Annvnciation
Salvation to all that will is nigh;That All, which alwayes is All every where,Which cannot sinne, and yet all sinnes must beare,Which cannot die, yet cannot chuse but die,Loe, faithfull Virgin, yeelds himselfe to lyeIn prison, in thy wombe; and though he thereCan take no sinne, nor thou give, yet he'will weareTaken from thence, flesh, which deaths force may trie.Ere by the spheares time was created, thouWast in his minde, who is thy Sonne, and Brother;Whom thou conceiv'st, conceiv'd; yea thou art nowThy Makers maker, and thy Fathers mother;Thou'hast light in darke; and shutst in little roome,Immensity cloysterd in thy deare wombe.
Words in this poem
- sinne adv.
- Old form of Since. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.]
- faithfull a.
- Full of faith, or having faith; disposed to believe, especially in the declarations and promises of God.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- sonne n.
- A male child; the male issue, or offspring, of a parent, father or mother. [OE. sone, sune, AS. sunu; akin to D. zoon, OS., OFries., & OHG. sunu, G. sohn, Icel. sonr, Sw. son, Dan. sön, Goth. sunus, Lith. sunus, Russ. suin', Skr. sunu (]
- immensity n.
- The state or quality of being immense; inlimited or immeasurable extension; infinity; vastness in extent or bulk; greatness. [L. immensitas: cf. F. immensité.]
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Annvnciation 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, Annvnciation, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/annvnciation.html, id L05000.
Form and metre
Annvnciation is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 ABCAABCADEDE-- nighA · whereB · beareC · dieA · lyeA · thereB · weareC · trieA · thouD · brotherE · nowD · motherE · roome · wombe
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Salvation to all that will is nigh; | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| That All, which alwayes is All every where, | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Which cannot sinne, and yet all sinnes must beare, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Which cannot die, yet cannot chuse but die, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Loe, faithfull Virgin, yeelds himselfe to lye | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| In prison, in thy wombe; and though he there | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Can take no sinne, nor thou give, yet he'will weare | 11 | ··········· |
| Taken from thence, flesh, which deaths force may trie. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Ere by the spheares time was created, thou | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Wast in his minde, who is thy Sonne, and Brother; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Whom thou conceiv'st, conceiv'd; yea thou art now | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Thy Makers maker, and thy Fathers mother; | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Thou'hast light in darke; and shutst in little roome, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Immensity cloysterd in thy deare wombe. | 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).
- Line 1 nigh; 1669: nigh, 1633-54
- Line 9 created,] begotten, B, S, S96, W: O'F corrects
- Line 10 Brother; Ed: Brother, 1633-69
- Line 11 conceiv'st, 1633: conceiv'st 1635-69: conceiv'dst, O'F, S, W, and Grolier conceiv'd;] conceived; 1635-69
- Line 12 mother; Ed: mother, 1633-69
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