Negative love
I never stoop'd so low, as theyWhich on an eye, cheeke, lip, can prey,Seldome to them, which soare no higherThen vertue or the minde to'admire,For sense, and understanding mayKnow, what gives fuell to their fire:My love, though silly, is more brave,For may I misse, when ere I crave,If I know yet, what I would have.
If that be simply perfectestWhich can by no way be exprestBut Negatives, my love is so.To All, which all love, I say no.If any who deciphers best,What we know not, our selves, can know,Let him teach mee that nothing; ThisAs yet my ease, and comfort is,Though I speed not, I cannot misse.
Words in this poem
- fuell v. t.
- To feed with fuel.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Negative love 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, Negative love, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/negative-love.html, id L19871.
Form and metre
Negative love is 18 lines in 2 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AAB-ABCCC theyA · preyA · higherB · to'admire · mayA · fireB · braveC · craveC · haveC
- 2 AABBABC-C perfectestA · exprestA · soB · noB · bestA · knowB · thisC · is · misseC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I never stoop'd so low, as they | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which on an eye, cheeke, lip, can prey, | 8 | ········ |
| Seldome to them, which soare no higher | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Then vertue or the minde to'admire, | 8 | ········ |
| For sense, and understanding may | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Know, what gives fuell to their fire: | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| My love, though silly, is more brave, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For may I misse, when ere I crave, | 8 | ········ |
| If I know yet, what I would have. | 8 | ········ |
| If that be simply perfectest | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Which can by no way be exprest | 8 | ········ |
| But Negatives, my love is so. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| To All, which all love, I say no. | 8 | ········ |
| If any who deciphers best, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| What we know not, our selves, can know, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Let him teach mee that nothing; This | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As yet my ease, and comfort is, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Though I speed not, I cannot misse. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
Notes from the edition 4
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 4 to'admire, 1633-39: to'admire; 1650-69
- Stanza 1, line 5 For] Both A25, C
- Stanza 2, line 2 way] means 1669, O'F
- Stanza 2, line 7 nothing; 1633: nothing. 1635-69
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.