Song
Sweetest love, I do not goe,For wearinesse of thee,Nor in hope the world can showA fitter Love for mee;But since that IMust dye at last, 'tis best,To use my selfe in jestThus by fain'd deaths to dye;
Yesternight the Sunne went hence,And yet is here to day,He hath no desire nor sense,Nor halfe so short a way:Then feare not mee,But beleeve that I shall makeSpeedier journeyes, since I takeMore wings and spurres then hee.
O how feeble is mans power,That if good fortune fall,Cannot adde another houre,Nor a lost houre recall!But come bad chance,And wee joyne to'it our strength,And wee teach it art and length,It selfe o'r us to'advance.
When thou sigh'st, thou sigh'st not winde,But sigh'st my soule away,When thou weep'st, unkindly kinde,My lifes blood doth decay.It cannot beeThat thou lov'st mee, as thou say'st,If in thine my life thou waste,Thou art the best of mee.
Let not thy divining heartForethinke me any ill,Destiny may take thy part,And may thy feares fulfill;But thinke that weeAre but turn'd aside to sleepe;They who one another keepeAlive, ne'r parted bee.
Words in this poem
- fitter n.
- A little piece; a flitter; a flinder.
- 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]
- yesternight n.
- The last night; the night last past.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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,]
- unkindly a.
- Not kindly; unkind; ungracious.
- fulfill v. t.
- To fill up; to make full or complete. [OE. fulfillen, fulfullen, AS. fulfyllan; ful full + fyllan to fill. See Full, a., and Fill, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song 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, Song, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/song-2.html, id L19845.
Form and metre
Song is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDDC. 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.4 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDDC goeA · theeB · showA · meeB · iC · bestD · jestD · dyeC
- 2 ABABCDDC henceA · dayB · senseA · wayB · meeC · makeD · takeD · heeC
- 3 ABABCDDC powerA · fallB · houreA · recallB · chanceC · strengthD · lengthD · to'advanceC
- 4 ABABCDDC windeA · awayB · kindeA · decayB · beeC · say'stD · wasteD · meeC
- 5 ABABCDDC heartA · illB · partA · fulfillB · weeC · sleepeD · keepeD · beeC
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Sweetest love, I do not goe, | 7 | /˘····· |
| For wearinesse of thee, | 6 | ······ |
| Nor in hope the world can show | 7 | ······· |
| A fitter Love for mee; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But since that I | 4 | ···· |
| Must dye at last, 'tis best, | 6 | ······ |
| To use my selfe in jest | 6 | ······ |
| Thus by fain'd deaths to dye; | 6 | ······ |
| Yesternight the Sunne went hence, | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| And yet is here to day, | 6 | ······ |
| He hath no desire nor sense, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Nor halfe so short a way: | 6 | ······ |
| Then feare not mee, | 4 | ···· |
| But beleeve that I shall make | 7 | ······· |
| Speedier journeyes, since I take | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| More wings and spurres then hee. | 6 | ······ |
| O how feeble is mans power, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| That if good fortune fall, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Cannot adde another houre, | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Nor a lost houre recall! | 6 | ····/· |
| But come bad chance, | 4 | ···· |
| And wee joyne to'it our strength, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And wee teach it art and length, | 7 | ······· |
| It selfe o'r us to'advance. | 6 | ······ |
| When thou sigh'st, thou sigh'st not winde, | 7 | ······· |
| But sigh'st my soule away, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| When thou weep'st, unkindly kinde, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| My lifes blood doth decay. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| It cannot bee | 4 | ·/˘· |
| That thou lov'st mee, as thou say'st, | 7 | ······· |
| If in thine my life thou waste, | 7 | ······· |
| Thou art the best of mee. | 6 | ······ |
| Let not thy divining heart | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Forethinke me any ill, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Destiny may take thy part, | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| And may thy feares fulfill; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But thinke that wee | 4 | ···· |
| Are but turn'd aside to sleepe; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| They who one another keepe | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Alive, ne'r parted bee. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
Notes from the edition 5
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 1 In most MSS. these lines are written as two long lines, and so with ll. 9-12, 17-20, 25-28, 33-36
- Stanza 1, line 4 mee; 1650-69: mee, 1633-39
- Stanza 2, line 7 Speedier] Hastier 1669
- Stanza 4, line 1 not wind 1633: no wind 1635-69
- Stanza 5, line 6 turn'd] lai'd 1669
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.