Crvcifying
By miracles exceeding power of man,Hee faith in some, envie in some begat,For, what weake spirits admire, ambitious, hate;In both affections many to him ran,But Oh! the worst are most, they will and can,Alas, and do, unto the immaculate,Whose creature Fate is, now prescribe a Fate,Measuring selfe-lifes infinity to'a span,Nay to an inch. Loe, where condemned heeBeares his owne crosse, with paine, yet by and byWhen it beares him, he must beare more and die.Now thou art lifted up, draw mee to thee,And at thy death giving such liberall dole,Moyst, with one drop of thy blood, my dry soule.
Words in this poem
- envie v. i.
- To vie; to emulate; to strive. [See Vie.]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- immaculate a.
- Without stain or blemish; spotless; undefiled; clear; pure. [L. immaculatus; pref. im- not + maculatus, p. p. of maculare to spot, stane, fr. macula spot. See Mail armor.]
- prescribe v. t.
- To lay down authoritatively as a guide, direction, or rule of action; to impose as a peremptory order; to dictate; to appoint; to direct. [L. praescribere, praescriptum; prae before + scriebe to write. See Scribe.]
- crosse n.
- The implement with which the ball is thrown and caught in the game of lacrosse.
- liberall a.
- Free by birth; hence, befitting a freeman or gentleman; refined; noble; independent; free; not servile or mean; as, a liberal ancestry; a liberal spirit; liberal arts or studies. [F. libéral, L. liberalis, from liber free; perh. akin to libet, lubet,it pleases, E. lief. Cf. Deliver.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Crvcifying 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, Crvcifying, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/crvcifying.html, id L05003.
Form and metre
Crvcifying is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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 A-BAA-BACDDC-- manA · begat · hateB · ranA · canA · immaculate · fateB · spanA · heeC · byD · dieD · theeC · dole · soule
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 |
|---|---|---|
| By miracles exceeding power of man, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘/·· |
| Hee faith in some, envie in some begat, | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| For, what weake spirits admire, ambitious, hate; | 11 | ···/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| In both affections many to him ran, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| But Oh! the worst are most, they will and can, | 10 | ·········· |
| Alas, and do, unto the immaculate, | 11 | ˘/·····˘/˘˘ |
| Whose creature Fate is, now prescribe a Fate, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Measuring selfe-lifes infinity to'a span, | 10 | /˘··˘/˘/˘· |
| Nay to an inch. Loe, where condemned hee | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Beares his owne crosse, with paine, yet by and by | 10 | ·········· |
| When it beares him, he must beare more and die. | 10 | ·········· |
| Now thou art lifted up, draw mee to thee, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And at thy death giving such liberall dole, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Moyst, with one drop of thy blood, my dry soule. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 4
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 3 weake] meeke B, O'F, S, S96, W
- Line 8 to'a span, B, N, O'F, S, S96, TC, W: to span, 1633-69, A18, D, H49
- Line 9 inch. Loe, 1635-69: inch, loe, 1633
- Line 11 die. 1635-69: die; 1633
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.