The Annuntiation and Passion

John Donne (1572–1631) · 1633

iambic pentameter · heroic couplets · 46 lines · from Poems

Tamely, fraile body,'abstaine to day; to dayMy soule eates twice, Christ hither and away.She sees him man, so like God made in this,That of them both a circle embleme is,Whose first and last concurre; this doubtfull dayOf feast or fast, Christ came, and went away.Shee sees him nothing twice at once, who'is all;Shee sees a Cedar plant it selfe, and fall,Her Maker put to making, and the headOf life, at once, not yet alive, yet dead.She sees at once the virgin mother stayReclus'd at home, Publique at Golgotha;Sad and rejoyc'd shee's seen at once, and seenAt almost fiftie, and at scarce fifteene.At once a Sonne is promis'd her, and gone,Gabriell gives Christ to her, He her to John;Not fully a mother, Shee's in Orbitie,At once receiver and the legacie.All this, and all betweene, this day hath showne,Th'Abridgement of Christs story, which makes one(As in plaine Maps, the furthest West is East)Of the'Angels Ave,'and Consummatum est.How well the Church, Gods Court of facultiesDeales, in some times, and seldome joyning these!As by the selfe-fix'd Pole wee never doeDirect our course, but the next starre thereto,Which showes where the'other is, and which we say(Because it strayes not farre) doth never stray;So God by his Church, neerest to him, wee know,And stand firme, if wee by her motion goe;His Spirit, as his fiery Pillar dothLeade, and his Church, as cloud; to one end both.This Church, by letting these daies joyne, hath shownDeath and conception in mankinde is one;Or'twas in him the same humility,That he would be a man, and leave to be:Or as creation he hath made, as God,With the last judgement, but one period,His imitating Spouse would joyne in oneManhoods extremes: He shall come, he is gone:Or as though one blood drop, which thence did fall,Accepted, would have serv'd, he yet shed all;So though the least of his paines, deeds, or words,Would busie a life, she all this day affords;This treasure then, in grosse, my Soule uplay,And in my life retaile it every day.

Words in this poem

tamely adv.
In a tame manner.
concurre v. i.
To run together; to meet. [L. concurrere to run together, agree; con- + currere to run. See Current.]
went n.
Course; way; path; journey; direction.
golgotha n.
Calvary. See the Note under Calvary.
scarce a.
Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
sonne n.
A male child; the male issue, or offspring, of a parent, father or mother. [OE. sone, sune, AS. sunu; akin to D. zoon, OS., OFries., & OHG. sunu, G. sohn, Icel. sonr, Sw. son, Dan. sön, Goth. sunus, Lith. sunus, Russ. suin', Skr. sunu (]
starre n.
One of the innumerable luminous bodies seen in the heavens; any heavenly body other than the sun, moon, comets, and nebulæ. [OE. sterre, AS. steorra; akin to OFries. stera, OS. sterro, D. ster, OHG. sterno, sterro, G. stern, Icel. stjarna, Sw. stjerna, Dan. stierne, Goth. staírno, Arm]
farre n.
A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
spouse v. t.
To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
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,]
grosse n.
A heavy silk with a dull finish; as, gros de Naples; gros de Tours. [F. See Gross.]
uplay v. t.
To hoard. Donne.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Annuntiation and Passion 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, The Annuntiation and Passion, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-annuntiation-and-passion.html, id L19931.

Form and metre

The Annuntiation and Passion is 46 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 52% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in heroic couplets, 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. 1 AA--AABBCC--DD--EE----FFG-HHGG------II--JJ--KK dayA · awayA · this · is · dayA · awayA · allB · fallB · headC · deadC · stay · golgotha · seenD · fifteeneD · gone · john · orbitieE · legacieE · showne · one · east · est · facultiesF · theseF · doeG · thereto · sayH · strayH · knowG · goeG · doth · both · shown · one · humility · be · godI · periodI · one · gone · fallJ · allJ · words · affords · uplayK · dayK
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.

