Earle of Pembroke
If her disdaine least change in you can move,you doe not love,For whilst your hopes give fuell to the fire,you sell desire.Love is not love, but given free,And so is mine, so should yours bee.
Her heart that melts at others moane,to mine is stone.Her eyes that weepe a strangers hurt to see,joy to wound mee:Yet I so much affect each part,As (caus'd by them) I love my smart.
Say her disdaynings justly must be grac'twith name of chaste.And that shee frownes least longing should exceed,and raging breed;Soe can her rigor ne'er offendUnlesse selfe-love seeke private end.
Words in this poem
- fuell v. t.
- To feed with fuel.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Earle of Pembroke 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, Earle of Pembroke, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/earle-of-pembroke.html, id L05047.
Form and metre
Earle of Pembroke is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABBCC moveA · loveA · fireB · desireB · freeC · beeC
- 2 AABBCC moaneA · stoneA · seeB · meeB · partC · smartC
- 3 --AABB grac't · chaste · exceedA · breedA · offendB · endB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| If her disdaine least change in you can move, | 10 | ·········· |
| you doe not love, | 4 | ···· |
| For whilst your hopes give fuell to the fire, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| you sell desire. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Love is not love, but given free, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And so is mine, so should yours bee. | 8 | ········ |
| Her heart that melts at others moane, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| to mine is stone. | 4 | ···· |
| Her eyes that weepe a strangers hurt to see, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| joy to wound mee: | 4 | ···· |
| Yet I so much affect each part, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| As (caus'd by them) I love my smart. | 8 | ········ |
| Say her disdaynings justly must be grac't | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| with name of chaste. | 4 | ···· |
| And that shee frownes least longing should exceed, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| and raging breed; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Soe can her rigor ne'er offend | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Unlesse selfe-love seeke private end. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.