Selfe Love
He that cannot chuse but love,And strives against it still,Never shall my fancy move;For he loves 'gaynst his will;Nor he which is all his own,And can att pleasure chuse,When I am caught he can be gone,And when he list refuse.Nor he that loves none but faire,For such by all are sought;Nor he that can for foul ones care,For his Judgement then is nought:Nor he that hath wit, for heWill make me his jest or slave;Nor a fool, for when others...,He can neither....Nor he that still his Mistresse payes,For she is thrall'd therefore:Nor he that payes not, for he sayesWithin, shee's worth no more.Is there then no kinde of menWhom I may freely prove?I will vent that humour thenIn mine own selfe love.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Selfe 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, Selfe Love, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/selfe-love.html, id L26279.
Form and metre
Selfe Love is 24 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABCB-D-DEFEF--G-GHGHICIA loveA · stillB · moveC · willB · own · chuseD · gone · refuseD · faireE · soughtF · careE · noughtF · he · slave · othersG · neither · payesG · thereforeH · sayesG · moreH · menI · proveC · thenI · loveA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| He that cannot chuse but love, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And strives against it still, | 6 | ······ |
| Never shall my fancy move; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| For he loves 'gaynst his will; | 6 | ······ |
| Nor he which is all his own, | 7 | ······· |
| And can att pleasure chuse, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When I am caught he can be gone, | 8 | ········ |
| And when he list refuse. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Nor he that loves none but faire, | 7 | ······· |
| For such by all are sought; | 6 | ······ |
| Nor he that can for foul ones care, | 8 | ········ |
| For his Judgement then is nought: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nor he that hath wit, for he | 7 | ······· |
| Will make me his jest or slave; | 7 | ······· |
| Nor a fool, for when others..., | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He can neither.... | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Nor he that still his Mistresse payes, | 8 | ········ |
| For she is thrall'd therefore: | 6 | ······ |
| Nor he that payes not, for he sayes | 8 | ········ |
| Within, shee's worth no more. | 6 | ······ |
| Is there then no kinde of men | 7 | ······· |
| Whom I may freely prove? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I will vent that humour then | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In mine own selfe love. | 5 | ····· |
Notes from the edition 8
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 4 'gaynst JC, O'F: against 1650-69
- Line 6 And can ... chuse, JC: And cannot pleasure chuse, 1650-69: And can all pleasures chuse, O'F
- Line 11 foul ones] fouleness O'F
- Line 14 slave; 1719: slave 1650-69
- Line 15 fool, 1719: fool 1650-69
- Line 17 payes, JC, O'F: prays, 1650-69
- Line 19 payes not,] payes, not, 1650-69
- Line 20 Within, Ed: Within 1650-69
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