by John Donne
22. the’eagle and the dove: Symbols of strength and gentleness, bringing masculine and feminine traits together in one new being, the reborn phoenix (l. 23).
23. phoenix: A mythical creature thought to contain both sexes since, after consuming itself in flames, it is reborn from its own ashes; a common symbol for Christ.
26. the same: Either the same as before or the same as each other.
32. sonnets: Love poems.
pretty rooms: Subtle pun on ‘stanza’, the Italian word for ‘room’.
Text notes: 30 legend ms] legends 1633; 44 from Grierson] frow 1633; 45 your 1669 and ms] our 1633–54 and ms
The Triple Fool
6–7. th’earth’s … away: It was believed that seawater passed through the earth in underground tunnels.
10. numbers: Verses with a given number of syllables per line.
14. set: Set to music.
Lovers’ Infiniteness
21–2. The ground … all: When land was sold, crops already growing on the land belonged to the new owner.
30. thou with losing savest it: ‘For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it’ (Mark 8:35).
31. liberal: Abundant, bountiful, generous; open-minded.
Text notes: title Lovers’ 1633–69] Love’s Grierson and most modern editors; 20 it 1635] is 1633
Song (‘Sweetest love, I do not go’)
8. by feigned deaths to die: Grow accustomed to parting by imagining our deaths or, as the pun on ‘die’ suggests, by having sexual intercourse.
28. My life’s blood doth decay: Tears and sighs were said to shorten life by using up drops of blood.
The Legacy
16. cozen: Cheat, deceive.
18. colours: Various hues; the insignia of a knight or lady; figuratively, outward appearances; shows or semblances that conceal the truth; specifically, in law, apparent or prima-facie rights.
corners: Angles; tight or secluded places.
Hence, either the heart is imperfect because it is spotted and not perfectly round like a circle, or the heart has been altered by actions done in a corner, secretly or covertly, or the heart belongs to a person whose title gives him an apparent or prima-facie right to it.
20. entire to none: Not solely possessed by any one person.
21. art: Either her artfulness and deceptiveness or his attempts to court and remake her through poetry.
24. no man … thine: Either the heart is hers because she gave it to him and no man (neither the speaker nor her father) could hold it because the choice of a lover is hers alone, or the heart is his but he can no longer hold on to it because he is so in love with her that it flies to her.
A Fever
8. vapours: Rises or ascends; is emitted or diffused in the form of a vapour.
13–14. wrangling schools … world: Theologians argued about the origin and nature of the fire that would, as the Book of Revelation stipulated, consume the earth on Judgement Day.
24. unchangeable firmament: The arch or vault of heaven, which was not subject to decay.
Air and Angels
6. glorious nothing: Something with the bodily form of an angel, but made of air.
9. subtle: Rarefied, airy.
15. ballast: Weigh down, balance a ship.
18. pinnace: Small vessel bringing provisions to larger ships; a prostitute or mistress; possible pun on ‘penis’.
overfraught: Too heavily freighted or laden.
22. scatt’ring bright: Suggesting something angelic or ethereal.
inhere: Remain in mystical union with something or someone.
26. disparity: Inequality; dissimilarity.
Break of Day
11–12. heart … him: The lines reveal that the speaker is a woman who has entrusted her clandestine lover with her ‘heart and honour’, her love and her reputation for virtue.
13. business: Official or professional duties; busyness; care, solicitude, anxiety.
18. Such wrong: As much wrong.
The Anniversary
11. Two graves … thine and my corpse: Because the speaker and his lover are not married.
18. inmates: Temporary residents.
21. throughly: Thoroughly.
23–4. Here … subjects be: On earth, in a patriarchal society where the king rules over his subjects as the husband rules over his wife, their love is unique because they are both princes and kings, and neither rules over the other.
30. threescore: Sixty years.
Text note: 22 we ms] now 1633
A Valediction of My Name in the Window
title Valediction: A bidding farewell.
