H: W: In Hiber: belligeranti
Went you to conquer? and have so much lostYourself, that what in you was best and most,Respective friendship, should so quickly dye?In publique gaine my share'is not such that IWould lose your love for Ireland: better cheapI pardon death (who though he do not reapYet gleanes hee many of our frends away)Then that your waking mind should bee a preyTo lethargies. Lett shott, and boggs, and skeinesWith bodies deale, as fate bids and restreynes;Ere sicknesses attack, yong death is best,Who payes before his death doth scape arrest.Lett not your soule (at first with graces fill'd,And since, and thorough crooked lymbecks, still'dIn many schools and courts, which quicken it,)It self unto the Irish negligence submit.I aske not labored letters which should weareLong papers out: nor letters which should feareDishonest carriage: or a seers art:Nor such as from the brayne come, but the hart.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- respective a.
- Noticing with attention; hence, careful; wary; considerate. [Cf. F. respectif, LL. respectivus. See Respect.]
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
- lett v. t.
- To retard; to hinder; to impede; to oppose. [OE.letten, AS. lettan to delay, to hinder, fr. læt slow; akin to D. letten to hinder, G. verletzen to hurt, Icel. letja to hold back, Goth. latjan. See Late.]
- shott a.
- Woven in such a way as to produce an effect of variegation, of changeable tints, or of being figured; as, shot silks. See Shoot, v.
- dishonest a.
- Dishonorable; shameful; indecent; unchaste; lewd. [Pref. dis- + honest: cf. F. déshonnête, OF. deshoneste.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
H: W: In Hiber: belligeranti 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, H: W: In Hiber: belligeranti, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/h-w-in-hiber-belligeranti.html, id L19905.
Form and metre
H: W: In Hiber: belligeranti is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ lostA · mostA · dyeB · iB · cheapC · reapC · awayD · preyD · skeinesE · restreynesE · bestF · arrestF · fill'dG · still'dG · itH · submitH · weareI · feareI · artJ · hartJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Went you to conquer? and have so much lost | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Yourself, that what in you was best and most, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Respective friendship, should so quickly dye? | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| In publique gaine my share'is not such that I | 11 | ··········· |
| Would lose your love for Ireland: better cheap | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| I pardon death (who though he do not reap | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Yet gleanes hee many of our frends away) | 10 | ···/·/˘·˘/ |
| Then that your waking mind should bee a prey | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To lethargies. Lett shott, and boggs, and skeines | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| With bodies deale, as fate bids and restreynes; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Ere sicknesses attack, yong death is best, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| Who payes before his death doth scape arrest. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Lett not your soule (at first with graces fill'd, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And since, and thorough crooked lymbecks, still'd | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| In many schools and courts, which quicken it,) | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| It self unto the Irish negligence submit. | 11 | ·····/˘/˘˘/ |
| I aske not labored letters which should weare | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Long papers out: nor letters which should feare | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Dishonest carriage: or a seers art: | 9 | ˘/˘/˘···· |
| Nor such as from the brayne come, but the hart. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 8
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 2 that] y^t Bur, and similarly y^e (the), y^r (your), w^{ch} (which), w^{th} (with) throughout
- Line 2 most, Respective friendship,] no commas, Bur
- Line 4 share'is] share is Bur
- Line 9 lethargies.] letargies. Bur
- Line 10 restreynes;] restreynes Bur
- Line 11 attack,] attack Bur
- Line 14 since,] since Bur
- Line 19 art:] art Bur
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