A Valediction: Of the booke
I'll tell thee now (deare Love) what thou shalt doeTo anger destiny, as she doth us,How I shall stay, though she Esloygne me thusAnd how posterity shall know it too;How thine may out-endureSybills glory, and obscureHer who from Pindar could allure,And her, through whose helpe Lucan is not lame,And her, whose booke (they say) Homer did finde, and name.
Study our manuscripts, those MyriadesOf letters, which have past twixt thee and mee,Thence write our Annals, and in them will beeTo all whom loves subliming fire invades,Rule and example found;There, the faith of any groundNo schismatique will dare to wound,That sees, how Love this grace to us affords,To make, to keep, to use, to be these his Records.
This Booke, as long-liv'd as the elements,Or as the worlds forme, this all-graved tomeIn cypher writ, or new made Idiome,Wee for loves clergie only'are instruments:When this booke is made thus,Should againe the ravenousVandals and Goths inundate us,Learning were safe; in this our UniverseSchooles might learne Sciences, Spheares Musick, Angels Verse.
Here Loves Divines, (since all DivinityIs love or wonder) may finde all they seeke,Whether abstract spirituall love they like,Their Soules exhal'd with what they do not see,Or, loth so to amuzeFaiths infirmitie, they chuseSomething which they may see and use;For, though minde be the heaven, where love doth sit,Beauty a convenient type may be to figure it.
Here more then in their bookes may Lawyers finde,Both by what titles Mistresses are ours,And how prerogative these states devours,Transferr'd from Love himselfe, to womankinde,Who though from heart, and eyes,They exact great subsidies,Forsake him who on them relies,And for the cause, honour, or conscience give,Chimeraes, vaine as they, or their prerogative.
Here Statesmen, (or of them, they which can reade,)May of their occupation finde the grounds:Love and their art alike it deadly wounds,If to consider what 'tis, one proceed,In both they doe excellWho the present governe well,Whose weaknesse none doth, or dares tell;In this thy booke, such will their nothing see,As in the Bible some can finde out Alchimy.
Thus vent thy thoughts; abroad I'll studie thee,As he removes farre off, that great heights takes;How great love is, presence best tryall makes,But absence tryes how long this love will bee;To take a latitudeSun, or starres, are fitliest view'dAt their brightest, but to concludeOf longitudes, what other way have wee,But to marke when, and where the darke eclipses bee?
Words in this poem
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- 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,]
- pindar n.
- The peanut (Arachis hypogæa); -- so called in the West Indies. [D. piendel.]
- annals n.
- A relation of events in chronological order, each event being recorded under the year in which it happened. [L. annalis (sc. liber), and more frequently in the pl. annales (sc. libri), chronicles, fr. annus year. Cf. Annual.]
- spirituall a.
- Consisting of spirit; not material; incorporeal; as, a spiritual substance or being. [L. spiritualis: cf. F. spirituel. See Spirit.]
- convenient a.
- Fit or adapted; suitable; proper; becoming; appropriate. [L. conveniens, -entis, suitable, p.pr. of convenire to be suitable, to come. See Convene, v. i.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- excell v. t.
- To go beyond or surpass in good qualities or laudable deeds; to outdo or outgo, in a good sense. [L. excellere, excelsum; ex out + a root found in culmen height, top; cf. F. exceller. See Culminate, Column.]
- farre n.
- A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
- conclude v. t.
- To shut up; to inclose. [L. concludere, conclusum; con- + claudere to shut. See Close, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Valediction: Of the booke 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 Valediction: Of the booke, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/a-valediction-of-the-booke.html, id L19851.
