Holy Sonnet XIX
Oh, to vex me, contraryes meet in one:Inconstancy unnaturally hath begottA constant habit; that when I would notI change in vowes, and in devotione.As humorous is my contritioneAs my prophane Love, and as soone forgott:As ridlingly distemper'd, cold and hott,As praying, as mute; as infinite, as none.I durst not view heaven yesterday; and to dayIn prayers, and flattering speaches I court God:To morrow I quake with true feare of his rod.So my devout fitts come and go awayLike a fantastique Ague: save that hereThose are my best dayes, when I shake with feare.
Words in this poem
- humorous a.
- Moist; humid; watery. [Cf. L. humorosus, umorosus, moist. See Humor.]
- hott a.
- Having much sensible heat; exciting the feeling of warmth in a great degree; very warm; -- opposed to cold, and exceeding warm in degree; as, a hot stove; hot water or air. [OE. hot, hat, AS. hat; akin to OS. het, D. heet, OHG. heiz, G. heiss, Icel. heitr, Sw. het, Dan. heed, hed; cf. Goth. heito fever, hais torch. Cf. Heat.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Holy Sonnet XIX 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, Holy Sonnet XIX, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/holy-sonnet-xix.html, id L20860.
Form and metre
Holy Sonnet XIX is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
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-BCCBBADEEDFF oneA · begott · notB · devotioneC · contritioneC · forgottB · hottB · noneA · dayD · godE · rodE · awayD · hereF · feareF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, to vex me, contraryes meet in one: | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| Inconstancy unnaturally hath begott | 10 | ˘/˘˘/˘˘·˘/ |
| A constant habit; that when I would not | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| I change in vowes, and in devotione. | 9 | ········· |
| As humorous is my contritione | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| As my prophane Love, and as soone forgott: | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| As ridlingly distemper'd, cold and hott, | 10 | ·········· |
| As praying, as mute; as infinite, as none. | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| I durst not view heaven yesterday; and to day | 11 | ····//˘···· |
| In prayers, and flattering speaches I court God: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To morrow I quake with true feare of his rod. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| So my devout fitts come and go away | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Like a fantastique Ague: save that here | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Those are my best dayes, when I shake with feare. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 2
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 that] y^t W, so always
- Line 4 and] & W, so always
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