Sonnet I
Thou hast made me, And shall thy worke decay?Repaire me now, for now mine end doth haste,I runne to death, and death meets me as fast,And all my pleasures are like yesterday;I dare not move my dimme eyes any way,Despaire behind, and death before doth castSuch terrour, and my feeble flesh doth wasteBy sinne in it, which it t'wards hell doth weigh;Onely thou art above, and when towards theeBy thy leave I can looke, I rise againe;But our old subtle foe so tempteth me,That not one houre my selfe I can sustaine;Thy Grace may wing me to prevent his art,And thou like Adamant draw mine iron heart.
group under the same general title), W: Devine Meditations.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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,]
- dimme a.
- Not bright or distinct; wanting luminousness or clearness; obscure in luster or sound; dusky; darkish; obscure; indistinct; overcast; tarnished. [AS. dim; akin to OFries. dim, Icel. dimmr: cf. MHG. timmer, timber; of uncertain origin.]
- terrour n.
- Extreme fear; fear that agitates body and mind; violent dread; fright. [L. terror, akin to terrere to frighten, for tersere; akin to Gr. tras to tremble, to be afraid, Russ. triasti to shake: cf. F. terreur. Cf. Deter.]
- sinne adv.
- Old form of Since. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet I 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, Sonnet I, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/sonnet-i.html, id L05006.
Form and metre
Sonnet I is 15 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.5 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% 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 ABCAACBADEDEFF decayA · hasteB · fastC · yesterdayA · wayA · castC · wasteB · weighA · theeD · againeE · meD · sustaineE · artF · heartF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou hast made me, And shall thy worke decay? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Repaire me now, for now mine end doth haste, | 10 | ·········· |
| I runne to death, and death meets me as fast, | 10 | ·········· |
| And all my pleasures are like yesterday; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I dare not move my dimme eyes any way, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Despaire behind, and death before doth cast | 10 | ·········· |
| Such terrour, and my feeble flesh doth waste | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| By sinne in it, which it t'wards hell doth weigh; | 10 | ·········· |
| Onely thou art above, and when towards thee | 10 | /˘········ |
| By thy leave I can looke, I rise againe; | 10 | ·········· |
| But our old subtle foe so tempteth me, | 10 | ·/·/˘··/˘· |
| That not one houre my selfe I can sustaine; | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy Grace may wing me to prevent his art, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And thou like Adamant draw mine iron heart. | 10 | ···/˘˘··/· |
| group under the same general title), W: Devine Meditations. | 17 | ·····/˘/˘/˘˘/·˘/˘ |
Notes from the edition 2
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 yesterday; Ed: yesterday, 1635-69
- Stanza 1, line 7 feeble 1635-69: febled B, O'F, S96, W
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.