The Blossome
Little think'st thou, poore flower,Whom I have watch'd sixe or seaven dayes,And seene thy birth, and seene what every houreGave to thy growth, thee to this height to raise,And now dost laugh and triumph on this bough,Little think'st thouThat it will freeze anon, and that I shallTo morrow finde thee falne, or not at all.
Little think'st thou poore heartThat labour'st yet to nestle thee,And think'st by hovering here to get a partIn a forbidden or forbidding tree,And hop'st her stiffenesse by long siege to bow:Little think'st thou,That thou to morrow, ere that Sunne doth wake,Must with this Sunne, and mee a journey take.
But thou which lov'st to beeSubtile to plague thy selfe, wilt say,Alas, if you must goe, what's that to mee?Here lyes my businesse, and here I will stay:You goe to friends, whose love and meanes presentVarious contentTo your eyes, eares, and tongue, and every part.If then your body goe, what need you a heart?
Well then, stay here; but know,When thou hast stayd and done thy most;A naked thinking heart, that makes no show,Is to a woman, but a kinde of Ghost;How shall shee know my heart; or having none,Know thee for one?Practise may make her know some other part,But take my word, shee doth not know a Heart.
Meet mee at London, then,Twenty dayes hence, and thou shalt seeMee fresher, and more fat, by being with men,Then if I had staid still with her and thee.For Gods sake, if you can, be you so too:I would give youThere, to another friend, whom wee shall findeAs glad to have my body, as my minde.
Vpon this Primrose hill,Where, if Heav'n would distillA shoure of raine, each severall drop might goeTo his owne primrose, and grow Manna so;And where their forme, and their infinitieMake a terrestriall Galaxie,As the small starres doe in the skie:I walke to finde a true Love; and I seeThat'tis not a mere woman, that is shee,But must, or more, or lesse then woman bee.
Yet know I not, which flowerI wish; a sixe, or foure;For should my true-Love lesse then woman bee,She were scarce any thing; and then, should sheBe more then woman, shee would get aboveAll thought of sexe, and thinke to moveMy heart to study her, and not to love;Both these were monsters; Since there must resideFalshood in woman, I could more abide,She were by art, then Nature falsify'd.
Live Primrose then, and thriveWith thy true number five;And women, whom this flower doth represent,With this mysterious number be content;Ten is the farthest number; if halfe tenBelonge unto each woman, thenEach woman may take halfe us men;Or if this will not serve their turne, Since allNumbers are odde, or even, and they fallFirst into this, five, women may take us all.
Words in this poem
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- 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,]
- nestle v. i.
- To make and occupy a nest; to nest. [AS. nestlian.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- severall adv.
- By itself; severally.
- terrestriall a.
- Of or pertaining to the earth; existing on the earth; earthly; as, terrestrial animals. [L. terrestris, from terra the earth. See Terrace.]
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Blossome 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 Blossome, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-blossome.html, id L04903.
Form and metre
The Blossome is 70 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDD, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 ABABCCDD flowerA · dayesB · houreA · raiseB · boughC · thouC · shallD · allD
- 2 ABABCCDD heartA · theeB · partA · treeB · bowC · thouC · wakeD · takeD
- 3 ABABCCDD beeA · sayB · meeA · stayB · presentC · contentC · partD · heartD
- 4 ABABCCDD knowA · mostB · showA · ghostB · noneC · oneC · partD · heartD
- 5 ABABCCDD thenA · seeB · menA · theeB · tooC · youC · findeD · mindeD
- 6 AABBCCCDDD hillA · distillA · goeB · soB · infinitieC · galaxieC · skieC · seeD · sheeD · beeD
- 7 AABBCCCDDD flowerA · foureA · beeB · sheB · aboveC · moveC · loveC · resideD · abideD · falsify'dD
- 8 AABBCCCDDD thriveA · fiveA · representB · contentB · tenC · thenC · menC · allD · fallD · allD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Little think'st thou, poore flower, | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Whom I have watch'd sixe or seaven dayes, | 9 | ········· |
| And seene thy birth, and seene what every houre | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Gave to thy growth, thee to this height to raise, | 10 | ·········· |
| And now dost laugh and triumph on this bough, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Little think'st thou | 4 | /˘·· |
| That it will freeze anon, and that I shall | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| To morrow finde thee falne, or not at all. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Little think'st thou poore heart | 6 | /˘···· |
| That labour'st yet to nestle thee, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And think'st by hovering here to get a part | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In a forbidden or forbidding tree, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And hop'st her stiffenesse by long siege to bow: | 11 | ··········· |
