The Dampe
When I am dead, and Doctors know not why,And my friends curiositieWill have me cut up to survay each part,When they shall finde your Picture in my heart,You thinke a sodaine dampe of loveWill through all their senses move,And worke on them as mee, and so preferreYour murder, to the name of Massacre.
Poore victories! But if you dare be brave,And pleasure in your conquest have,First kill th'enormous Gyant, your Disdaine,And let th'enchantresse Honor, next be slaine,And like a Goth and Vandall rize,Deface Records, and HistoriesOf your owne arts and triumphs over men,And without such advantage kill me then.
For I could muster up as well as youMy Gyants, and my Witches too,Which are vast Constancy, and Secretnesse,But these I neyther looke for, nor professe;Kill mee as Woman, let mee dieAs a meere man; doe you but tryYour passive valor, and you shall finde than,In that you'have odds enough of any man.
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,]
- massacre n.
- The killing of a considerable number of human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty, or contrary to the usages of civilized people; as, the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day. [F., fr. LL. mazacrium; cf. Prov. G. metzgern, metzgen, to kill cattle, G. metzger a butcher, and LG. matsken to cut, hew, OHG. meizan to cut, Goth. máitan.]
- muster n.
- Something shown for imitation; a pattern. [OE. moustre, OF. mostre, moustre, F. montre, LL. monstra. See Muster, v. t.]
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Dampe 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 Dampe, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-dampe.html, id L04905.
Form and metre
The Dampe is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 75% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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 --AABB-- why · curiositie · partA · heartA · loveB · moveB · preferre · massacre
- 2 AABB--CC braveA · haveA · disdaineB · slaineB · rize · histories · menC · thenC
- 3 AABBCCDD youA · tooA · secretnesseB · professeB · dieC · tryC · thanD · manD
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 I am dead, and Doctors know not why, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And my friends curiositie | 7 | ······· |
| Will have me cut up to survay each part, | 10 | ·········· |
| When they shall finde your Picture in my heart, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| You thinke a sodaine dampe of love | 8 | ········ |
| Will through all their senses move, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And worke on them as mee, and so preferre | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Your murder, to the name of Massacre. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Poore victories! But if you dare be brave, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| And pleasure in your conquest have, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| First kill th'enormous Gyant, your Disdaine, | 9 | ········· |
| And let th'enchantresse Honor, next be slaine, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And like a Goth and Vandall rize, | 8 | ······/· |
| Deface Records, and Histories | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘˘ |
| Of your owne arts and triumphs over men, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And without such advantage kill me then. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| For I could muster up as well as you | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| My Gyants, and my Witches too, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Which are vast Constancy, and Secretnesse, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| But these I neyther looke for, nor professe; | 10 | ·········· |
| Kill mee as Woman, let mee die | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As a meere man; doe you but try | 8 | ········ |
| Your passive valor, and you shall finde than, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| In that you'have odds enough of any man. | 11 | ·····˘/·/˘· |
Notes from the edition 6
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 4 When] And 1669
- Stanza 2, line 2 your] the 1669
- Stanza 2, line 5 and Vandall 1633-54, A18, B, D, H49, JC, Lec, N, O'F, P, S, S96, TC: or Vandall 1669, Chambers
- Stanza 2, line 7 arts] acts 1669, JC
- Stanza 3, line 4 professe; Ed: professe, 1633-69
- Stanza 3, line 8 In that 1633, A18, N, TC: Naked 1635-69, B, D, H49, Lec, JC, O'F, P, S
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