. latter half: Both Magdalen, the latter half of her full name, and her living devoutly, as she did after Jesus forgave the sins of her early years.
14. these hymns: The ‘La Corona’ sequence that follows.
Text note: Copy-text, Izaak Walton’s Life of Dr John Donne (1640)
La Corona
title La Corona: The crown; originally a wreath of flowers or leaves, the seven sonnets of the sequence are similarly woven together, with the last line of each becoming the first line of the next; a reference to Christ’s majesty and to the crown of thorns worn by Him at the Crucifixion; possibly a reference to the rosary.
4. Ancient of Days: A name given to God by Daniel (7:9, 13, 22).
5. bays: Laurel leaves – woven into a wreath, these were a symbol of poetic achievement.
sonnet 2. Annunciation: The Angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her that she would bear the Son of God.
17–18. Which cannot sin … but die: Christ was born to die on the cross to save man from original sin.
21. nor thou give: Christ was conceived without sin.
24. thy son and brother: Mary is the mother of Jesus, but she, like all people, is also a child of God.
26. Father’s: God the Father’s.
27. light in dark: God is light, and Mary carries Him in her dark womb.
sonnet 3. Nativity: Mary and her husband, Joseph, were in Bethlehem when the time came for Mary to give birth. Unable to find a room at an inn, they were forced to spend the night in a stable. When Christ was born, they laid him in a manger. Above the stable a great star appeared, which guided wise men seeking to pay homage to the Son of God (Luke 2:6–12; Matthew 2:1–11).
32. Weak enough: God chose to come to earth as a helpless infant.
36. Herod’s jealous general doom: When Herod, the King of Judea, heard that the ‘King of the Jews’ had been born in Bethlehem, he became jealous and ordered his soldiers to kill all the infants of Bethlehem under the age of two (Matthew 2:16).
41. into Egypt go: The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, warning him of the danger from Herod and instructing him to flee with the child to Egypt (Matthew 2:13–14).
sonnet 4. Temple: When Jesus was twelve he was found in the Temple in Jerusalem, conversing with theologians (‘doctors’) about subjects very advanced for his age (Luke 2:41–50).
47. The Word: Jesus Christ (John 1:14).
sonnet 5. Crucifying: Jesus was sentenced to death as king of the Jews. A crown of thorns was placed upon his head, and he was forced to carry his own cross to the site of his crucifixion.
62. the’Immaculate: Christ was without sin.
64. span: Unit of measurement representing the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger or forefinger – approximately nine inches.
68. Now Thou … to Thee: ‘And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me’ (John 12:32).
69. dole: Distribution of gifts; fate; grief.
sonnet 6. Resurrection: Christ died and was buried, and on the third day afterwards he rose again and ascended into heaven. In doing so, he defeated death and gave everlasting life to his followers.
78. thy little book: The Book of Life, in which men’s deeds and fate are recorded.
sonnet 7. Ascension: Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, where he took his seat at the right hand of God the Father.
86. sun, and Son: A widely used pun, for Christ rose like the sun.
88. drossy: Impure.
clay: According to Genesis 2:7, God formed man from the dust of the ground.
91–2. Nor doth … way: Jesus went before us to light the way to heaven.
93. Ram: Christ is identified with Aries, the astrological sign that marks the return of spring.
94. Lamb: A common symbol of Christ.
95. Torch: God is light.
97. raise: Exalt, inspire.
Text notes: 36 effect ms] effects 1633; 64 to’a ms] to 1633; 82 death’s ms] death 1633
Holy Sonnet 1 (II) (‘As due by many titles’)
1. titles: Appellations; legal claims.
3. decayed: By sin.
4. bought: Redeemed.
6. still: Always.
9. usurp on: Seize without right or claim.
Holy Sonnet 2 (IV) (‘O my black soul’)
4. turn: Return.
5. death’s doom: Judgement Day.
read: Pun on ‘read’/‘red’ throughout.
7. haled: Dragged.
Holy Sonnet 3 (VI) (‘This is my play’s last scene’)
4. span’s: Lifespan.
7. ever-waking part: Undying soul.
that face: God’s face.
8. Whose fear: Fear of which.
13. Impute me righteous: Owing to original sin, the soul cannot be righteous; it can only be considered righteous by the merit of Christ.
Text note: 6 soul ms] my soul 1633
Holy Sonnet 4 (VII) (‘At the round earth’s imagined corners’)
1. At the … imagined corners: ‘I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth’ (Revelation 7:1).
4. scattered bodies: Decayed bodies waiting to be reunited with their souls on Judgement Day.
8. never taste death’s woe: ‘But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:27).
Text note: 6 dearth ms] death 1633
Holy Sonnet 5 (IX) (‘If poisonous minerals’)
1–2. that tree … immortal us: The Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, which brought death into the world when Eve ate its fruit.
