A Lecture upon the Shadow
Stand still, and I will read to theeA Lecture, Love, in loves philosophy.These three houres that we have spent,Walking here, Two shadowes wentAlong with us, which we our selves produc'd;But, now the Sunne is just above our head,We doe those shadowes tread;And to brave clearnesse all things are reduc'd.So whilst our infant loves did grow,Disguises did, and shadowes, flow,From us, and our cares; but, now 'tis not so.
That love hath not attain'd the high'st degree,Which is still diligent lest others see.
Except our loves at this noone stay,We shall new shadowes make the other way.As the first were made to blindeOthers; these which come behindeWill worke upon our selves, and blind our eyes.If our loves faint, and westwardly decline;To me thou, falsly, thine,And I to thee mine actions shall disguise.The morning shadowes weare away,But these grow longer all the day,But oh, loves day is short, if love decay.
Love is a growing, or full constant light;And his first minute, after noone, is night.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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,]
- westwardly adv.
- In a westward direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Lecture upon the Shadow is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of John Donne, Volume 1 (of 2) Edited from the Old Editions and Numerous Manuscripts, Project Gutenberg ebook #48688; 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 Donne, A Lecture upon the Shadow, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/a-lecture-upon-the-shadow.html, id L19875.
Form and metre
A Lecture upon the Shadow is 26 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 54% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 --AABCCBDDD thee · philosophy · spentA · wentA · produc'dB · headC · treadC · reduc'dB · growD · flowD · soD
- 2 AA degreeA · seeA
- 3 AABBCDDCAAA stayA · wayA · blindeB · behindeB · eyesC · declineD · thineD · disguiseC · awayA · dayA · decayA
- 4 AA lightA · nightA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stand still, and I will read to thee | 8 | ········ |
| A Lecture, Love, in loves philosophy. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| These three houres that we have spent, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Walking here, Two shadowes went | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| Along with us, which we our selves produc'd; | 10 | ˘/····/·˘/ |
| But, now the Sunne is just above our head, | 10 | ········/· |
| We doe those shadowes tread; | 6 | ···/·· |
| And to brave clearnesse all things are reduc'd. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| So whilst our infant loves did grow, | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| Disguises did, and shadowes, flow, | 8 | ˘/˘··/·· |
| From us, and our cares; but, now 'tis not so. | 10 | ···/······ |
| That love hath not attain'd the high'st degree, | 11 | ····˘/·/˘˘/ |
| Which is still diligent lest others see. | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Except our loves at this noone stay, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| We shall new shadowes make the other way. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| As the first were made to blinde | 7 | ······· |
| Others; these which come behinde | 7 | /˘····· |
| Will worke upon our selves, and blind our eyes. | 10 | ····/···/· |
| If our loves faint, and westwardly decline; | 10 | ·/···/˘˘˘/ |
| To me thou, falsly, thine, | 6 | ······ |
| And I to thee mine actions shall disguise. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The morning shadowes weare away, | 8 | ·/˘/··˘/ |
| But these grow longer all the day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But oh, loves day is short, if love decay. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Love is a growing, or full constant light; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And his first minute, after noone, is night. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
Notes from the edition 5
Herbert Grierson's record of the readings of the early editions and manuscripts, from his Poems of John Donne (Oxford, 1912; Project Gutenberg #48688).
- Stanza 1, line 9 loves 1635-54, A18, L74, N, TC: love 1669, B, D, H40, H49, JC, Lec, O'F, S
- Stanza 2, line 1 high'st] least B, D, H40, H49, JC, Lec, O'F, S, S96
- Stanza 3, line 1 loves 1635-69, A18, A25, L74, N, TC: love B, D, H40, H49, JC, Lec, O'F, S, S96
- Stanza 3, line 6 If our loves faint 1635-69, A25, O'F (love), P, S96 (love), TC: If once love faint B, D, H40, H49, JC, S
- Stanza 4, line 2 first A18, A25, B, D, H40, H49, JC, L74, Lec, N, O'F, P, S96, TC: short 1635-69
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