Loves Warre
Till I have peace with thee, warr other men,And when I have peace, can I leave thee then?All other Warrs are scrupulous; Only thouO fayr free Citty, maist thyselfe alloweTo any one: In Flanders, who can tellWhether the Master presse; or men rebell?Only we know, that which all Ideots say,They beare most blows which come to part the fray.France in her lunatique giddines did hateEver our men, yea and our God of late;Yet she relyes upon our Angels well,Which nere returne; no more then they which fell.Sick Ireland is with a strange warr possestLike to an Ague; now raging, now at rest;Which time will cure: yet it must doe her goodIf she were purg'd, and her head vayne let blood.And Midas joyes our Spanish journeys give,We touch all gold, but find no food to live.And I should be in the hott parching clyme,To dust and ashes turn'd before my time.To mew me in a Ship, is to inthrallMee in a prison, that weare like to fall;Or in a Cloyster; save that there men dwellIn a calme heaven, here in a swaggering hell.Long voyages are long consumptions,And ships are carts for executions.Yea they are Deaths; Is't not all one to flyeInto an other World, as t'is to dye?Here let mee warr; in these armes lett mee lye;Here lett mee parlee, batter, bleede, and dye.Thyne armes imprison me, and myne armes thee;Thy hart thy ransome is; take myne for mee.Other men war that they their rest may gayne;But wee will rest that wee may fight agayne.Those warrs the ignorant, these th'experienc'd love,There wee are alwayes under, here above.There Engins farr off breed a just true feare,Neere thrusts, pikes, stabs, yea bullets hurt not here.There lyes are wrongs; here safe uprightly lye;There men kill men, we'will make one by and by.Thou nothing; I not halfe so much shall doIn these Warrs, as they may which from us twoShall spring. Thousands wee see which travaile notTo warrs; But stay swords, armes, and shottTo make at home; And shall not I do thenMore glorious service, staying to make men?
Words in this poem
- rebell a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- midas n.
- A genus of longeared South American monkeys, including numerous species of marmosets. See Marmoset. [So called from L. Midas, a man fabled to have had ass's ears.]
- 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.]
- parching a.
- Scorching; burning; drying.
- inthrall v. t.
- To reduce to bondage or servitude; to make a thrall, slave, vassal, or captive of; to enslave. [Cf. Enthrall.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- lett v. t.
- To retard; to hinder; to impede; to oppose. [OE.letten, AS. lettan to delay, to hinder, fr. læt slow; akin to D. letten to hinder, G. verletzen to hurt, Icel. letja to hold back, Goth. latjan. See Late.]
- farr n.
- A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
- uprightly adv.
- In an upright manner.
- 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,]
- shott a.
- Woven in such a way as to produce an effect of variegation, of changeable tints, or of being figured; as, shot silks. See Shoot, v.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Loves Warre 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 Warre, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/loves-warre.html, id L04938.
Form and metre
Loves Warre is 46 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 87% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AA--BBCCDDEEFFGG--HHIIJJ--KKKKKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRR menA · thenA · thou · allowe · tellB · rebellB · sayC · frayC · hateD · lateD · wellE · fellE · possestF · restF · goodG · bloodG · give · live · clymeH · timeH · inthrallI · fallI · dwellJ · hellJ · consumptions · executions · flyeK · dyeK · lyeK · dyeK · theeK · meeK · gayneL · agayneL · loveM · aboveM · feareN · hereN · lyeO · byO · doP · twoP · notQ · shottQ · thenR · menR
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Till I have peace with thee, warr other men, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And when I have peace, can I leave thee then? | 10 | ·········· |
| All other Warrs are scrupulous; Only thou | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| O fayr free Citty, maist thyselfe allowe | 10 | ·········· |
| To any one: In Flanders, who can tell | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Whether the Master presse; or men rebell? | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Only we know, that which all Ideots say, | 10 | /˘········ |
| They beare most blows which come to part the fray. | 10 | ·········· |
| France in her lunatique giddines did hate | 10 | ·········· |
| Ever our men, yea and our God of late; | 10 | //···/˘··· |
| Yet she relyes upon our Angels well, | 10 | ··˘/··//˘· |
| Which nere returne; no more then they which fell. | 10 | ·········· |
| Sick Ireland is with a strange warr possest | 11 | ·/˘˘·····/˘ |
| Like to an Ague; now raging, now at rest; | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| Which time will cure: yet it must doe her good | 10 | ·········· |
| If she were purg'd, and her head vayne let blood. | 10 | ·········· |
| And Midas joyes our Spanish journeys give, | 10 | ·/˘·//˘/˘· |
| We touch all gold, but find no food to live. | 10 | ·········· |
| And I should be in the hott parching clyme, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To dust and ashes turn'd before my time. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To mew me in a Ship, is to inthrall | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Mee in a prison, that weare like to fall; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or in a Cloyster; save that there men dwell | 10 | ·········· |
| In a calme heaven, here in a swaggering hell. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Long voyages are long consumptions, | 9 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| And ships are carts for executions. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Yea they are Deaths; Is't not all one to flye | 10 | ·········· |
| Into an other World, as t'is to dye? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Here let mee warr; in these armes lett mee lye; | 10 | ·········· |
| Here lett mee parlee, batter, bleede, and dye. | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Thyne armes imprison me, and myne armes thee; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Thy hart thy ransome is; take myne for mee. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Other men war that they their rest may gayne; | 10 | /˘········ |
| But wee will rest that wee may fight agayne. | 10 | ·········· |
| Those warrs the ignorant, these th'experienc'd love, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| There wee are alwayes under, here above. | 9 | ········· |
| There Engins farr off breed a just true feare, | 10 | ·········· |
| Neere thrusts, pikes, stabs, yea bullets hurt not here. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| There lyes are wrongs; here safe uprightly lye; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| There men kill men, we'will make one by and by. | 11 | ··········· |
| Thou nothing; I not halfe so much shall do | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In these Warrs, as they may which from us two | 10 | ·········· |
| Shall spring. Thousands wee see which travaile not | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| To warrs; But stay swords, armes, and shott | 8 | ········ |
| To make at home; And shall not I do then | 10 | ·········· |
| More glorious service, staying to make men? | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 11
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 7 all A18, B, Cy, D, H49, L74, Lec, O'F, S, S96, TC, W: most JC, Chambers
- Line 8 They beare most blows which (or that) A18, B, D, H49, JC, L74, Lec, S, S96, TC, W: They must bear blows, which Chambers
- Line 11 well,] well W
- Line 13 a strange] straying Sim
- Line 16 head] dead Sim
- Line 19 the A18, B, Cy, D, H49, N, S, S96, TC, W: that Chambers, A25, JC, L74, O'F
- Line 24 swaggering] swaying Chambers
- Line 25 consumptions,] consumptions W: line omitted, Wald
- Line 29 lye] spelt ly
- Line 33 gayne;] gayne W
- Line 37 There] These Sim
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