3. goats: Traditionally believed to be lecherous.
serpents: Associated with Satan.
11. Lethean: Of Lethe, the river of forgetfulness in Hades, the classical underworld.
13. That Thou remember: According to Christian doctrine, God remembers man’s sins so as to pardon them.
Holy Sonnet 6 (X) (‘Death be not proud’)
8. delivery: Deliverance from the body.
11. poppy: Opium.
12. swell’st thou: With pride.
14. death … no more: ‘The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death’ (1 Corinthians 15:26).
Holy Sonnet 7 (XI) (‘Spit in my face, you Jews’)
1–2. Spit … scoff: ‘Then they did spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?’ (Matthew 26:67–8).
3. He: Christ.
5. satisfied: Atoned for.
7. inglorious: Obscure, humble.
11–12. And Jacob … intent: Jacob disguised himself in order to receive the blessing his father intended for his brother, Esau (Genesis 27:15–29). ‘Jacob’ in Hebrew means ‘one who supplants or replaces’.
Holy Sonnet 8 (XII) (‘Why are we by all creatures’)
2. prodigal: Extravagantly wasteful.
3–4. more pure … corruption: Man, composed of a mixture of the ‘prodigal elements’, is more subject to corruption than the pure elements themselves.
5. brook’st: Tolerate; endure.
6. seelily: Senselessly, naively.
7. Dissemble: Feign.
13. tied: Restricted.
Holy Sonnet 9 (XIII) (‘What if this present’)
5. amazing: Terrifying; awe-inspiring.
9. idolatry: Unholy love of ‘profane mistresses’ (l. 10).
11–12. Beauty … rigour: Beauty is a manifestation of mercy; foulness is a sign of strictness or severity.
14. piteous: Both pious and compassionate.
Text note: 14 assures ms] assumes 1633
Holy Sonnet 10 (XIV) (‘Batter my heart’)
1. three-personed God: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
5. usurped: Possessed unjustly (by Satan, but due to God).
13. enthral: Both ‘enslave’ and ‘captivate’.
14. ravish: Fill with rapture; also seize and carry away by force; violate, rape.
Holy Sonnet 11 (XV) (‘Wilt thou love God’)
4. His temple in thy breast: ‘Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?’ (1 Corinthians 3:16).
6. still begetting … ne’er begun: Because God and Christ have neither beginning nor end.
7–8. by adoption / Coheir: ‘But ye have received the Spirit of adoption … we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together’ (Romans 8:15–17).
12. and Satan stol’n: And whom Satan had stolen.
Holy Sonnet 12 (XVI) (‘Father, part of His double interest’)
1. double interest: Double claim, as God and as man.
3. jointure: Joint-tenancy of an estate.
knotty: Full of intellectual difficulties; entangled.
5. This Lamb: Christ.
6. from the world’s beginning slain: ‘And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8).
7. two wills: The Old and the New Testament.
12. law: The Old Testament.
and letter kill: ‘[God] hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life’ (2 Corinthians 3:6).
13. Thy law’s abridgement: The laws of the Old Testament, shortened and superseded by Christ’s love.
14. all but: Nothing but.
Holy Sonnet 13 (I) (‘Thou hast made me’)
5. dim eyes: Pun on ‘demise’.
8. weigh: Lean, incline.
13. wing me: Give me wings.
prevent: Of God’s grace, to go before with spiritual guidance and help; forestall.
14. adamant: Lodestone, magnet.
Text notes: Copy-text, 1635; 7 feebled ms] feeble 1635; 12 I can myself ms] myself I can 1635
Holy Sonnet 14 (III) (‘O might those sighs and tears’)
5. idolatry: Worship of a false idol or lover.
6. rent: Tear apart.
7. sufferance: Suffering.
10. itchy: Because infected with venereal disease.
self-tickling: Self-satisfied.
Text note: Copy-text, 1635
Holy Sonnet 15 (V) (‘I am a little world’)
1. little world: Microcosm of the universe.
2. sprite: Spirit.
9. drowned no more: God covenanted with Noah never again to destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 9:8–11).
10. it must be burnt: A fire will destroy the earth instead.
14. which doth in eating heal: God’s fire consumes and purifies.
Text notes: Copy-text, 1635; 6 lands ms] land 1635
Holy Sonnet 16 (VIII) (‘If faithful souls be alike glorified’)
1. faithful souls: Of the dead in heaven.
2. As angels: Angels were believed to be able to read men’s minds.
5. descried: Disclosed.
8. tried: Separated; extracted; found out.
10. conjurers: Men who conjure spirits and pretend to perform miracles by their art.
11. pharisaical: Self-righteous, hypocritical.
13–14. for He … my breast: God can understand my soul’s grief better than anyone else because He put it into my heart when He created me.
