Laurel · John Davies · The Complete Poems, Volume I

Critical

John Davies (1569–1626) · 1596–1599

iambic pentameter · ABAB · 60 lines · from The Complete Poems, Volume I

"One thinks the Soule is aire; another fire;Another blood, diffus'd about the heart;Another saith, the elements conspire,And to her essence each doth giue a part.

Musicians thinke our Soules are harmonies,Phisicians hold that they complexions bee;Epicures make them swarmes of atomies,Which doe by chance into our bodies flee." (p. 26.)

"And yet alas, when all our lamps are burnd,Our bodyes wasted, and our spirits spent;When we haue all the learnèd Volumes turn'd,Which yeeld mens wits both help and ornament:

What can we know? or what can we discerne?When Error chokes the windowes of the minde,The diuers formes of things, how can we learne,That haue been euer from our birth-day blind?

When Reasone's lampe, which (like the sunne in skie)Throughout Man's little world her beames did spread;Is now become a sparkle, which doth lieVnder the ashes, halfe extinct, and dead:

How can we hope, that through the eye and eare,This dying sparkle, in this cloudy place,Can recollect these beames of knowledge cleere,Which were infus'd in the first minds by grace?

So might the heire whose father hath in playWasted a thousand pound of ancient rent;By painefull earning of a groate a day,Hope to restore the patrimony spent.

The wits that diu'd most deepe and soar'd most hieSeeking Man's pow'rs, haue found his weaknesse such:"Skill comes so slow, and life so fast doth flie,"We learne so little and forget so much.

For this the wisest of all morall menSaid, 'He knew nought, but that he nought did know';And the great mocking-Master mockt not then,When he said, 'Truth was buried deepe below.'

For how may we to others' things attaine,When none of vs his owne soule vnderstands?For which the Diuell mockes our curious braine,When, 'Know thy selfe' his oracle commands.

For why should wee the busie Soule beleeue,When boldly she concludes of that and this;When of her selfe she can no iudgement giue,Nor how, nor whence, nor where, nor what she is?

All things without, which round about we see,We seeke to knowe, and how therewith to doe;But that whereby we reason, liue and be,Within our selues, we strangers are thereto.

We seeke to know the mouing of each spheare,And the strange cause of th' ebs and flouds of Nile;But of that clock, within our breasts we beare,The subtill motions we forget the while.

We that acquaint our selues with euery ZoaneAnd passe both Tropikes and behold the Poles,When we come home, are to our selues vnknown,And vnacquainted still with our owne Soules.

We study Speech but others we perswade;We leech-craft learne, but others cure with it;We interpret lawes, which other men haue made,But reade not those which in our hearts are writ."

Words in this poem

saith: 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
recollect v. t.: To recover or recall the knowledge of; to bring back to the mind or memory; to remember. [Pref. re- + collect: cf. L. recolligere, recollectum, to collect. Cf. Recollet.]
earning n.: That which is earned; wages gained by work or services; money earned; -- used commonly in the plural.
patrimony n.: A right or estate inherited from one's father; or, in a larger sense, from any ancestor. [L. patrimonium, fr. pater father: cf. F. patrimoine. See Paternal.]
curious a.: Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
oracle v. i.: To utter oracles.
boldly adv.: In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
therewith adv.: With that or this.
acquaint v. t.: To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) to know; to make familiar; -- followed by with. [OE. aqueinten, acointen, OF. acointier, LL. adcognitare, fr. L. ad + cognitus, p. p. of cognoscere to know; con- + noscere to know. See Quaint, Know.]
passe a.: Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Critical is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Sir John Davies. Volume 1 of 2., Project Gutenberg ebook #44977; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: John Davies, Critical, in The Complete Poems, Volume I (1596–1599), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44977, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/davies-poems/critical.html, id L08719.

Form and metre

Critical is 60 lines in 15 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 9 of its 15 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic pentameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 ABAB fire^A · heart^B · conspire^A · part^B
2 A-A- harmonies^A · bee · atomies^A · —
3 ABAB burnd^A · spent^B · turn'd^A · ornament^B
4 -A-A discerne · minde^A · learne · blind^A
5 -A-A skie · spread^A · lie · dead^A
6 ABAB eare^A · place^B · cleere^A · grace^B
7 ABAB play^A · rent^B · day^A · spent^B
8 ABAB hie^A · such^B · flie^A · much^B
9 ABAB men^A · know^B · then^A · below^B
10 ABAB attaine^A · vnderstands^B · braine^A · commands^B
12 A-A- see^A · doe · be^A · thereto
13 ABAB spheare^A · nile^B · beare^A · while^B
14 A-A- zoane^A · poles · vnknown^A · soules
15 ABAB perswade^A · it^B · made^A · writ^B

