The Apparition
When by thy scorne, O murdresse, I am dead,And that thou thinkst thee freeFrom all solicitation from mee,Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,And thee, fain'd vestall, in worse armes shall see;Then thy sicke taper will begin to winke,And he, whose thou art then, being tyr'd before,Will, if thou stirre, or pinch to wake him, thinkeThou call'st for more,And in false sleepe will from thee shrinke,And then poore Aspen wretch, neglected thouBath'd in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lyeA veryer ghost then I;What I will say, I will not tell thee now,Lest that preserve thee'; and since my love is spent,I'had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,Then by my threatnings rest still innocent.
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,]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- vestall a.
- Of or pertaining to Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth; hence, pure; chaste. [L. Vestalis belonging to Vesta, vestal. See Vesta.]
- stirre v. t.
- To change the place of in any manner; to move. [OE. stiren, steren, sturen, AS. styrian; probably akin to D. storen to disturb, G. stören, OHG. storen to scatter, destroy. *166.]
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Apparition 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 Apparition, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-apparition.html, id L19863.
Form and metre
The Apparition is 17 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBABCDCDCEFFEGGG. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 ABBABCDCDCEFFEGGG deadA · freeB · meeB · bedA · seeB · winkeC · beforeD · thinkeC · moreD · shrinkeC · thouE · lyeF · iF · nowE · spentG · repentG · innocentG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When by thy scorne, O murdresse, I am dead, | 10 | ·········· |
| And that thou thinkst thee free | 6 | ······ |
| From all solicitation from mee, | 9 | ··˘·˘/˘·· |
| Then shall my ghost come to thy bed, | 8 | ········ |
| And thee, fain'd vestall, in worse armes shall see; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Then thy sicke taper will begin to winke, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| And he, whose thou art then, being tyr'd before, | 10 | ······/··· |
| Will, if thou stirre, or pinch to wake him, thinke | 10 | ·········· |
| Thou call'st for more, | 4 | ···· |
| And in false sleepe will from thee shrinke, | 8 | ········ |
| And then poore Aspen wretch, neglected thou | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Bath'd in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lye | 10 | ····//˘··· |
| A veryer ghost then I; | 6 | ······ |
| What I will say, I will not tell thee now, | 10 | ·········· |
| Lest that preserve thee'; and since my love is spent, | 11 | ··˘/······· |
| I'had rather thou shouldst painfully repent, | 10 | ··/˘··/˘˘/ |
| Then by my threatnings rest still innocent. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
Notes from the edition 7
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 2 that thou thinkst] thou shalt think 1669
- Line 3 solicitation] solicitations JC, O'F
- Line 5 thee, ... vestall, Ed: thee ... vestall 1633-39: thee ... Vestall 1650-69
- Line 7 then] 1669 omits
- Line 10 in false sleepe will from 1633, Cy, D, H49, Lec, S: in false sleepe from 1635-54: in a false sleepe even from 1669: in a false sleepe from A25, P: in a false sleepe will from A18, N, TC
- Line 13 I;] I, 1633, some copies
- Line 17 rest still] keep thee A25, Cy, JC, O'F, P
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