Text notes: Copy-text, 1635; 10 vile ms] stile 1635
Holy Sonnet 17 (XVII) (‘Since she whom I loved’)
1. she whom I loved: Donne’s wife, Anne More, who died in 1617 at the age of thirty-three after the birth of their twelfth child.
2. to hers: Either to her good or to her human nature.
3. ravished: Transported.
10. for hers off’ring all Thine: For her love offering all Your love.
13. jealousy: Also zealousness.
doubt: Fear.
Text note: Copy-text, Westmoreland ms
Holy Sonnet 18 (XVIII) (‘Show me, dear Christ’)
1. Thy spouse: The true Church, devoted to her bridegroom, Christ (Matthew 25:1–10). Donne struggles to identify the true Church among competing Christian traditions.
2. the other shore: Continental Europe, especially Rome.
3. richly painted: A reference to the Roman Catholic Church.
robbed and tore: The Lutheran Church destroyed the rich vestments, the paintings and the sculptures of Roman Catholic churches, claiming they were idolatrous.
4. in Germany and here: The Protestant Church – Lutheranism in Germany and Anglicanism in England.
8. one … hill: Mount Moriah, on which Solomon built his temple.
seven: Hills, of Rome.
no hill: In Geneva, centre of Calvinism.
10. travail: Journey; exert; labour in intercourse or childbirth.
12. dove: Symbol of God’s love.
14. open: Accessible, welcoming, with both spiritual and erotic connotations.
Text note: Copy-text, Westmoreland ms
Holy Sonnet 19 (XIX) (‘O, to vex me’)
5. humorous: Changeable; influenced by the four bodily humours that were thought to shape one’s temperament.
6. profane: Worldly.
7. distempered: Out of humour, vexed, troubled.
cold and hot: Subject to melancholic and passionate humours.
13. fantastic: Fantastical, imaginary.
Text note: Copy-text, Westmoreland ms
The Cross
title The Cross: Donne plays upon the multiple meanings of ‘cross’ throughout: as a noun, both the physical shape and the spiritual burden; as a verb, to bless oneself by making the sign of the cross on the body and to cancel or restrain.
9–10. no pulpit … withdraw: The Puritans were reluctant to use the sign of the cross in performing sacraments.
16. dew’d: Wet, as in the sacrament of baptism.
20. yard: The long spar that crosses a ship’s mast and supports the sail.
37. alchemists do coiners prove: Alchemists allegedly could turn base metals into gold.
46. a snake: Satan.
47. the rest: Of the senses.
49–50. that can roam / And move: The eye can move and observe from a distance objects that cross its path.
50. to th’others … home: The rest of the senses require close physical proximity.
56. sutures: Seams between cranial bones.
58. concupiscence: Carnal desire for the things of this world.
Text notes: 50 others ms] other 1633; 52 Points ms] Pants 1633; 63 That ms] The 1633
Resurrection, Imperfect
title Resurrection, Imperfect: The poem is incomplete, hence Desunt cætera, ‘The rest is lacking’ (Latin).
1. repast: Recovered from; passed beyond.
2. the wound … last: A lunar eclipse reputed to have occurred during Christ’s crucifixion.
6. enlight’ned: Possessing light; to put light into.
8. grow pale: Grow dim; become fearful.
11. stations: The Stations of the Cross; every earthly state of being.
12. For: Before.
13. all gold: Alchemists claimed they could turn base metals into gold.
14. tincture: The essential principle of any substance.
15. Leaden and iron wills: Those who are lethargic or determined.
22. the whole: The entire created order.
The Annunciation and Passion
title Annunciation: The Angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary to tell her that she would bear the Son of God.
Passion: The sufferings of Christ on the cross, commemorated on Good Friday. In 1608 the Feast of the Annunciation and Good Friday fell on the same day, 25 March.
1. Tamely: Submissively.
3. She: The speaker’s soul.
4. circle: A symbol of perfection.
6. feast or fast: The Annunciation is celebrated with a feast; Good Friday is commemorated through fasting.
12. Golgotha: The site of Christ’s crucifixion.
14. almost fifty … scarce fifteen: Mary was fifteen at the Annunciation and fifty when Christ was crucified.
16. her to John: After Jesus was crucified, John took Mary into his home, as Jesus had requested (John 19:26–7).
17. orbity: Bereavement, especially for children.
22. Ave: (Latin) ‘Hail’, the greeting of Gabriel to Mary.
Consummatum est: (Latin) ‘It is finished’, Christ’s last words (John 19:30).
23. court of faculties: Learned church administrators.
25. the self-fixed pole: The North Pole.
26. the next star: The North Star.
31–2. fiery pillar … cloud: To lead the Jews, God took the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night (Exodus 13:21).
39. spouse: The Church.
45. in gross: In general.
uplay: Store up.
