Communitie
Good wee must love, and must hate ill,For ill is ill, and good good still,But there are things indifferent,Which wee may neither hate, nor love,But one, and then another prove,As wee shall finde our fancy bent.
If then at first wise Nature hadMade women either good or bad,Then some wee might hate, and some chuse,But since shee did them so create,That we may neither love, nor hate,Onely this rests, All, all may use.
If they were good it would be seene,Good is as visible as greene,And to all eyes it selfe betrayes:If they were bad, they could not last,Bad doth it selfe, and others wast,So, they deserve nor blame, nor praise.
But they are ours as fruits are ours,He that but tasts, he that devours,And he that leaves all, doth as well:Chang'd loves are but chang'd sorts of meat,And when hee hath the kernell eate,Who doth not fling away the shell?
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Communitie 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, Communitie, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/communitie.html, id L19852.
Form and metre
Communitie is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABCCB illA · stillA · indifferentB · loveC · proveC · bentB
- 2 AABCCB hadA · badA · chuseB · createC · hateC · useB
- 3 AABCCB seeneA · greeneA · betrayesB · lastC · wastC · praiseB
- 4 AABCCB oursA · devoursA · wellB · meatC · eateC · shellB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Good wee must love, and must hate ill, | 8 | ········ |
| For ill is ill, and good good still, | 8 | ········ |
| But there are things indifferent, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Which wee may neither hate, nor love, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But one, and then another prove, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| As wee shall finde our fancy bent. | 8 | ····//˘· |
| If then at first wise Nature had | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Made women either good or bad, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Then some wee might hate, and some chuse, | 8 | ········ |
| But since shee did them so create, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That we may neither love, nor hate, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Onely this rests, All, all may use. | 8 | /˘······ |
| If they were good it would be seene, | 8 | ········ |
| Good is as visible as greene, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| And to all eyes it selfe betrayes: | 8 | ······˘/ |
| If they were bad, they could not last, | 8 | ········ |
| Bad doth it selfe, and others wast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So, they deserve nor blame, nor praise. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But they are ours as fruits are ours, | 9 | ···/···/˘ |
| He that but tasts, he that devours, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And he that leaves all, doth as well: | 8 | ········ |
| Chang'd loves are but chang'd sorts of meat, | 8 | ········ |
| And when hee hath the kernell eate, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who doth not fling away the shell? | 8 | ····˘/·· |
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 3 there 1635-69, A18, B, N, O'F, S, TC, &c.: these 1633, D, Cy, H49, Lec
- Stanza 2, line 1 had Ed: had, 1633-39
- Stanza 2, line 6 All, all 1633-54: All men 1669
- Stanza 3, line 3 betrayes: 1650-69: betrayes, 1633-39
- Stanza 4, line 3 well: Ed: well, 1633-69
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