The Dissolution
Shee'is dead; And all which dieTo their first Elements resolve;And wee were mutuall Elements to us,And made of one another.My body then doth hers involve,And those things whereof I consist, herebyIn me abundant grow, and burdenous,And nourish not, but smother.My fire of Passion, sighes of ayre,Water of teares, and earthly sad despaire,Which my materialls bee,But neere worne out by loves securitie,Shee, to my losse, doth by her death repaire,And I might live long wretched soBut that my fire doth with my fuell grow.Now as those Active KingsWhose foraine conquest treasure brings,Receive more, and spend more, and soonest breake:This (which I am amaz'd that I can speake)This death, hath with my storeMy use encreas'd.And so my soule more earnestly releas'd,Will outstrip hers; As bullets flowen beforeA latter bullet may o'rtake, the pouder being more.
Words in this poem
- mutuall a.
- Reciprocally acting or related; reciprocally receiving and giving; reciprocally given and received; reciprocal; interchanged; as, a mutual love, advantage, assistance, aversion, etc. [F. mutuel, L. mutuus, orig., exchanged, borrowed, lent; akin to mutare to change. See Mutable.]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- hereby adv.
- By means of this.
- losse n.
- Praise. See Loos.
- fuell v. t.
- To feed with fuel.
- outstrip v. t.
- To go faster than; to outrun; to advance beyond; to leave behing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Dissolution 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 Dissolution, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-dissolution.html, id L04906.
Form and metre
The Dissolution is 24 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 AB-CBA-CDD--DEEFFGGHIIHH dieA · resolveB · us · anotherC · involveB · herebyA · burdenous · smotherC · ayreD · despaireD · bee · securitie · repaireD · soE · growE · kingsF · bringsF · breakeG · speakeG · storeH · encreas'dI · releas'dI · beforeH · moreH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Shee'is dead; And all which die | 6 | ······ |
| To their first Elements resolve; | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| And wee were mutuall Elements to us, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| And made of one another. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| My body then doth hers involve, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And those things whereof I consist, hereby | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| In me abundant grow, and burdenous, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| And nourish not, but smother. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| My fire of Passion, sighes of ayre, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Water of teares, and earthly sad despaire, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Which my materialls bee, | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| But neere worne out by loves securitie, | 10 | ·········· |
| Shee, to my losse, doth by her death repaire, | 10 | ·········· |
| And I might live long wretched so | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But that my fire doth with my fuell grow. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Now as those Active Kings | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Whose foraine conquest treasure brings, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Receive more, and spend more, and soonest breake: | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| This (which I am amaz'd that I can speake) | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| This death, hath with my store | 6 | ······ |
| My use encreas'd. | 4 | ···· |
| And so my soule more earnestly releas'd, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Will outstrip hers; As bullets flowen before | 11 | ·˘/··/˘/˘·· |
| A latter bullet may o'rtake, the pouder being more. | 13 | ·/˘/˘······/· |
Notes from the edition 3
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 10 earthly 1633, A18, N, TC: earthy 1635-69
- Line 12 neere 1635-69 (But ... securitie bracketed 1669): ne'r 1633
- Line 24 latter] later 1669
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.