46. retail: Relate in detail.
A Litany
title Litany: A traditional prayer comprising a series of supplications.
7. red earth: Adam was made from red clay.
12. bearing one: By bearing man’s sins, Christ saved man from eternal damnation.
25. intend: Intensify, multiply.
32. undistinct: Unable to be separated.
33. power, love, knowledge: Qualities of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
40. disseiz’d: Dispossessed.
45. such titles: Just claims.
46. nonage: Infancy, youth.
47. wardship: Guardianship.
49. denizened: Made a citizen.
56. great grandfathers: The Hebrew patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, et al.
61. fructify: Bear fruit, become fruitful.
66. two: The Old and New Testaments.
73. zodiac: Celestial sphere.
74. engirt: Encircle, envelop.
80. decline: Humble, lower.
86. Abel: The first martyr, killed by his brother Cain.
88. patience: Endurance or acceptance.
99. Diocletian: The Roman emperor Diocletian (ad 245?–316?) who persecuted Christians.
108. widowhead: Widowhood.
109. above: In heaven.
110. doctors: Great theologians.
111. Both books: The Old and New Testaments.
116. run: Also draw back from.
117. Mean ways: Middle courses.
128. squibs: Small fireworks terminated by a slight explosion.
129. immure: Enclose, confine.
142. news: Innovations.
146. slack: Idle.
147. by vicious: In the light of vices rather than virtues.
152. pervious: Open, penetrable.
156. middle kind: Somewhere between divine and human.
157. ungracious: Without God’s grace.
167. free confession: Cf. John 18, where Jesus acknowledges his identity, and the arresting soldiers fell to the ground.
178. express: Press or squeeze out.
185. seal: Guarantee of divine favour.
193. lay or ghostly sword: Secular or spiritual power.
196. second deluge: A future flood; Noah’s was the first.
206. Job’s sick day: Cf. Job 2:2–7; God allows Satan to put Job through trials to test Job’s love for and belief in God.
208. evenness: Constant devotion.
209. aguish: Fitful shaking or shivering; feverish.
211. fast: Steadfast, tenacious.
227. physic: Medicine.
230. envenomed: Men poisoned by Satan in the guise of the serpent.
231. starve: Die.
241. nature’s nothing: Nature’s worthless trifles.
245. taking our blood: By being crucified for our sins.
Text notes: title A Litany ms] The Litany 1633–69; 13 could 1633] did ms; 23 storms 1633] stones ms; 26 glass 1633] dark ms; 48 fair 1633] omitted 1649–69; 53 mine 1633] our ms; 54 how 1633] what ms; 56 of 1633] in ms; 61 sanctified 1633 and ms] satisfied ms; 78 books 1633] works ms; 83 that long 1633] that love ms, that live ms; 112 wrought 1633] wrote 1635–69; 128 clods 1633] clouds 1635–69; 153 fame 1635] flame 1633; 154 through 1635] for 1633; 163 through 1635] though 1633; 173 clothes 1633] robes 1635–69 and ms; 182 sin 1633] him ms; 208 evenness 1633] enemies ms; 209 aguish 1633] anguish ms; 231 will 1635–69] well 1633; 234 lock 1633] stop ms; 243 echoes 1633] wretches ms; 243 cry 1633] eye ms; 246 or 1633] and 1635–69
Goodfriday, 1613. Riding Westward
2. The’intelligence … moves: Angels were thought to determine the motion of the celestial spheres.
3–6. And as … obey: The natural motion of the lower celestial spheres is east to west, but the motions of higher spheres affect those paths.
11. sun: Pun on ‘Son’.
17. Who sees … must die: ‘And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live’ (Exodus 33:20).
19–20. It made … wink: Christ’s death produced an earthquake and an eclipse of the sun (Matthew 27:50–51; Luke 23:44–6).
32. Half … ransomed us: In bearing Christ, Mary helped give salvation to mankind.
38. leave: Cease.
Text notes: 4 motions ms] motion 1633; 22 turn ms] tune 1633
The Lamentations of Jeremy, for the most part according to Tremelius
title Tremelius: Immanuel Tremellius (1510–80), born Jewish, converted to Calvinism, professor of Hebrew at Cambridge until 1553 and Heidelberg, 1562–77. He, along with Francis Junius, translated the Old Testament into Latin.
1. this city: Jerusalem; Donne refers to Zion and Jerusalem as ‘she’ and ‘her’.
4. tributary: Forced to pay tribute.
15. comfortless: Either she is unable to comfort them or they are unable to comfort her.
40. holy sanctuary: The Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
67. girt: Encircled with an armed force.
92. His footstool: ‘Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool’ (Isaiah 66:1).
97. horn: Emblem of power.
107. holds: Strongholds.
122. bar: Defensive barrier.