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
"One thinks the Soule is aire; another fire;	11	······˘/˘/˘
Another blood, diffus'd about the heart;	10	˘/˘·˘/····
Another saith, the elements conspire,	11	˘/˘··/˘˘˘/˘
And to her essence each doth giue a part.	10	···/˘·····
Musicians thinke our Soules are harmonies,	11	˘/˘·/˘··/˘˘
Phisicians hold that they complexions bee;	10	······˘/˘·
Epicures make them swarmes of atomies,	9	/˘·······
Which doe by chance into our bodies flee." (p. 26.)	11	······//˘··
"And yet alas, when all our lamps are burnd,	10	··˘/··/···
Our bodyes wasted, and our spirits spent;	10	//˘/˘·//˘·
When we haue all the learnèd Volumes turn'd,	9	······/˘·
Which yeeld mens wits both help and ornament:	10	·······/˘˘
What can we know? or what can we discerne?	10	··········
When Error chokes the windowes of the minde,	10	·/˘··/˘···
The diuers formes of things, how can we learne,	10	··········
That haue been euer from our birth-day blind?	10	·····/˘···
When Reasone's lampe, which (like the sunne in skie)	10	··········
Throughout Man's little world her beames did spread;	10	···/˘·····
Is now become a sparkle, which doth lie	10	··˘/·/˘···
Vnder the ashes, halfe extinct, and dead:	9	··/˘·˘/··
How can we hope, that through the eye and eare,	10	··········
This dying sparkle, in this cloudy place,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Can recollect these beames of knowledge cleere,	10	··˘/···/˘·
Which were infus'd in the first minds by grace?	10	··˘/······
So might the heire whose father hath in play	10	···/·/˘···
Wasted a thousand pound of ancient rent;	10	/˘·/˘··/˘·
By painefull earning of a groate a day,	11	····/˘·····
Hope to restore the patrimony spent.	10	··˘/·/˘·˘·
The wits that diu'd most deepe and soar'd most hie	10	··········
Seeking Man's pow'rs, haue found his weaknesse such:	10	/˘········
"Skill comes so slow, and life so fast doth flie,	10	··········
"We learne so little and forget so much.	10	···/˘·˘/··
For this the wisest of all morall men	10	···/˘··/˘·
Said, 'He knew nought, but that he nought did know';	10	··········
And the great mocking-Master mockt not then,	10	···/˘/˘···
When he said, 'Truth was buried deepe below.'	10	·····/˘···
For how may we to others' things attaine,	10	·····/˘···
When none of vs his owne soule vnderstands?	10	···/˘·····
For which the Diuell mockes our curious braine,	10	·····//˘˘·
When, 'Know thy selfe' his oracle commands.	10	·····/˘˘˘/
For why should wee the busie Soule beleeue,	9	·········
When boldly she concludes of that and this;	10	·/˘·˘/····
When of her selfe she can no iudgement giue,	11	···········
Nor how, nor whence, nor where, nor what she is?	10	··········
All things without, which round about we see,	10	··········
We seeke to knowe, and how therewith to doe;	10	······˘/··
But that whereby we reason, liue and be,	10	·····/˘···
Within our selues, we strangers are thereto.	10	··/··/˘·˘/
We seeke to know the mouing of each spheare,	9	·········
And the strange cause of th' ebs and flouds of Nile;	10	··········
But of that clock, within our breasts we beare,	10	······/···
The subtill motions we forget the while.	10	···/˘·˘/··
We that acquaint our selues with euery Zoane	10	··˘//·····
And passe both Tropikes and behold the Poles,	11	··/····˘/··
When we come home, are to our selues vnknown,	10	······/˘··
And vnacquainted still with our owne Soules.	10	······/˘··
We study Speech but others we perswade;	10	·/˘··/˘···
We leech-craft learne, but others cure with it;	10	·····/˘···
We interpret lawes, which other men haue made,	11	·˘/˘··/˘···
But reade not those which in our hearts are writ."	10	······/···

Notes from the edition 6

A. B. Grosart's notes to the Complete Poems of Sir John Davies (Project Gutenberg #44977).

Stanza 4, line 4 Anima tanquam tabula, Aris[totle]. Hacket.
Stanza 7, line 3 'One' in 1599 and 1608 editions. G.
Stanza 9, line 1 'Mortal' in 1599 and 1608 editions. G.
Stanza 9, line 4 Misprinted 'here' but corrected in the errata of 1622 edition, as above, from 1599 and 1608 editions. G.
Stanza 10, line 4 Oraculum Appollinis [f]uit Diabolicum. Hacket. For why should wee the busie Soule beleeue, When boldly she concludes of that and this; When of her selfe she can no iudgement giue, Nor how, nor whence, nor where, nor what she is? All things without, which round about we see, We seeke to knowe, and how therewith to doe; But that whereby we reason, liue and be, Within our selues, we strangers are thereto. We seeke to know the mouing of each spheare, And the strange cause of th' ebs and flouds of Nile; But of that clocke within our breasts we beare, The subtill motions we forget the while. We that acquaint our selues with euery[78] Zoane And passe both Tropikes and behold the Poles, When we come home, are to our selues vnknown, And vnacquainted still with our owne Soules. We study Speech but others we perswade; We leech-craft learne, but others cure with it; We interpret lawes, which other men haue made, But reade not those which in our hearts are writ. Is it[79] because the minde is like the eye, Through which it gathers knowledge by degrees-- Whose rayes reflect not, but spread outwardly: Not seeing it selfe when other things it sees?
Stanza 14, line 1 Thomas Davies, as before, misprints 'each' G.

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

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The Complete Poems, Volume I