Temple
With his kinde mother who partakes thy woe,Ioseph turne backe; see where your child doth sit,Blowing, yea blowing out those sparks of wit,Which himselfe on the Doctors did bestow;The Word but lately could not speake, and loe,It sodenly speakes wonders, whence comes it,That all which was, and all which should be writ,A shallow seeming child, should deeply know?His Godhead was not soule to his manhood,Nor had time mellowed him to this ripenesse,But as for one which hath a long taske, 'tis good,With the Sunne to beginne his businesse,He in his ages morning thus beganBy miracles exceeding power of man.
Words in this poem
- beginne v. i.
- To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence. [AS. beginnan (akin to OS. biginnan, D. & G. beginnen, OHG. biginnan, Goth., du-ginnan, Sw. begynna, Dan. begynde); pref. be- + an assumed ginnan. sq. root31. Se]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Temple 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, Temple, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/temple.html, id L05002.
Form and metre
Temple is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCDEE. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 7% 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 ABBAABBACDCDEE woeA · sitB · witB · bestowA · loeA · itB · writB · knowA · manhoodC · ripenesseD · goodC · businesseD · beganE · manE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| With his kinde mother who partakes thy woe, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Ioseph turne backe; see where your child doth sit, | 10 | ·········· |
| Blowing, yea blowing out those sparks of wit, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Which himselfe on the Doctors did bestow; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The Word but lately could not speake, and loe, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| It sodenly speakes wonders, whence comes it, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That all which was, and all which should be writ, | 10 | ·········· |
| A shallow seeming child, should deeply know? | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| His Godhead was not soule to his manhood, | 10 | ·/······/· |
| Nor had time mellowed him to this ripenesse, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| But as for one which hath a long taske, 'tis good, | 11 | ··········· |
| With the Sunne to beginne his businesse, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| He in his ages morning thus began | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| By miracles exceeding power of man. | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘/·· |
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).
- Line 5 loe, Ed: loe 1633-69
- Line 6 wonders, 1633-39: wonders: 1650-69
- Line 11 for] to W
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