127. sackcloth: Coarse fabric, worn by mourners or the poor.
girt: Clothe.
143. disturn: To turn away, avert.
145. passengers: Passers-by.
167. of a span: Within a short space of time.
221. He gives his cheeks to whosoever will: ‘But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also’ (Matthew 5:39).
277. sea-calves: Seals.
293. Nazarite: Religious devotee such as Samson; also a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, a Christian.
295. carbuncles: Shiny (fiery) gemstones.
296. saphirine: Transparent like sapphire.
303. pitiful: Full of pity.
304. dressed: Prepared for eating.
337. the anointed Lord: King of Judah.
341. Edom’s: Esau, brother of Jacob. Also the region between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba which bordered ancient Palestine.
342. Uz: Biblical land (Lamentations 4:21).
Text notes: 4 tributary 1633] solitarie ms; 56 whence 1633] whom 1635–69; 76 they could not 1633] and none could 1635–69; 78 o’erturned 1635] returned 1633; 157 against 1633] unto 1635–69; 161 for 1633] out 1635–69, forth ms; 166 this 1633–69 and ms] thus ms; 174 His 1633] Thy 1635–69; 182 girt 1633] hemd ms; 187 8 1635] omitted 1633; 229 wrung 1635] wrong 1633; 256 sigh 1633] sight 1649–69; 268–9 Chap. 1635–69 and ms] Cap. 1633; 273 sons 1633] stones ms; 274 at 1633] as 1649–69; 296 saphirine 1635–69] seraphine 1633; 342 Uz 1635–69 and ms] her 1633, Huz ms, Hus ms; 348–9 Chap. 1635–69 and ms] Cap. 1633; 354 fathers 1633–69] father ms; 355 drink 1635–69] drunk 1633; 368 oven 1635–69] Ocean 1633
Translated out of Gazæus, Vota Amico Facta
title out of Gazæus: from Angelin Gazet, ‘Prayers Composed by a friend’ (Vota Amico Facta), in Pia Hilaria variaque carmina (Poems and Songs to Saint Hilary), 1618.
6. pleats: Folds.
9. equal: Just, fair, impartial.
disguise: Falsity.
10. contumelies: Insulting reproaches; dishonour and humiliation.
Text note: Copy-text, 1650
Upon the Translation of the Psalms by Sir Philip Sidney and the Countess of Pembroke, His Sister
title Translation … His Sister: Translated by Sir Philip Sidney (1554–86) and his sister Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke (1561–1621), unpublished until 1823.
1–2. External … square: God’s infinite perfection, symbolized by the circle, cannot be held within boundaries, here represented by the square.
9. first author: King David.
cloven: Split; the Psalms are sung in both human and divine tongues.
39. chambers: Music rooms.
46. this Moses and this Miriam: Miriam took up the song of her brother Moses (Exodus 15:1–21). The Countess completed the translation after Philip Sidney’s death.
53. translated: Moved to another place (by taking up into heaven).
Text notes: Copy-text, 1635; 46 this Moses ms] Thy Moses 1635; 53 these ms] those 1635
To Mr Tilman after He Had Taken Orders
title Mr Tilman: Edward Tilman, who was ordained a deacon on 20 December 1618.
2. thy hand … plough: ‘And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:61–2).
3. lay-scornings: Attitudes towards the clergy later outlined in ll. 26–30.
6. vintage: Ripening and harvesting of grapes to be made into wine, here a spiritual maturation.
14. stamp: Instrument for making impressions; the imprint or sign made by such an instrument.
23. purchase: Gain or attainment; also occupation.
30. dressing … compliment: Taken from George Herbert’s ‘The Church Porch’ (1633), ll. 80–81: ‘Fly idleness, which yet thou canst not fly / By dressing, mistressing, and compliment.’
40. dignities: Titles and privileges.
46. optics: Telescope.
47. brave: Worthy, excellent.
engines: Ingenuity; devices.
54. hermaphrodite: A person embodying opposites, here the imperfections of the flesh and the holiness of the divine.
Text notes: Copy-text, 1635; 47 engines ms] engine 1635
A Hymn to Christ, at the Author’s Last Going into Germany
title Last … Germany: Donne travelled to Germany in May 1619, on a diplomatic mission.
2. ark: Symbol of God’s providence, referring to Noah’s ark and the flood (Genesis 6:12–21).
9. island: England.
12. sea: Christ’s blood.
17–18. Nor Thou … soul: God granted man free will to choose whether or not to love and follow Him.
21. from loving more: A punning allusion to Donne’s wife, Anne More, who had died in 1617.
Hymn to God my God, in my Sickness
9. South-west discovery: Probably the Strait of Magellan.
10. Per fretum febris: (Latin) Through the raging fever. Fretum also means ‘strait’.
straits: Also trials, sufferings.