Form and metre
A Valediction: Of the booke is 63 lines in 7 stanzas of 9 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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 -AA-BBBCC doe · usA · thusA · too · endureB · obscureB · allureB · lameC · nameC
- 2 ABBACCCDD myriadesA · meeB · beeB · invadesA · foundC · groundC · woundC · affordsD · recordsD
- 3 -AA-BBBCC elements · tomeA · idiomeA · instruments · thusB · ravenousB · usB · universeC · verseC
- 4 ----AAABB divinity · seeke · like · see · amuzeA · chuseA · useA · sitB · itB
- 5 ABBACCCDD findeA · oursB · devoursB · womankindeA · eyesC · subsidiesC · reliesC · giveD · prerogativeD
- 6 ----AAA-- reade · grounds · wounds · proceed · excellA · wellA · tellA · see · alchimy
- 7 ABBACCCAA theeA · takesB · makesB · beeA · latitudeC · view'dC · concludeC · weeA · beeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I'll tell thee now (deare Love) what thou shalt doe | 10 | ·········· |
| To anger destiny, as she doth us, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| How I shall stay, though she Esloygne me thus | 10 | ·········· |
| And how posterity shall know it too; | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| How thine may out-endure | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Sybills glory, and obscure | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| Her who from Pindar could allure, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And her, through whose helpe Lucan is not lame, | 10 | ·········· |
| And her, whose booke (they say) Homer did finde, and name. | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| Study our manuscripts, those Myriades | 11 | /˘/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of letters, which have past twixt thee and mee, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Thence write our Annals, and in them will bee | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| To all whom loves subliming fire invades, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘/ |
| Rule and example found; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| There, the faith of any ground | 7 | ····/˘· |
| No schismatique will dare to wound, | 8 | ········ |
| That sees, how Love this grace to us affords, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To make, to keep, to use, to be these his Records. | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| This Booke, as long-liv'd as the elements, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Or as the worlds forme, this all-graved tome | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| In cypher writ, or new made Idiome, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Wee for loves clergie only'are instruments: | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| When this booke is made thus, | 6 | ······ |
| Should againe the ravenous | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Vandals and Goths inundate us, | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Learning were safe; in this our Universe | 10 | /˘····//˘· |
| Schooles might learne Sciences, Spheares Musick, Angels Verse. | 11 | ···/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Here Loves Divines, (since all Divinity | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘˘ |
| Is love or wonder) may finde all they seeke, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Whether abstract spirituall love they like, | 10 | ··/·/˘˘··· |
| Their Soules exhal'd with what they do not see, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Or, loth so to amuze | 6 | ······ |
| Faiths infirmitie, they chuse | 7 | ······· |
| Something which they may see and use; | 8 | /˘······ |
| For, though minde be the heaven, where love doth sit, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Beauty a convenient type may be to figure it. | 13 | /˘·˘/˘····/˘· |
| Here more then in their bookes may Lawyers finde, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Both by what titles Mistresses are ours, | 11 | ···/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| And how prerogative these states devours, | 11 | ··˘/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| Transferr'd from Love himselfe, to womankinde, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Who though from heart, and eyes, | 6 | ······ |
| They exact great subsidies, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘˘ |
| Forsake him who on them relies, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| And for the cause, honour, or conscience give, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Chimeraes, vaine as they, or their prerogative. | 11 | ˘/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Here Statesmen, (or of them, they which can reade,) | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| May of their occupation finde the grounds: | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Love and their art alike it deadly wounds, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| If to consider what 'tis, one proceed, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| In both they doe excell | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Who the present governe well, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Whose weaknesse none doth, or dares tell; | 8 | ········ |
| In this thy booke, such will their nothing see, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As in the Bible some can finde out Alchimy. | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Thus vent thy thoughts; abroad I'll studie thee, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| As he removes farre off, that great heights takes; | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| How great love is, presence best tryall makes, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| But absence tryes how long this love will bee; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To take a latitude | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sun, or starres, are fitliest view'd | 7 | ······· |
| At their brightest, but to conclude | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| Of longitudes, what other way have wee, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| But to marke when, and where the darke eclipses bee? | 12 | ········˘/˘· |
Notes from the edition 19
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 2, line 9 Records, 1633-69: records, Grolier
- Stanza 3, line 2 tome 1633-35: to me 1639-54: Tomb. 1669, A18, Cy, Lec, N, S
- Stanza 3, line 3 Idiome, Ed: Idiome; 1633-69
- Stanza 3, line 4 instruments: Ed: instruments, 1633-69. See note
- Stanza 3, line 7 and Goths inundate us, A18, B, Cy, D, H40, H49, Lec, N, TC: and the Goths invade us, 1633-54, S: and Goths invade us, 1669, H40, JC (or), O'F, P
- Stanza 4, line 3 abstract] abstracted 1669
- Stanza 4, line 5 Or, ... amuze Ed: Or ... amuze, 1633-69
- Stanza 4, line 6 infirmitie,] infirmities, 1669, D, H49, Lec
- Stanza 5, line 2 titles] titles, 1663
- Stanza 5, line 3 these states] those rites A18, N, TC
- Stanza 5, line 4 womankinde, Ed: womankinde. 1633-54: womankinde: 1669
- Stanza 5, line 7 relies, Ed: relies 1633: relies; 1635-69
- Stanza 5, line 8 give,] give; 1635-69
- Stanza 6, line 1 Statesmen] Tradesmen Cy, P
- Stanza 6, line 2 grounds: Ed: grounds, 1633-69
- Stanza 6, line 4 'tis, one] 'tis on 1669
- Stanza 6, line 8 their nothing 1635-54, A18, B, Cy, D, H40, H49, JC (nothings), Lec, N, O'F, S, TC (but the MSS. waver between their and there): there something 1633, 1669, P
- Stanza 7, line 2 great heights] shadows O'F
- Stanza 7, line 9 1669 omits darke
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