A Valediction: Of weeping
Let me powre forthMy teares before thy face, whil'st I stay here,For thy face coines them, and thy stampe they beare,And by this Mintage they are something worth,For thus they beePregnant of thee;Fruits of much griefe they are, emblemes of more,When a teare falls, that thou falst which it bore,So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore.
On a round ballA workeman that hath copies by, can layAn Europe, Afrique, and an Asia,And quickly make that, which was nothing, All,So doth each teare,Which thee doth weare,A globe, yea world by that impression grow,Till thy teares mixt with mine doe overflowThis world, by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolved so.
O more then Moone,Draw not up seas to drowne me in thy spheare,Weepe me not dead, in thine armes, but forbeareTo teach the sea, what it may doe too soone;Let not the windeExample finde,To doe me more harme, then it purposeth;Since thou and I sigh one anothers breath,Who e'r sighes most, is cruellest, and hasts the others death.
Words in this poem
- mintage n.
- The coin, or other production, made in a mint.
- divers a.
- Different in kind or species; diverse. [F. divers, L. diversus turned in different directions, different, p. p. of divertere. See Divert, and cf. Diverse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Valediction: Of weeping 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 weeping, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/a-valediction-of-weeping.html, id L19857.
Form and metre
A Valediction: Of weeping is 27 lines in 3 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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 -AA-BBCCC forth · hereA · beareA · worth · beeB · theeB · moreC · boreC · shoreC
- 2 A--ABBCCC ballA · lay · asia · allA · teareB · weareB · growC · overflowC · soC
- 3 ABBACCDDD mooneA · spheareB · forbeareB · sooneA · windeC · findeC · purposethD · breathD · deathD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Let me powre forth | 5 | ··/˘· |
| My teares before thy face, whil'st I stay here, | 10 | ·········· |
| For thy face coines them, and thy stampe they beare, | 10 | ·········· |
| And by this Mintage they are something worth, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For thus they bee | 4 | ···· |
| Pregnant of thee; | 4 | /˘·· |
| Fruits of much griefe they are, emblemes of more, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| When a teare falls, that thou falst which it bore, | 10 | ·········· |
| So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore. | 13 | ·····/˘····/· |
| On a round ball | 4 | ···· |
| A workeman that hath copies by, can lay | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| An Europe, Afrique, and an Asia, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And quickly make that, which was nothing, All, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| So doth each teare, | 4 | ···· |
| Which thee doth weare, | 4 | ···· |
| A globe, yea world by that impression grow, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Till thy teares mixt with mine doe overflow | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This world, by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolved so. | 13 | ···/˘····/˘/· |
| O more then Moone, | 4 | ···· |
| Draw not up seas to drowne me in thy spheare, | 10 | ·········· |
| Weepe me not dead, in thine armes, but forbeare | 10 | ·········· |
| To teach the sea, what it may doe too soone; | 10 | ·········· |
| Let not the winde | 4 | ···· |
| Example finde, | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| To doe me more harme, then it purposeth; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Since thou and I sigh one anothers breath, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Who e'r sighes most, is cruellest, and hasts the others death. | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
Notes from the edition 9
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 3 beare, 1633: beare; 1635-69
- Stanza 1, line 6 thee; Ed: thee, 1633-69
- Stanza 1, line 8 falst 1633-69: falls A18, D, H49, JC, L74, Lec, N, S, TC
- Stanza 1, line 9 shore.] shore, 1633
- Stanza 2, line 4 All, 1633: All 1635: All. 1639: All: 1650-69
- Stanza 2, line 7 world] would 1669
- Stanza 3, line 2 up seas] thy seas 1669
- Stanza 3, line 4 soone; Ed: soone, 1633-69
- Stanza 3, line 7 purposeth; Ed: purposeth, 1633-69
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