13–15. As West … resurrection: The sun sets in the west, symbolizing death, and rises in the east, suggesting resurrection.
18. Anyan: A north-west passage linking the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
20. Japhet … Cham … Shem: Sons of Noah, whose descendants supposedly populated Europe, Africa and Asia.
21–2. We think … one place: Referring to the common belief that the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden had stood at the site of Christ’s crucifixion.
23. both Adams: Both the first man and Christ.
26. purple: The colour both of Christ’s blood and of his garments when he was hailed as king of the Jews (John 19:2–5).
Text notes: Copy-text, 1635; 12 their ms] those 1635
A Hymn to God the Father
1. that sin where I begun: Original sin.
2. done: The pun on ‘Donne’ occurs throughout.
6. more: A pun on Anne More, Donne’s wife.
15. Thy sun: A pun on the ‘Son’, Christ, signifying mercy.
Text notes: 7 by which I won ms] which I have won 1633; 15 Swear ms] But swear 1633; 18 have ms] fear 1633
To Mr George Herbert, with One of my Seals, of the Anchor and Christ
The original Latin text was written by Donne. The English is an anonymous seventeenth-century translation.
title the Anchor and Christ: According to Walton’s Life of Dr John Donne, Donne later adopted this new seal of Christ crucified upon an anchor, a symbol of hope, engraved it in stone and set in gold, and sent it to his closest friends as a memento to remember him by.
11. my first serpents hold: The serpents represent the death of original sin and Christ’s death upon the cross.
Text note: Copy-text, 1650
Prose Letters
Madam (‘I will have leave to speak like a lover’)
In all likelihood written to Anne More shortly after she arrived in London to stay with her aunt, Elizabeth Wolley, at York House, between 1597 when Wolley married Donne’s employer, Sir Thomas Egerton, and 20 January 1600, when she died.
2. mark: Boundary, limit; indicator, sign; distinctive feature.
3. end: Limit, extremity or termination point in time; object, aim, purpose; resolution of doubt; completion of an action, result.
8. rage: Fun, riotous or wanton behaviour; folly, rashness.
20. another: Another letter, suggesting that Donne’s letter is a response to a letter Anne sent to him.
21. honour: Both the mark and the expression of reverence or high esteem; glory, good name; nobleness of character; promise, or word of honour; token of regard, bow, obeisance.
21. lieutenant: Representative, substitute.
Text note: Copy-text, Burley ms
‘I send to you now that I may know how I do’
In all likelihood, written to Anne More around the time Donne wrote ‘Metempsychosis’, when he was afraid that her father’s objections would prevent her from marrying him.
Text note: Copy-text, Burley ms
To the Right Worshipful Sir George More, Knight (‘If a very respective fear of your displeasure’)
2. my lord: Donne’s employer, Sir Thomas Egerton, who became Sir George More’s brother-in-law when he married Elizabeth Wolley in 1597.
10. York House: Egerton’s London mansion, where Anne More went to live with her aunt, who died on 20 January 1600.
11–12. promise and contract … conscience: A legally and morally binding clandestine marriage contract.
12. lying: Staying.
22. estate: Financial situation.
24–5. impossibilitate: Prevent.
28. hindrance: Injury; put a hindrance in our way.
52. contentment: Satisfaction, contentment, pleasure.
Text note: Copy-text, Loseley ms
Sir (‘I write not to you out of mine poor library’)
Probably written to Sir Henry Goodyere, with whom Donne corresponded regularly in the years after his marriage.
address A.v[uestra] Merced: (Spanish) To your grace or to your worship.
6. gamesome: Merry, playful.
7. by the side of her: Next to his wife Anne, who sacrificed her inheritance by marrying Donne.
8. that: Our wretched financial situation.
11. take so short a list: Take so short a time writing an artful letter.
13–14. As I have … pleasure: In the past, presumably during the time when he was desperately unhappy, fearing that Anne More would not marry him.
16–17. she … her: Soul.
21. too tender towards these impressions: Too attuned to Donne’s moods.
23. St Hierome: St Jerome.
24. ne contristaretur delicias suas: As Donne explains in his sermon ‘Preached to the King’s Majesty at Whitehall’, ‘as St. Hierome states [Adam’s] fault, that he eat that fruit, Ne contristaretur delicias suas, lest he should cast her, whom he loved so much, into an inordinate dejection’.
26. bark: Small boat.
27. coarse: Ordinary, common; rough, stormy.
31. My Lady: Donne’s patron, Lucy, Countess of Bedford, who returned in haste to Twickenham Park, her residence outside London from 1608 to 1617.
32–3. Sir Tho[mas] Bartlet: Goodyere lived at the home of Sir Thomas Bartlett.
36. Mistress Herbert: Lady Magdalen Herbert, to whom Donne addressed the verse epistle ‘To Mrs M. H.’
38. comfortable: Strengthening morally or spiritually; reassuring, cheering.