4. that which graved it: A diamond, which engraved his name on the window.
6. diamonds of either rock: Oriental diamonds were divided into two kinds, depending on whether they came from an old or a newly discovered mine.
9. ’Tis more: A possible allusion to Donne’s fiancée, Anne More.
21. death’s head: A memento mori or reminder of mortality.
24. ruinous anatomy: Decayed skeleton.
25. all my souls: The rational, vegetative (having the faculty of growth, but devoid of sensation or thought) and sensory faculties of the soul.
28. rafters of my body: Skeleton.
31. repair: Revive, recreate; reinstate.
32. so: By following the pattern of his love.
36. have supremacy: Are in ascendance.
48. genius: Protective spirit.
49–50. melted … page: The maid is ‘melted’: weakened by the tempting riches of her mistress’s new suitor and the persuasions of his male servant.
52. Disputed it: Argued in favour of the new suitor’s letter.
55–6. if this treason go / To’an overt act: If the thought of treason (which was itself illegal) progress to an overt act of treason (an even greater offence).
57. superscribing: Writing or addressing a letter to the poet’s rival; writing one name above another.
66. dying: During orgasm, which was believed to shorten life.
Twicknam Garden
title Twicknam: From 1608 to 1617, Twickenham Park was the residence of Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford (bap. 1581, d. 1627), to whom Donne addressed verse letters; see the notes to ‘To the Countess of Bedford (“Reason is our soul’s left hand”)’. The title, which does not appear in some manuscripts, may be a later addition.
5. self traitor: Because he, not she, is responsible for his suffering.
6. spider love: Cunning, skilful and perhaps poisonous love that entraps him in its web.
transubstantiates: Transforms from one substance to another, with an allusion to the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist.
7. manna: Something beneficial or pleasing, appearing unexpectedly, opportunely or divinely (see Exodus 16); spiritual nourishment, especially the Eucharist.
gall: A bitter substance, bile.
17. mandrake: A poisonous and narcotic plant whose root was thought to groan or shriek when uprooted and to kill whoever dug it up; believed to aid conception when consumed by a woman.
22. mine: Either my tears or my mistress’s tears.
26. perverse: Not in acceptance with standard practice; obstinate, ill-tempered; perverted, wicked.
sex: The female sex; the act of sex.
27. truth: Honesty, faithfulness.
kills me: Destroys me; brings me to sexual climax.
Text notes: 17 grow 1633] groan ms; 24 woman’s ms] womens 1633–69
Valediction of the Book
3. eloign: Remove to a distance.
6. Sibyl’s: The legendary prophetess who aided Aeneas in Book 2 of Virgil’s Aeneid (c. 29–19 BC).
7. Her: Corinna, a poetess who taught the Greek poet Pindar (?518 –?438 BC) to write and defeated him five times in poetry-writing competitions at Thebes.
8. her: Polla Argentaria, who aided her husband Lucan (AD 39–65) in writing his poetry.<
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9. her: Phantasia, an Egyptian prophetess, whose poem on the Trojan War was thought to be Homer’s source for the Iliad.
13. subliming: Purifying.
25. Vandals … Goths: Barbarian groups that brought about the fall of Rome and classical civilization in the fourth and fifth centuries.
27. Schools: Medieval theologians, known as the Schoolmen.
spheres music: The movement of celestial bodies was thought to produce music.
31. exhaled: Drawn out or raised.
39. prerogative: Prior or exclusive right or privilege.
42. subsidies: Pecuniary aid granted by Parliament to the sovereign to meet special needs; here privileges granted to male suitors by their mistresses, who have received their prerogative directly from the God of love.
43. them: Subsidies.
45. Chimeras: Wild fancies; unreal, imaginary creatures.
vain: Useless, worthless.
48. their art: Politics.
54. find out: Discover the falsity of.
56. takes: Measures.
59. To take a latitude: To measure the breadth or range of something; to find one’s geographical latitude according to the position of the stars.
