From the Benerall Desire of Immortalitie
Hence springs that vniuersall strong desire,Which all men haue of Immortalitie:Not some few spirits vnto this thought aspire,But all mens' minds in this vnited be.
Then this desire of Nature is not vaine,"She couets not impossibilities;"Fond thoughts may fall into some idle braine,"But one assent of all, is euer wise.
From hence that generall care and study springs,That launching and progression of the mind;Which all men haue so much, of future things,That they no ioy doe in the present find.
From this desire, that maine desire proceeds,Which all men haue suruiuing Fame to gaine;By tombes, by bookes, by memorable deeds:For she that this desires, doth still remaine.
Hence lastly, springs care of posterities,For things their kind would euerlasting make;Hence is it that old men do plant young trees,The fruit whereof another age shall take.
If we these rules vnto our selues apply,And view them by reflection of the mind;All these true notes of immortalitieIn our heart's tables we shall written find.
Words in this poem
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- generall a.
- Relating to a genus or kind; pertaining to a whole class or order; as, a general law of animal or vegetable economy. [F. général, fr. L. generalis. See Genus.]
- memorable a.
- Worthy to be remembered; very important or remarkable. [L. memorabilis, fr. memorare to bring to remembrance, fr. memor mindful, remembering. See Memory, and cf. Memorabilia.]
- lastly adv.
- In the last place; in conclusion.
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From the Benerall Desire of Immortalitie 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, From the Benerall Desire of Immortalitie, in The Complete Poems, Volume I (1596–1599), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44977, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/davies-poems/from-the-benerall-desire-of-immortalitie.html, id L08777.
Form and metre
From the Benerall Desire of Immortalitie is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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.
- 2 ABAB vaineA · impossibilitiesB · braineA · wiseB
- 3 ABAB springsA · mindB · thingsA · findB
- 4 ABAB proceedsA · gaineB · deedsA · remaineB
- 5 ABAB posteritiesA · makeB · treesA · takeB
- 6 -A-A apply · mindA · immortalitie · findA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hence springs that vniuersall strong desire, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Which all men haue of Immortalitie: | 10 | ·········· |
| Not some few spirits vnto this thought aspire, | 11 | ···/˘····˘/ |
| But all mens' minds in this vnited be. | 10 | ·········· |
| Then this desire of Nature is not vaine, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| "She couets not impossibilities; | 9 | ···˘·˘/˘˘ |
| "Fond thoughts may fall into some idle braine, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "But one assent of all, is euer wise. | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| From hence that generall care and study springs, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That launching and progression of the mind; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Which all men haue so much, of future things, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That they no ioy doe in the present find. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| From this desire, that maine desire proceeds, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘/ |
| Which all men haue suruiuing Fame to gaine; | 9 | ········· |
| By tombes, by bookes, by memorable deeds: | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘· |
| For she that this desires, doth still remaine. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Hence lastly, springs care of posterities, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| For things their kind would euerlasting make; | 10 | ·········· |
| Hence is it that old men do plant young trees, | 10 | ·········· |
| The fruit whereof another age shall take. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| If we these rules vnto our selues apply, | 10 | ······/·˘/ |
| And view them by reflection of the mind; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| All these true notes of immortalitie | 10 | ·········· |
| In our heart's tables we shall written find. | 10 | ·/·/˘··/˘· |
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