Loves growth
I scarce beleeve my love to be so pureAs I had thought it was,Because it doth endureVicissitude, and season, as the grasse;Me thinkes I lyed all winter, when I swore,My love was infinite, if spring make'it more.
But if this medicine, love, which cures all sorrowWith more, not onely bee no quintessence,But mixt of all stuffes, paining soule, or sense,And of the Sunne his working vigour borrow,Love's not so pure, and abstract, as they useTo say, which have no Mistresse but their Muse,But as all else, being elemented too,Love sometimes would contemplate, sometimes do.
And yet no greater, but more eminent,Love by the spring is growne;As, in the firmament,Starres by the Sunne are not inlarg'd, but showne.Gentle love deeds, as blossomes on a bough,From loves awakened root do bud out now.If, as in water stir'd more circles beeProduc'd by one, love such additions take,Those like so many spheares, but one heaven make,For, they are all concentrique unto thee.And though each spring doe adde to love new heate,As princes doe in times of action getNew taxes, and remit them not in peace,No winter shall abate the springs encrease.
Stars are not by the sunne enlarg'd; but showneGreater; Loves deeds
Words in this poem
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- vicissitude n.
- Regular change or succession from one thing to another; alternation; mutual succession; interchange. [L. vicissitudo, fr. vicis change, turn: cf. F. vicissitude. See Vicarious.]
- quintessence n.
- The fifth or last and highest essence or power in a natural body. [F., fr. L. quinta essentia fifth essence. See Quint, and Essence.]
- vigour v. t.
- To invigorate. Feltham.
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
- contemplate v. t.
- To look at on all sides or in all its bearings; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study. [L. contemplatus, p.p. of contemplari to contemplate; con- + templum a space for observation marked out by the augur. See Temple.]
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- remit v. t.
- To send back; to give up; to surrender; to resign. [L. remittere, remissum, to send back, to slacken, relax; pref. re- re- + mittere to send. See Mission, and cf. Remise, Remiss.]
- 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,]
- encrease v. t.
- i. See Increase.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Loves growth 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, Loves growth, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/loves-growth.html, id L19853.
Form and metre
Loves growth is 30 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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-A-BB pureA · was · endureA · grasse · sworeB · moreB
- 2 -AA-BBCC sorrow · quintessenceA · senseA · borrow · useB · museB · tooC · doC
- 3 ABABCCDEED--FF eminentA · growneB · firmamentA · showneB · boughC · nowC · beeD · takeE · makeE · theeD · heate · get · peaceF · encreaseF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I scarce beleeve my love to be so pure | 10 | ·········· |
| As I had thought it was, | 6 | ······ |
| Because it doth endure | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Vicissitude, and season, as the grasse; | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Me thinkes I lyed all winter, when I swore, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| My love was infinite, if spring make'it more. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But if this medicine, love, which cures all sorrow | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| With more, not onely bee no quintessence, | 10 | ···/˘··˘/˘ |
| But mixt of all stuffes, paining soule, or sense, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And of the Sunne his working vigour borrow, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/· |
| Love's not so pure, and abstract, as they use | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| To say, which have no Mistresse but their Muse, | 10 | ·········· |
| But as all else, being elemented too, | 10 | ····//˘˘˘· |
| Love sometimes would contemplate, sometimes do. | 10 | ·˘/·/˘·˘/· |
| And yet no greater, but more eminent, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Love by the spring is growne; | 6 | ······ |
| As, in the firmament, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Starres by the Sunne are not inlarg'd, but showne. | 10 | ·········· |
| Gentle love deeds, as blossomes on a bough, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| From loves awakened root do bud out now. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| If, as in water stir'd more circles bee | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Produc'd by one, love such additions take, | 10 | ˘/····˘/˘· |
| Those like so many spheares, but one heaven make, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| For, they are all concentrique unto thee. | 10 | ·········· |
| And though each spring doe adde to love new heate, | 10 | ·········· |
| As princes doe in times of action get | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| New taxes, and remit them not in peace, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| No winter shall abate the springs encrease. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| Stars are not by the sunne enlarg'd; but showne | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Greater; Loves deeds | 4 | /˘·· |
Notes from the edition 6
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 2, line 3 paining 1633, A18, B, D, H49, JC, Lec, N, S96, TC: vexing 1635-69, Cy, O'F, P, S
- Stanza 2, line 4 working 1633 and MSS. as above: active 1635-69 and MSS. as above
- Stanza 2, line 5 pure, and] pure an 1669, O'F
- Stanza 2, line 8 do.] do 1633
- Stanza 3, line 10 thee. Ed: thee, 1633-69
- Stanza 3, line 14 the 1633, A18, B, D, H49, JC, Lec, N, S96, TC: this 1635-69, Cy, O'F, P, S
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