| Little think'st thou, | 4 | /˘·· |
| That thou to morrow, ere that Sunne doth wake, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Must with this Sunne, and mee a journey take. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But thou which lov'st to bee | 6 | ······ |
| Subtile to plague thy selfe, wilt say, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Alas, if you must goe, what's that to mee? | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Here lyes my businesse, and here I will stay: | 11 | ··········· |
| You goe to friends, whose love and meanes present | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Various content | 5 | /˘˘˘/ |
| To your eyes, eares, and tongue, and every part. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| If then your body goe, what need you a heart? | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Well then, stay here; but know, | 6 | ······ |
| When thou hast stayd and done thy most; | 8 | ········ |
| A naked thinking heart, that makes no show, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Is to a woman, but a kinde of Ghost; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| How shall shee know my heart; or having none, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Know thee for one? | 4 | ···· |
| Practise may make her know some other part, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| But take my word, shee doth not know a Heart. | 10 | ·········· |
| Meet mee at London, then, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Twenty dayes hence, and thou shalt see | 8 | /˘······ |
| Mee fresher, and more fat, by being with men, | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Then if I had staid still with her and thee. | 10 | ·········· |
| For Gods sake, if you can, be you so too: | 10 | ·········· |
| I would give you | 4 | ···· |
| There, to another friend, whom wee shall finde | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| As glad to have my body, as my minde. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Vpon this Primrose hill, | 5 | ··/·· |
| Where, if Heav'n would distill | 6 | ····˘/ |
| A shoure of raine, each severall drop might goe | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To his owne primrose, and grow Manna so; | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| And where their forme, and their infinitie | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Make a terrestriall Galaxie, | 9 | ··˘/˘˘··· |
| As the small starres doe in the skie: | 8 | ········ |
| I walke to finde a true Love; and I see | 10 | ·········· |
| That'tis not a mere woman, that is shee, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But must, or more, or lesse then woman bee. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yet know I not, which flower | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I wish; a sixe, or foure; | 6 | ······ |
| For should my true-Love lesse then woman bee, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| She were scarce any thing; and then, should she | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Be more then woman, shee would get above | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All thought of sexe, and thinke to move | 8 | ········ |
| My heart to study her, and not to love; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Both these were monsters; Since there must reside | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Falshood in woman, I could more abide, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| She were by art, then Nature falsify'd. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Live Primrose then, and thrive | 6 | ·/···· |
| With thy true number five; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And women, whom this flower doth represent, | 10 | ·/˘··/··˘/ |
| With this mysterious number be content; | 11 | ··˘/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| Ten is the farthest number; if halfe ten | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Belonge unto each woman, then | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Each woman may take halfe us men; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or if this will not serve their turne, Since all | 10 | ·········· |
| Numbers are odde, or even, and they fall | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| First into this, five, women may take us all. | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
Notes from the edition 9
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 2, line 1 poore heart ... bow:] in brackets 1650-69
- Stanza 2, line 2 labour'st A18, N, TC: labourest 1635-69: labours 1633
- Stanza 2, line 7 that Sunne 1633: the Sunne 1635-69
- Stanza 2, line 8 and not] and om. 1635-39, A18, N, S, TC
- Stanza 3, line 2 wilt] will 1669
- Stanza 3, line 7 tongue A18, A25, B, D, H49, JC, Lec, N, O'F, S96, TC: om. S: tast 1633-69
- Stanza 3, line 8 need you a heart? A25, B, D, H49, Lec, N, O'F, S, S96, TC: need you have a heart? JC: need your heart? 1633-69
- Stanza 4, line 2 and 1633: since 1635-69
- Stanza 5, line 6 I would A18, A25, B, D, H49, JC, N, O'F, S, S96, TC: I will 1633-69, Lec
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.