61. At their brightest: At their highest point in the sky.
62. longitudes: Lengths or durations. The only method of measuring geographical longitude was by observing the time of a marked celestial event from two different points and then comparing them; thus presence, or being together (l. 57), can show the breadth or extent of their love, but absence, or separation (l. 58), reveals its duration.
Text notes: title of the Book ms] to his Book 1633; 53 their nothing 1635] there something 1633
Community
title Community: Common character; social intercourse, fellowship; a body of people.
3. these: Women.
12. rests: Remains.
14. as visible as green: God has imbued all plant life with green, making it obvious which things on earth are alive. If women were inherently good, it would be equally apparent.
17. waste: Destroy.
22. meat: Nutmeat; nourishment.
Text notes: title Community 1635] untitled 1633; 3 these 1633] there ms
Love’s Growth
4. grass: ‘All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field’ (Isaiah 40:6).
8. quintessence: The pure essence of natural bodies, reputed to cure all ills.
13. elemented: Composed of mixed elements, not pure.
14. sometimes do: By making love.
18. Stars … shown: Stars only appear to grow larger as they reflect the sun.
19–20. Gentle love … now: Possibly alluding to lovemaking or pregnancy.
24. concentric: Having a common centre, like the heavenly spheres believed to revolve around the earth.
Text note: 23 so 1633] to ms
Love’s Exchange
2. given: Particular; given to the Devil.
4. play: Gambling.
11. non obstante: Literally, not in the way; notwithstanding; a dispensation by a monarch to act contrary to the law.
25. by war’s law condition not: According to the law of war, a town that holds out against a siege until conquered cannot set the conditions of surrender.
32. vowed men: Those who have taken a vow of celibacy.
42. Racked carcasses: Bodies tortured on the rack.
anatomies: Corpses used for dissection; anatomical textbooks or drawings.
Text notes: 4 and ms] or 1633; 5 who ms] which 1633; 20 pain ms] pains 1633
Confined Love
6. One might but one man know: One woman might only ‘know’, or have sex with, one man.
12. jointures: Property held jointly by a husband and wife for life, retained by the widow after her husband’s death unless she remarried.
14. we are made worse than those: Revealing that the speaker is a woman.
16. deal: Trade. A docked ship was a common place of prostitution, or sexual ‘trading’.
withal: In addition; at the same time; therewith.
21. waste: Waste away.
Text note: title Confined Love 1635] untitled 1633
The Dream
16. beyond an angel’s art: According to St Thomas Aquinas (c. 1224–74), only God, not angels, could read man’s thoughts.
21. showed thee, thee: Showed you to be yourself.
22. doubt: Suspect.
29. goest to come: Leaves in order to come back and reach sexual climax.
30. but else would die: But otherwise, if I didn’t think you were coming back, I would die of disappointment; but otherwise I would prefer to ‘die’, that is, to reach sexual climax.
A Valediction of Weeping
3. coins them: Causes them.
8. that thou falls which it bore: The image of you reflected in that tear falls (and breaks apart).
13. make that, which was nothing, all: A globemaker, by placing maps on the bare surface of an unmarked sphere, creates the entire world.
15. Which thee doth wear: Which reflects your image.
19. more than Moon: She is more powerful than the moon because she has the power to protect him as well as to destroy him.
27. hastes the other’s death: Sighs, tears and sexual intercourse were all thought to shorten one’s life.
Text note: 8 thou falls ms] thou falst 1633
Love’s Alchemy
2. centric: Central; alluding to the female genitalia, which were often referred to as a woman’s ‘centre’.
7. chemic: Alchemist.
elixir: A much-sought-after alchemical preparation that would supposedly transform base metal into gold or prolong life indefinitely.
13. thrift: Success, prosperity, good fortune.
14. vain bubble’s shadow: Something as fruitless and insubstantial as the shadow of a bubble.
15. my man: My manservant.
