The Indifferent
I can love both faire and browne,Her whom abundance melts, and her whom want betraies,Her who loves lonenesse best, and her who maskes and plaies,Her whom the country form'd, and whom the town,Her who beleeves, and her who tries,Her who still weepes with spungie eyes,And her who is dry corke, and never cries;I can love her, and her, and you and you,I can love any, so she be not true.
Will no other vice content you?Wil it not serve your turn to do, as did your mothers?Or have you all old vices spent, and now would finde out others?Or doth a feare, that men are true, torment you?Oh we are not, be not you so,Let mee, and doe you, twenty know.Rob mee, but binde me not, and let me goe.Must I, who came to travaile thorow you,Grow your fixt subject, because you are true?
Venus heard me sigh this song,And by Loves sweetest Part, Variety, she swore,She heard not this till now; and that it should be so no more.She went, examin'd, and return'd ere long,And said, alas, Some two or threePoore Heretiques in love there bee,Which thinke to stablish dangerous constancie.But I have told them, since you will be true,You shall be true to them, who'are false to you.
Words in this poem
- thorow a.
- Thorough. Hakluyt.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- stablish v. t.
- To settle permanently in a state; to make firm; to establish; to fix. 2 Sam. vii. 13. [Aphetic form of establish.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Indifferent 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 Indifferent, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-indifferent.html, id L04882.
Form and metre
The Indifferent is 27 lines in 3 stanzas of 9 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 59% of the lines. 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 ABBACCCDD browneA · betraiesB · plaiesB · townA · triesC · eyesC · criesC · youD · trueD
- 2 ABBACCCAA youA · mothersB · othersB · youA · soC · knowC · goeC · youA · trueA
- 3 ABBACC-DD songA · sworeB · moreB · longA · threeC · beeC · constancie · trueD · youD
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I can love both faire and browne, | 7 | ······· |
| Her whom abundance melts, and her whom want betraies, | 12 | ··˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Her who loves lonenesse best, and her who maskes and plaies, | 13 | ············· |
| Her whom the country form'd, and whom the town, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Her who beleeves, and her who tries, | 8 | ········ |
| Her who still weepes with spungie eyes, | 8 | ········ |
| And her who is dry corke, and never cries; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I can love her, and her, and you and you, | 10 | ·········· |
| I can love any, so she be not true. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Will no other vice content you? | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Wil it not serve your turn to do, as did your mothers? | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| Or have you all old vices spent, and now would finde out others? | 15 | ·····/˘······/˘ |
| Or doth a feare, that men are true, torment you? | 11 | ········/·· |
| Oh we are not, be not you so, | 8 | ········ |
| Let mee, and doe you, twenty know. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Rob mee, but binde me not, and let me goe. | 10 | ·········· |
| Must I, who came to travaile thorow you, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Grow your fixt subject, because you are true? | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Venus heard me sigh this song, | 7 | /˘····· |
| And by Loves sweetest Part, Variety, she swore, | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘·· |
| She heard not this till now; and that it should be so no more. | 14 | ·············· |
| She went, examin'd, and return'd ere long, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| And said, alas, Some two or three | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Poore Heretiques in love there bee, | 8 | ········ |
| Which thinke to stablish dangerous constancie. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| But I have told them, since you will be true, | 10 | ·········· |
| You shall be true to them, who'are false to you. | 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).
- Stanza 1, line 3 lonenesse] lovers 1669
- Stanza 2, line 3 spent] worn 1669
- Stanza 2, line 6 mee, 1633: me; 1635-69
- Stanza 2, line 8 travaile] spelt travell, travel 1635-69
- Stanza 3, line 1 sigh] sing 1669
- Stanza 3, line 2 sweetest Part,] sweetest sweet, 1669, P, S
- Stanza 3, line 3 and that it 1633, B, D, H49, Lec, S: it 1635-69, H40, P: and it A18, JC, N, O'F, S96, TC
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.