Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus
Like Esops fellow-slaves, O Mercury,Which could do all things, thy faith is; and ILike Esops selfe, which nothing; I confesseI should have had more faith, if thou hadst lesse;Thy credit lost thy credit: 'Tis sinne to doe,In this case, as thou wouldst be done unto,To beleeve all: Change thy name: thou art likeMercury in stealing, but lyest like a Greeke.
Words in this poem
- sinne adv.
- Old form of Since. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus 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, Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/mercurius-gallo-belgicus.html, id L04917.
Form and metre
Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus is 8 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 --AA---- mercury · i · confesseA · lesseA · doe · unto · like · greeke
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Like Esops fellow-slaves, O Mercury, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Which could do all things, thy faith is; and I | 10 | ·········· |
| Like Esops selfe, which nothing; I confesse | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I should have had more faith, if thou hadst lesse; | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy credit lost thy credit: 'Tis sinne to doe, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| In this case, as thou wouldst be done unto, | 10 | ·········· |
| To beleeve all: Change thy name: thou art like | 10 | ·········· |
| Mercury in stealing, but lyest like a Greeke. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
Notes from the edition 1
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 8 but lyest 1633-69: and lyest B, W
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