Her Apparrelling
Thus thou descend'st to our infirmitie,Who can the Sun in water see.Soe dost thou, when in silke and gold,Thou cloudst thy selfe; since wee which doe behold,Are dust, and wormes, 'tis justOur objects be the fruits of wormes and dust;Let every Jewell be a glorious starre,Yet starres are not so pure, as their spheares are.And though thou stoope, to'appeare to us in part,Still in that Picture thou intirely art,Which thy inflaming eyes have made within his loving heart.
Words in this poem
- jewell n.
- An ornament of dress usually made of a precious metal, and having enamel or precious stones as a part of its design. [OE. juel, jowel, OF. jouel, juel, joiel, F. joyau, dim. of OF. joie joy, jewel, F. joie joy. See Joy.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- starre n.
- One of the innumerable luminous bodies seen in the heavens; any heavenly body other than the sun, moon, comets, and nebulæ. [OE. sterre, AS. steorra; akin to OFries. stera, OS. sterro, D. ster, OHG. sterno, sterro, G. stern, Icel. stjarna, Sw. stjerna, Dan. stierne, Goth. staírno, Arm]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Her Apparrelling 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, Her Apparrelling, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/her-apparrelling.html, id L04946.
Form and metre
Her Apparrelling is 11 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 91% of the lines. 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 AABBCCDDEED infirmitieA · seeA · goldB · beholdB · justC · dustC · starreD · areD · partE · artE · heartD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thus thou descend'st to our infirmitie, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Who can the Sun in water see. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Soe dost thou, when in silke and gold, | 8 | ········ |
| Thou cloudst thy selfe; since wee which doe behold, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Are dust, and wormes, 'tis just | 6 | ······ |
| Our objects be the fruits of wormes and dust; | 10 | /˘/······· |
| Let every Jewell be a glorious starre, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Yet starres are not so pure, as their spheares are. | 10 | ·········· |
| And though thou stoope, to'appeare to us in part, | 10 | ·········· |
| Still in that Picture thou intirely art, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Which thy inflaming eyes have made within his loving heart. | 14 | ··˘/˘······/˘· |
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.