Erronious Opinions of the Creation of Soules
Then neither from eternitie before,Nor from the time when Time's first point begun;Made He all souls: which now He keepes in store,Some in the moone, and others in the sunne:
Nor in a secret cloyster doth Hee keepeThese virgin-spirits, vntill their marriage-day;Nor locks them vp in chambers, where they sleep,Till they awake, within these beds of clay.
Nor did He first a certaine number make,Infusing part in beasts, and part in men,And, as vnwilling further paines to take,Would make no more then those He framèd then.
So that the widow Soule her body dying,Vnto the next-borne body married was;And so by often changing and supplying,Mens' soules to beasts, and beasts to men did passe.
(These thoughts are fond; for since the bodies borneBe more in number farre then those that dye;Thousands must be abortiue, and forlorne,Ere others' deaths to them their soules supply.)
But as God's handmaid, Nature, doth createBodies in time distinct, and order due;So God giues soules the like successiue date,Which Himselfe makes, in bodies formèd new:
Which Him selfe makes, of no materiall thing;For vnto angels He no power hath giuen,Either to forme the shape, or stuffe to bringFrom ayre or fire, or substance of the heauen.
Nor He in this doth Nature's seruice vse;For though from bodies, she can bodies bring,Yet could she neuer soules from Soules traduce,As fire from fire, or light from light doth spring.
Words in this poem
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
- farre n.
- A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
- handmaid n.
- A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.
- materiall v. t.
- To form from matter; to materialize. Sir T. Browne.
- traduce v. t.
- To transfer; to transmit; to hand down; as, to traduce mental qualities to one's descendants. Glanvill. [L. traducere, traductum, to lead across, lead along, exhibit as a spectacle, disgrace, transfer, derive; trans across, over + ducere to lead: cf. F. traduire to]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Erronious Opinions of the Creation of Soules 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, Erronious Opinions of the Creation of Soules, in The Complete Poems, Volume I (1596–1599), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44977, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/davies-poems/erronious-opinions-of-the-creation-of-soules.html, id L08742.
Form and metre
Erronious Opinions of the Creation of Soules is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 beforeA · begunB · storeA · sunneB
- 2 ABAB keepeA · dayB · sleepA · clayB
- 3 ABAB makeA · menB · takeA · thenB
- 4 A-A- dyingA · was · supplyingA · passe
- 5 ABAB borneA · dyeB · forlorneA · supplyB
- 6 ABAB createA · dueB · dateA · newB
- 7 A-A- thingA · giuen · bringA · heauen
- 8 -A-A vse · bringA · traduce · springA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Then neither from eternitie before, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Nor from the time when Time's first point begun; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Made He all souls: which now He keepes in store, | 10 | ·········· |
| Some in the moone, and others in the sunne: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor in a secret cloyster doth Hee keepe | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| These virgin-spirits, vntill their marriage-day; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Nor locks them vp in chambers, where they sleep, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Till they awake, within these beds of clay. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Nor did He first a certaine number make, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Infusing part in beasts, and part in men, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| And, as vnwilling further paines to take, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Would make no more then those He framèd then. | 9 | ········· |
| So that the widow Soule her body dying, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Vnto the next-borne body married was; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And so by often changing and supplying, | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Mens' soules to beasts, and beasts to men did passe. | 11 | ··········/ |
| (These thoughts are fond; for since the bodies borne | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Be more in number farre then those that dye; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thousands must be abortiue, and forlorne, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Ere others' deaths to them their soules supply.) | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| But as God's handmaid, Nature, doth create | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Bodies in time distinct, and order due; | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| So God giues soules the like successiue date, | 9 | ········· |
| Which Himselfe makes, in bodies formèd new: | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Which Him selfe makes, of no materiall thing; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| For vnto angels He no power hath giuen, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Either to forme the shape, or stuffe to bring | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| From ayre or fire, or substance of the heauen. | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Nor He in this doth Nature's seruice vse; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For though from bodies, she can bodies bring, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Yet could she neuer soules from Soules traduce, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| As fire from fire, or light from light doth spring. | 10 | ·/·/······ |
Notes from the edition 1
A. B. Grosart's notes to the Complete Poems of Sir John Davies (Project Gutenberg #44977).
- Stanza 6, line 2 Misprinted in 1608 and 1622 edition 'other:' correctly, as above, in 1599 edition. G.
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