17. Endure … play: Brave the brief period of indignity associated with being a bridegroom.
22. that day’s: The wedding day’s.
24. wit: Understanding, intellect, reason.
mummy: Flesh; a medicinal substance prepared from mummified flesh; a pun on ‘mammy’, a common colloquial term for ‘mother’. Hence (ll. 23–4), at their best, women are sweetness and wit; once possessed sexually, they are mere flesh, or mothers, too burdened by bodily concerns to exercise their minds.
The Flea
1. Mark but this flea: A possible parody of sermonizing.
3. sucked: A visual pun, since the letters s and f looked similar in both handwriting and print.
4. bloods mingled: It was thought that both sexual intercourse and pregnancy involved the mingling of blood.
6. maidenhead: Virginity.
7. enjoys: Experiences pleasure or possesses sexually.
15. jet: A dense, semi-precious black form of coal polished to a shiny brilliance.
16. use: Custom or habit, often with sexual innuendo; the distinctive ritual or liturgy that prevailed in a given Church; the act of holding land or property so as to derive revenue.
kill: Destroy; bring to sexual climax.
18. sacrilege: Because the flea is a temple where their love has been consecrated.
26. honour: Reputation; virginity or the female genitalia.
27. waste: Be consumed; be destroyed or annihilated as something immaterial.
The Curse
2. mistress: A woman who is courted by a man; a woman who has power or control over someone else.
3–5. His only … foes: May his one and only purse, and only his purse, attract a woman to him who later gives herself freely to his enemies.
3. purse: Money bag and its contents; slang for ‘scrotum’.
8. With fear … torn: Torn between fear of losing his love and shame of being loved by such a woman.
14–16. In early … begot: Changed in 1635–69 to read:
Or may he for her virtue reverence
One, that h
ates him only for impotence
And equal traitors be, she and his sense.
16. incestuously: Also, loosely, adulterously.
24. circumcised: Cut short (with an allusion to circumcision).
bread: Ordinary food, means of subsistence.
25. gamesters’: Those addicted to amorous sport.
gall: Painful swelling, pustule. Thus, ‘gamesters’ gall’ is venereal disease.
30. schedules: Supplementary papers.
31. for: Introducing the grounds or reason for something previously said.
it: That man whom I have just cursed; also, there.
32. Nature: Innate disposition or character; sexual drive; the regulative physical power controlling the material world.
beforehand: Already, before I began cursing.
out-cursèd: Completely or thoroughly cursed; defeated or got the better of in a cursing contest.
31–2. for if it … me: The final couplet can be read in various ways: if the person being cursed is a she, a woman, she is already more cursed than all my curses can make her seem; if there is a woman, i.e. if I indeed have a mistress, then nature has already cursed that man who ‘guesses, thinks, or dreams he knows / Who is my mistress’ more than all my preceding curses; if there is a she, if I indeed have a mistress, then nature has cursed me more than I have cursed the man who thinks he guessed my mistress’s identity.
Text note: 27 mines ms] mine 1633–69
The Message
4. fashions: Behaviours.
23. That will none: That will have none of you.
Text note: title The Message 1635] untitled 1633
A Nocturnal upon St Lucy’s Day, Being the Shortest Day
title Nocturnal: Nocturne, a musical composition suggestive of the night.
St Lucy’s Day: The poem was allegedly written on 12 December, the night before St Lucy’s Day, the shortest night of the year (the winter solstice) in the old calendar. St Lucy was the patron saint of the blind, and her name associates her with the Latin lux, lucis, ‘light’.
3. flasks: Powder flasks, referring to stars reputed to store the sun’s light.
4. squibs: Small fireworks terminated by a slight explosion.
6. balm: Rain or any other life-giving substance.
hydroptic: Thirsty.
7. bed’s-feet: The soul was said to shrink to the foot of the bed moments before death.
14. express: Extract.
15–18. A quintessence … are not: Love extracted a quintessence from my grief and re-created me out of nothingness.
