The Curse
Who ever guesses, thinks, or dreames he knowesWho is my mistris, wither by this curse;His only, and only his purseMay some dull heart to love dispose,And shee yeeld then to all that are his foes;May he be scorn'd by one, whom all else scorne,Forsweare to others, what to her he'hath sworne,With feare of missing, shame of getting, torne:
Madnesse his sorrow, gout his cramp, may heeMake, by but thinking, who hath made him such:And may he feele no touchOf conscience, but of fame, and beeAnguish'd, not that'twas sinne, but that'twas shee:In early and long scarcenesse may he rot,For land which had been his, if he had notHimselfe incestuously an heire begot:
May he dreame Treason, and beleeve, that heeMeant to performe it, and confesse, and die,And no record tell why:His sonnes, which none of his may bee,Inherite nothing but his infamie:Or may he so long Parasites have fed,That he would faine be theirs, whom he hath bred,And at the last be circumcis'd for bread:
The venom of all stepdames, gamsters gall,What Tyrans, and their subjects interwish,What Plants, Mynes, Beasts, Foule, Fish,Can contribute, all ill which allProphets, or Poets spake; And all which shallBe annex'd in schedules unto this by mee,Fall on that man; For if it be a sheeNature before hand hath out-cursed mee.
Or may he for her vertue reverenceOne that hates him onely for impotence,And equall Traitors be she and his sense.
Words in this poem
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- sinne adv.
- Old form of Since. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.]
- interwish v. t.
- To wish mutually in regarded to each other. Donne.
- 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,]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- impotence n.
- The quality or condition of being impotent; want of strength or power, animal, intellectual, or moral; weakness; feebleness; inability; imbecility. [L. impotenia inability, poverty, want of moderation. See Impotent.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Curse 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 Curse, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-curse.html, id L04895.
Form and metre
The Curse is 35 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 63% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.5 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 ABBAACCC knowesA · curseB · purseB · disposeA · foesA · scorneC · sworneC · torneC
- 2 ABBAACC- heeA · suchB · touchB · beeA · sheeA · rotC · notC · begot
- 3 ABBA-CCC heeA · dieB · whyB · beeA · infamie · fedC · bredC · breadC
- 4 ABBA-CCC gallA · interwishB · fishB · allA · shall · meeC · sheeC · meeC
- 5 AAA reverenceA · impotenceA · senseA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who ever guesses, thinks, or dreames he knowes | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Who is my mistris, wither by this curse; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| His only, and only his purse | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| May some dull heart to love dispose, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And shee yeeld then to all that are his foes; | 10 | ·········· |
| May he be scorn'd by one, whom all else scorne, | 10 | ·········· |
| Forsweare to others, what to her he'hath sworne, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| With feare of missing, shame of getting, torne: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Madnesse his sorrow, gout his cramp, may hee | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Make, by but thinking, who hath made him such: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And may he feele no touch | 7 | ······· |
| Of conscience, but of fame, and bee | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Anguish'd, not that'twas sinne, but that'twas shee: | 10 | /˘········ |
| In early and long scarcenesse may he rot, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| For land which had been his, if he had not | 10 | ·········· |
| Himselfe incestuously an heire begot: | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| May he dreame Treason, and beleeve, that hee | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Meant to performe it, and confesse, and die, | 10 | ·········· |
| And no record tell why: | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| His sonnes, which none of his may bee, | 8 | ········ |
| Inherite nothing but his infamie: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or may he so long Parasites have fed, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That he would faine be theirs, whom he hath bred, | 10 | ·········· |
| And at the last be circumcis'd for bread: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The venom of all stepdames, gamsters gall, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| What Tyrans, and their subjects interwish, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| What Plants, Mynes, Beasts, Foule, Fish, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Can contribute, all ill which all | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| Prophets, or Poets spake; And all which shall | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Be annex'd in schedules unto this by mee, | 11 | ·˘/·/˘····· |
| Fall on that man; For if it be a shee | 10 | ·········· |
| Nature before hand hath out-cursed mee. | 10 | /˘······˘· |
| Or may he for her vertue reverence | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| One that hates him onely for impotence, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘˘ |
| And equall Traitors be she and his sense. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
Notes from the edition 11
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 2 curse] course 1669
- Stanza 1, line 3 His only, and only his purse 1633-54, A18, A25, B, C, D, H40, H49, JC, L74, Lec, N, O'F, S, TC: Him, only for his purse 1669, Chambers: His one and his onely purse P
- Stanza 1, line 4 heart 1633-54 and MSS.: whore 1669 and Chambers
- Stanza 1, line 5 And she yeeld then to 1633-54 and MSS.: And then yield unto 1669, Chambers
- Stanza 2, line 1 cramp,] cramps, 1669, Chambers, and most MSS.
- Stanza 2, line 2 him 1633-54 and MSS.: them 1669, Chambers
- Stanza 2, line 4 fame,] shame; A18, A25, N, P, TC
- Stanza 3, line 2 Meant] Went A18, N, TC
- Stanza 4, line 2 Tyrans, 1633-35: Tyrants, 1639: tyrants, 1650-69
- Stanza 4, line 3 Mynes, A18, A25, B, H40, JC, L74, N, O'F, P, Q, S, TC: Myne, 1633-69, D, H49, Lec
- Stanza 4, line 4 ill 1669: ill, 1633-54
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.