Lovers infinitenesse
If yet I have not all thy love,Deare, I shall never have it all,I cannot breath one other sigh, to move,Nor can intreat one other teare to fall,And all my treasure, which should purchase thee,Sighs, teares, and oathes, and letters I have spent.Yet no more can be due to mee,Then at the bargaine made was ment,If then thy gift of love were partiall,That some to mee, some should to others fall,Deare, I shall never have Thee All.
Or if then thou gavest mee all,All was but All, which thou hadst then;But if in thy heart, since, there be or shall,New love created bee, by other men,Which have their stocks intire, and can in teares,In sighs, in oathes, and letters outbid mee,This new love may beget new feares,For, this love was not vowed by thee.And yet it was, thy gift being generall,The ground, thy heart is mine, what ever shallGrow there, deare, I should have it all.
Yet I would not have all yet,Hee that hath all can have no more,And since my love doth every day admitNew growth, thou shouldst have new rewards in store;Thou canst not every day give me thy heart,If thou canst give it, then thou never gavest it:Loves riddles are, that though thy heart depart,It stayes at home, and thou with losing savest it:But wee will have a way more liberall,Then changing hearts, to joyne them, so wee shallBe one, and one anothers All.
Except mine come when thine doth part
Words in this poem
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- partiall a.
- Of, pertaining to, or affecting, a part only; not general or universal; not total or entire; as, a partial eclipse of the moon. [F., fr. LL. partials, fr. L. pars, gen. partis, a part; cf. (for sense 1) F. partiel. See Part, n.]
- outbid v. t.
- To exceed or surpass in bidding.
- generall a.
- Relating to a genus or kind; pertaining to a whole class or order; as, a general law of animal or vegetable economy. [F. général, fr. L. generalis. See Genus.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- 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
Lovers infinitenesse 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, Lovers infinitenesse, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/lovers-infinitenesse.html, id L19844.
Form and metre
Lovers infinitenesse is 34 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABABCDCDBBB loveA · allB · moveA · fallB · theeC · spentD · meeC · mentD · partiallB · fallB · allB
- 2 ABCB-D-DCCA allA · thenB · shallC · menB · teares · meeD · feares · theeD · generallC · shallC · allA
- 3 -ABACBCBDDD yet · moreA · admitB · storeA · heartC · itB · departC · itB · liberallD · shallD · allD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If yet I have not all thy love, | 8 | ········ |
| Deare, I shall never have it all, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I cannot breath one other sigh, to move, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Nor can intreat one other teare to fall, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And all my treasure, which should purchase thee, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Sighs, teares, and oathes, and letters I have spent. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Yet no more can be due to mee, | 8 | ········ |
| Then at the bargaine made was ment, | 8 | ········ |
| If then thy gift of love were partiall, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That some to mee, some should to others fall, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Deare, I shall never have Thee All. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or if then thou gavest mee all, | 8 | ········ |
| All was but All, which thou hadst then; | 8 | ········ |
| But if in thy heart, since, there be or shall, | 10 | ·········· |
| New love created bee, by other men, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Which have their stocks intire, and can in teares, | 10 | ·········· |
| In sighs, in oathes, and letters outbid mee, | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| This new love may beget new feares, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| For, this love was not vowed by thee. | 8 | ········ |
| And yet it was, thy gift being generall, | 11 | ······/˘/˘˘ |
| The ground, thy heart is mine, what ever shall | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Grow there, deare, I should have it all. | 8 | ········ |
| Yet I would not have all yet, | 7 | ······· |
| Hee that hath all can have no more, | 8 | ········ |
| And since my love doth every day admit | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| New growth, thou shouldst have new rewards in store; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Thou canst not every day give me thy heart, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| If thou canst give it, then thou never gavest it: | 11 | ·······/··· |
| Loves riddles are, that though thy heart depart, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| It stayes at home, and thou with losing savest it: | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| But wee will have a way more liberall, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Then changing hearts, to joyne them, so wee shall | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Be one, and one anothers All. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Except mine come when thine doth part | 8 | ········ |
Notes from the edition 15
Herbert Grierson's record of the readings of the early editions and manuscripts, from his Poems of John Donne (Oxford, 1912; Project Gutenberg #48688).
- Stanza 1, line 3 move, Ed: move; 1633-69
- Stanza 1, line 4 fall, Ed: fall. 1633: fall; 1635-69
- Stanza 1, line 6 teares,] teares 1633
- Stanza 1, line 8 Then 1633-35, 1669: That 1639-54
- Stanza 1, line 9 were] was 1669
- Stanza 1, line 11 Thee 1633: It 1635-69 (it 1669)
- Stanza 2, line 1 gavest] givest 1669
- Stanza 2, line 2 then; 1635-54: then, 1633
- Stanza 2, line 6 and letters 1633: in letters 1635-69
- Stanza 2, line 8 thee. 1639-69: thee, 1633-35
- Stanza 2, line 9 it] is 1633
- Stanza 2, line 10 is 1633, 1669: was 1635-54
- Stanza 3, line 3 And since my heart doth every day beget New love, &c. A25.
- Stanza 3, line 9 have] love 1669: find A25, C
- Stanza 3, line 10 them] us 1669
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