LineSyl.Stress
Tamely, fraile body,'abstaine to day; to day12/˘··/˘······
My soule eates twice, Christ hither and away.10·····/˘·˘/
She sees him man, so like God made in this,10··········
That of them both a circle embleme is,10·····/˘···
Whose first and last concurre; this doubtfull day10····˘/·/˘·
Of feast or fast, Christ came, and went away.10········˘/
Shee sees him nothing twice at once, who'is all;10···/˘·····
Shee sees a Cedar plant it selfe, and fall,10···/˘·····
Her Maker put to making, and the head10·/˘··/˘···
Of life, at once, not yet alive, yet dead.10······˘/··
She sees at once the virgin mother stay10·····/˘/˘·
Reclus'd at home, Publique at Golgotha;10·······/˘˘
Sad and rejoyc'd shee's seen at once, and seen10··········
At almost fiftie, and at scarce fifteene.10·/········
At once a Sonne is promis'd her, and gone,10·····/˘···
Gabriell gives Christ to her, He her to John;10/˘········
Not fully a mother, Shee's in Orbitie,11·/˘·/˘·····
At once receiver and the legacie.10··˘/˘·····
All this, and all betweene, this day hath showne,10··········
Th'Abridgement of Christs story, which makes one11······/˘···
(As in plaine Maps, the furthest West is East)10·····/˘···
Of the'Angels Ave,'and Consummatum est.12···/˘·····˘/
How well the Church, Gods Court of faculties10·······/˘˘
Deales, in some times, and seldome joyning these!10··········
As by the selfe-fix'd Pole wee never doe10·······/˘·
Direct our course, but the next starre thereto,10˘//·····˘/
Which showes where the'other is, and which we say10··········
(Because it strayes not farre) doth never stray;10·······/˘·
So God by his Church, neerest to him, wee know,11·····/˘····
And stand firme, if wee by her motion goe;10·······/˘·
His Spirit, as his fiery Pillar doth10·/··/˘˘/˘·
Leade, and his Church, as cloud; to one end both.10··········
This Church, by letting these daies joyne, hath shown10···/˘·····
Death and conception in mankinde is one;10··˘/˘·····
Or'twas in him the same humility,10······˘/˘˘
That he would be a man, and leave to be:10··········
Or as creation he hath made, as God,10··˘/˘·····
With the last judgement, but one period,10···/˘··/˘˘
His imitating Spouse would joyne in one10·/˘·˘·····
Manhoods extremes: He shall come, he is gone:10/·˘/······
Or as though one blood drop, which thence did fall,10··········
Accepted, would have serv'd, he yet shed all;10˘/˘·······
So though the least of his paines, deeds, or words,10··········
Would busie a life, she all this day affords;11·········˘/
This treasure then, in grosse, my Soule uplay,10·/˘·····˘/
And in my life retaile it every day.11········/˘·
Notes from the edition 10

Herbert Grierson's record of the readings of the early editions and manuscripts, from his Poems of John Donne (Oxford, 1912; Project Gutenberg #48688).

  1. Line 1 Tamely, fraile body, Ed: Tamely fraile body 1633: Tamely fraile flesh, 1635-69, O'F, S96 (1650-69 accidentally drop second to day)
  2. Line 6 away.] away; 1633: away, 1635-39
  3. Line 10 yet dead. Ed: yet dead; 1633, B, P, S: and dead; 1635-69, D, H49, Lec, N, O'F, TCD (full stop, MSS.)
  4. Line 12 at Golgotha; Ed: at Golgotha. 1633-69
  5. Line 13 Sad and rejoyc'd] Rejoyc'd and sad B, O'F, P, S, S96
  6. Line 18 legacie. Ed: legacie; 1633-69
  7. Line 31 as 1633: and 1635-69
  8. Line 32 both. 1635-69: both: 1633
  9. Line 34 one; Ed: one. 1633: are one. 1635-69 (one 1669)
  10. Line 37 hath] had B, N, O'F, P, S, S96, TCD

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