42. lover: Donne’s customary way of signing letters to friends, much as we would use ‘love’.
Text note: Copy-text, Letters to Severall Persons, 1651
To Sir H[enry] Good[y]ere (‘Every Tuesday I make account’)
3. watch: Period of waking or watchfulness; act of watching or observing.
9. manufactures: Articles made by hand.
9. ought: Owed.
11. husband: Cultivate; administer.
13. cozen: Cheat; deceive, dupe.
21. inhiation: Great desire.
46–7. wens and excrescences: Lumps or protuberances on the body.
52. hydroptic: Hydropic, dropsical; having an insatiable thirst.
67. leads: Strips of lead used to cover a roof.
69. allegrement: In a lively manner, briskly, gaily.
Text notes: Copy-text, Letters to Severall Persons, 1651; 56 employ ed.] employed 1651
To Sir H[enry] G[oodyere] (‘It should be no interruption to your pleasures’)
5. new astronomy: Copernican theory that the earth revolves around the sun, as opposed to the older Ptolemaic theory that the sun revolves around the earth.
7. no whither: Nowhere.
13. postern: Back or side door; private entrance.
21. lucidis: (Latin) ‘Lucid moments’.
38. tincture: Colouring.
43. consideration: Observation, attentive thought, reflection, meditation.
47. Michin: Micham, where Donne lived with his family after his marriage.
49. quelques choses: Assorted items.
59. progress: State procession in which the monarch and court journeyed to the country.
62. ineffable: Inexpressible.
Text note: Copy-text, Letters to Severall Persons, 1651
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
4. Meditation
38. Hercules: Hero in Greek mythology famous for his strength.
48. drugger: Dispenser of drugs.
49. simples: Herbs or plants used as medicine.
17. Meditation
8. engrafted: Grafted in; set firmly in.
25. aright: Correctly, properly; straightway; exactly, just.
49. bullion: Precious metal in the mass; gold or silver in the lump.
19. Expostulation
25. Hierome and Augustine: The fourth- and fifth-century theologians St Jerome and St Augustine, author of The City of God and The Confessions, exchanged letters about Jerome’s translation of the Bible, the first to be made from Hebrew rather than Greek sources.
34. old law: Old Testament.
38–9. New Jerusalem: Heavenly city of God mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
Text note: Copy-text, 1632
Death’s Duel, selections
2. buttresses: Structures built against the side of a building to strengthen it.
3. contignations: Joining or framing of beams and boards.
60. redintegration: Renewal, restoration.
66. vermiculation: Eaten by worms.
Text note: Copy-text, 1632
To the Deceased Author, upon the Promiscuous Printing of His Poems, the Looser Sort, with the Religious
By [Sir] Tho[mas] Browne
Probably written by the Reverend Thomas Browne (1604–73) rather than the more famous Dr Thomas Browne who wrote Religio Medici.
3. Tuning: To adapt or respond to a particular tone or expression feeling.
15. envy: Grudge, or regard with dislike or disapproval.
16. buy: Make a sacrifice of; pay the penalty of.
Text note: This poem, printed in 1633, was not included in 1635 and other early editions of Donne’s poems.
To the Memory of My Ever Desired Friend Dr Donne
By H[enry] K[ing]
King (1592–1669).
8. hatchments: Tablets exhibiting the armorial bearings of a deceased person.
hearse: Elaborate framework used at funerals to hold a large number of lighted tapers and other decorations over the coffin of a distinguished person.
18. dower: Portion of a deceased husband’s estate given by law to his widow.
21. empirics: Empiricists; quacks.
35. knell: Bell announcing a person’s death.
50. defray: Pay for.
56. Depute: Assign.
Text notes: Copy-text, Death’s Duel, 1632. title To the Memory of My Ever Desired Friend Dr Donne 1632] An Elegy, on Dr Donne, Dean of St Paul’s 1633; 8 with 1632] like 1633; 14 there 1632] here 1633
On the Death of Dr Donne
By Edw[ard] Hyde
Probably the Edward Hyde (1609–74) who later became 1st Earl of Clarendon.
2. knell: Bell announcing a person’s death.
4. but: Except.
Text notes: Copy-text, Death’s Duel, 1632. 6 pens 1632] tongues 1633; 6 there’s not one 1632] there is not 1633
On Doctor Donne
By Dr C. B. of O.
Probably Dr Richard Corbett (1582–1635), dean of Christ Church and later bishop of Oxford.
6. keep the gallants: Hold the attention of the finest gentlemen.
9. Divinity: An object of adoration, an adorable being.
12. parts: Personal quality or attribute, especially of an intellectual kind; ability, gift or talent.
