Ode: Of our Sense of Sinne
Vengeance will sit above our faults; but tillShe there doth sit,We see her not, nor them. Thus, blinde, yet stillWe leade her way; and thus, whil'st we doe ill,We suffer it.
Vnhappy he, whom youth makes not bewareOf doing ill.Enough we labour under age, and care;In number, th'errours of the last place, areThe greatest still.
Yet we, that should the ill we now beginAs soone repent,(Strange thing!) perceive not; our faults are not seen,But past us; neither felt, but onely inThe punishment.
But we know our selves least; Mere outward shewsOur mindes so store,That our soules, no more than our eyes discloseBut forme and colour. Onely he who knowesHimselfe, knowes more.
Words in this poem
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode: Of our Sense of Sinne 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, Ode: Of our Sense of Sinne, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/ode-of-our-sense-of-sinne.html, id L19935.
Form and metre
Ode: Of our Sense of Sinne is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABAAB tillA · sitB · stillA · illA · itB
- 2 ABAAB bewareA · illB · careA · areA · stillB
- 3 ABAAB beginA · repentB · seenA · inA · punishmentB
- 4 ABAAB shewsA · storeB · discloseA · knowesA · moreB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vengeance will sit above our faults; but till | 10 | /˘····/··· |
| She there doth sit, | 4 | ···· |
| We see her not, nor them. Thus, blinde, yet still | 10 | ·········· |
| We leade her way; and thus, whil'st we doe ill, | 10 | ·········· |
| We suffer it. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Vnhappy he, whom youth makes not beware | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Of doing ill. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Enough we labour under age, and care; | 10 | ˘/·/······ |
| In number, th'errours of the last place, are | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The greatest still. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Yet we, that should the ill we now begin | 10 | ········˘/ |
| As soone repent, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| (Strange thing!) perceive not; our faults are not seen, | 10 | ··˘/·/···· |
| But past us; neither felt, but onely in | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The punishment. | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| But we know our selves least; Mere outward shews | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Our mindes so store, | 5 | /˘··· |
| That our soules, no more than our eyes disclose | 10 | ·/····/·˘/ |
| But forme and colour. Onely he who knowes | 11 | ·/˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Himselfe, knowes more. | 4 | ···· |
Notes from the edition 3
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 2 doth 1635-39: do 1650-69
- Stanza 3, line 1 now] new B
- Stanza 3, line 5 The 1635-69, Cy, P: Our B, H40, O'F
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