Loves Vsury
For every houre that thou wilt spare mee now,I will allow,Usurious God of Love, twenty to thee,When with my browne, my gray haires equall bee;Till then, Love, let my body raigne, and letMee travell, sojourne, snatch, plot, have, forget,Resume my last yeares relict: thinke that yetWe'had never met.
Let mee thinke any rivalls letter mine,And at next nineKeepe midnights promise; mistake by the wayThe maid, and tell the Lady of that delay;Onely let mee love none, no, not the sport;From country grasse, to comfitures of Court,Or cities quelque choses, let reportMy minde transport.
This bargaine's good; if when I'am old, I beeInflam'd by thee,If thine owne honour, or my shame, or paine,Thou covet most, at that age thou shalt gaine.Doe thy will then, then subject and degree,And fruit of love, Love I submit to thee,Spare mee till then, I'll beare it, though she beeOne that loves mee.
Words in this poem
- usurious a.
- Practicing usury; taking illegal or exorbitant interest for the use of money; as, a usurious person. [From Usury.]
- travell v. i.
- To labor; to travail. Hooker. [Properly, to labor, and the same word as travail.]
- resume n.
- A summing up; a condensed statement; an abridgment or brief recapitulation. [F. See Resume.]
- relict n.
- A woman whose husband is dead; a widow. [L. relicta, fr. of relictus, p. p. of relinquere to leave behind. See Relinquish.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Loves Vsury 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 Vsury, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/loves-vsury.html, id L04883.
Form and metre
Loves Vsury is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCCC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABBCCCC nowA · allowA · theeB · beeB · letC · forgetC · yetC · metC
- 2 AABBCCCC mineA · nineA · wayB · delayB · sportC · courtC · reportC · transportC
- 3 AABBAAAA beeA · theeA · paineB · gaineB · degreeA · theeA · beeA · meeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| For every houre that thou wilt spare mee now, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I will allow, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Usurious God of Love, twenty to thee, | 11 | ˘/˘˘···/˘·· |
| When with my browne, my gray haires equall bee; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Till then, Love, let my body raigne, and let | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Mee travell, sojourne, snatch, plot, have, forget, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Resume my last yeares relict: thinke that yet | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| We'had never met. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Let mee thinke any rivalls letter mine, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| And at next nine | 4 | ···· |
| Keepe midnights promise; mistake by the way | 10 | ·/·/˘˘/··· |
| The maid, and tell the Lady of that delay; | 11 | ·····/˘··˘/ |
| Onely let mee love none, no, not the sport; | 10 | /˘········ |
| From country grasse, to comfitures of Court, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Or cities quelque choses, let report | 9 | ·/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| My minde transport. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| This bargaine's good; if when I'am old, I bee | 10 | ·········· |
| Inflam'd by thee, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| If thine owne honour, or my shame, or paine, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thou covet most, at that age thou shalt gaine. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Doe thy will then, then subject and degree, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And fruit of love, Love I submit to thee, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Spare mee till then, I'll beare it, though she bee | 10 | ·········· |
| One that loves mee. | 4 | ···· |
Notes from the edition 9
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 5 raigne, 1633, B, Cy, D, H40, H49, L74, Lec, P, S: range, 1635-69, O'F, S96. See note
- Stanza 1, line 6 snatch, 1633, 1669: match, 1635-54
- Stanza 1, line 7 relict] relique 1669
- Stanza 2, line 4 that] her 1669
- Stanza 2, line 5 sport; 1669: sport 1633-54: sport, most MSS.
- Stanza 2, line 7 let report 1633, 1669, B, Cy, D, H40, H49, L74, Lec, P, S: let not report 1635-54, O'F, S96, Chambers. See note
- Stanza 3, line 3 or paine 1633, 1669, and most MSS.: and paine 1635-54, O'F
- Stanza 3, line 6 fruit] fruites B, D, H49, Lec, O'F, S96
- Stanza 3, line 8 loves 1633, 1669 and all the MSS.: love 1635-54
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