14. Maecenas: A generous patron of literature and art.
An Elegy upon the Incomparable Dr Donne
By Hen[ry] Valentine
Valentine died in 1643.
20. dean: Head of a cathedral church.
25. vermiculate: Become worm-eaten.
33. that philosopher: Titus Lucretius Carus (c. 99–c. 55 BC), Roman poet and atomist philosopher.
38. sith: Subsequently, so.
39. concentred: Concentrated, brought to a common centre.
An Elegy upon Dr Donne
By Iz[aak] Wa[lton]
Walton (1593–1683), author of The Life of Donne.
44. Prudentius: Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348–c. 410), a Christian Latin poet and author of ‘Psychomachia’.
70. David’s seventy: The biblical King David died at seventy.
Elegy on D. D.
By Sidney Godolphin
Godolphin (1610–43).
Text note: Copy-text, 1635
On Dr John Donne, Late Dean of St Paul’s, London
By J[ohn] Chudleigh
Chudleigh (1606–34?).
50. gust: Taste.
75. forewind: Favourable wind.
Text note: Copy-text, 1635
An Elegy upon the Death of the Dean of Paul’s, Dr John Donne
By Mr Tho[mas] Carey
Carey (1594–1640).
5. unscissored: Perhaps uncircumcised.
13. uses: Rituals and liturgy.
frame: Produce; compose.
14. lectures: Informal sermons, often given by lecturers, or preachers chosen to give afternoon or evening lectures.
17. rapes: Taking something by force; sexual violation or assault.
22. Delphic choir: Delphic oracle on Mt Parnassus, sacred to Apollo.
23. Promethean: Creative or audacious, like the Titan Prometheus who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals.
32. Anacreon’s: Greek lyric poet noted most for his drinking songs and hymns.
33. Pindar’s: Greek lyric poet.
54. cull: Gather or pick.
70. apostasy: Abandonment of one’s religious faith or moral beliefs.
87. engross: To write in large letters; name in a formal document; attribute exclusively to.
97. flamens:Priests devoted to the service of a specific deity.
An Elegy on Dr Donne
By Sir Lucius Carie
Carie (1610?–1643) became the 2nd Viscount Falkland in 1633.
3. coats: Coats of arms.
pennons: Triangular flags usually attached to the head of a lance or helmet.
11. liegers: Vassals, dependants; military forces engaged in a siege.
14. Scythian’s: Refers to nomads from an ancient region covering much of Europe and part of Asiatic Russia.
59. chaff: The husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing.
74. Argive Helen’s: Helen of Troy (Argive = Greek in Homer).
Text note: 28 Tells modern editors] Tell 1633
On Dr Donne’s Death
By Mr Mayne of Christ-Church in Oxford
Jaspar Mayne (1604–72) received his MA, BD and DD from Christ Church.
4. thy Anniverse: Donne’s poems ‘The First Anniversary’ and ‘The Second Anniversary’, written to commemorate the death of Elizabeth Drury.
20. careless: Arranged or said without art.
26. rack: Something that causes acute physical or mental suffering.
37. suburb: Debased.
42. Ennius: Quintus Ennius (239–169 BC), founder of Roman literature.
69. glass: Hourglass.
Text notes: 26 paleness 1635] paleless 1633
Upon Mr J. Donne and his Poems
By Arth[ur] Wilson
Wilson (1595–1652).
7. palsy: Paralysis.
31. deck: Array, adorn.
50. dross: Worthless matter thrown off from metals during melting.
54. panegyric: Publicly or elaborately expressing praise or commendation; eulogistic.
Epitaph upon Dr Donne
By Endy[mion] Porter
Porter (1587–1649).
1. decent: Appropriate rank or dignity; tasteful, comely.
6. never let … ease: Never let us ease our sorrows.
In Memory of Doctor Donne
By Mr R. B.
23. magazine: Storehouse.
29. fain: Rejoice.
30. Golden Chrysostom: St John Chrysostom, an early Greek christian theologian famed for his golden-tongued preaching.
41. strong lined man: Donne was criticized for his irregular metre.
macaroon: Buffoon, dolt.
42. clouted shoon: Patched shoes; another allusion to Donne’s patchy metrical feet.
45. beetles: Scowling men with brows like beetles.
60. clerks: Clerics, clergymen.
71-2. Southampton … Bedford’s Countesses: English aristocrats praised in Donne’s poetry.
74. decem: Latin prefix meaning ten.
86. doughty: Capable, virtuous, valiant.
90. Probatum esset: (Latin) ‘It would be proved.’
Epitaph (‘Here lies Dean Donne’)
The author is unknown.
1. Dean: Head of the chapter or body of a collegiate or cathedral church.
4. walkers: Visitors.
to speak him: To speak well of him.
7-8. unto a sun … turned: Possible reference to the way one’s eyes look after death or, perhaps, to the eyes of his admirers.