The Prohibition
Take heed of loving mee,At least remember, I forbade it thee;Not that I shall repaire my'unthrifty wastOf Breath and Blood, upon thy sighes, and teares,By being to thee then what to me thou wast;But, so great Joy, our life at once outweares,Then, least thy love, by my death, frustrate bee,If thou love mee, take heed of loving mee.
Take heed of hating mee,Or too much triumph in the Victorie.Not that I shall be mine owne officer,And hate with hate againe retaliate;But thou wilt lose the stile of conquerour,If I, thy conquest, perish by thy hate.Then, least my being nothing lessen thee,If thou hate mee, take heed of hating mee.
Yet, love and hate mee too,So, these extreames shall neithers office doe;Love mee, that I may die the gentler way;Hate mee, because thy love is too great for mee;Or let these two, themselves, not me decay;So shall I, live, thy Stage, not triumph bee;Lest thou thy love and hate and mee undoe,To let mee live, O love and hate mee too.
Lest thou thy love and hate and mee undoeTo let mee live, Oh (of in some copies)love and hate mee too.
Then lest thou thy love hate, and mee thou undoeO let me live, yet love and hate me too.
Lest thou thy love, and hate, and me thou undo,O let me live, yet love and hate me too.
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,]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- retaliate v. t.
- To return the like for; to repay or requite by an act of the same kind; to return evil for (evil). [Now seldom used except in a bad sense.] [L. retaliatus, p. p. of retaliare to retaliate; pref. re- re- + a word akin to talio talion, retaliation. Cf. Talion.]
- stile n.
- A pin set on the face of a dial, to cast a shadow; a style. See Style. Moxon. [See Style.]
- conquerour n.
- One who conquers. The Conqueror (Eng. Hist.). William the Norman (1027-1067) who invaded England, defeated Harold in the battle of Hastings, and was crowned king, in 1066. [OF. conquereor, fr. conquerre,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Prohibition 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 Prohibition, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-prohibition.html, id L19872.
Form and metre
The Prohibition is 31 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 AAB-B-AA meeA · theeA · wastB · teares · wastB · outweares · beeA · meeA
- 2 A--B-BAA meeA · victorie · officer · retaliateB · conquerour · hateB · theeA · meeA
- 3 A-BCBC-A tooA · doe · wayB · meeC · decayB · beeC · undoe · tooA
- 6 AA undoA · tooA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Take heed of loving mee, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| At least remember, I forbade it thee; | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Not that I shall repaire my'unthrifty wast | 10 | ·········· |
| Of Breath and Blood, upon thy sighes, and teares, | 10 | ·········· |
| By being to thee then what to me thou wast; | 10 | ·/········ |
| But, so great Joy, our life at once outweares, | 10 | ····/····· |
| Then, least thy love, by my death, frustrate bee, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| If thou love mee, take heed of loving mee. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Take heed of hating mee, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Or too much triumph in the Victorie. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Not that I shall be mine owne officer, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And hate with hate againe retaliate; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| But thou wilt lose the stile of conquerour, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| If I, thy conquest, perish by thy hate. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Then, least my being nothing lessen thee, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| If thou hate mee, take heed of hating mee. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yet, love and hate mee too, | 6 | ······ |
| So, these extreames shall neithers office doe; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Love mee, that I may die the gentler way; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Hate mee, because thy love is too great for mee; | 11 | ··········· |
| Or let these two, themselves, not me decay; | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| So shall I, live, thy Stage, not triumph bee; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lest thou thy love and hate and mee undoe, | 10 | ·········· |
| To let mee live, O love and hate mee too. | 10 | ·········· |
| Lest thou thy love and hate and mee undoe | 10 | ·········· |
| To let mee live, Oh (of in some copies) | 10 | ········/˘ |
| love and hate mee too. | 5 | ····· |
| Then lest thou thy love hate, and mee thou undoe | 11 | ··········· |
| O let me live, yet love and hate me too. | 10 | ·········· |
| Lest thou thy love, and hate, and me thou undo, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| O let me live, yet love and hate me too. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 4
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 repaire my'unthrifty wast] repay in unthrifty a wast, 1669
- Stanza 1, line 5 By ... wast; Ed: By ... wast, 1635-69, B, Cy, H40, O'F, P, RP31, S96 (mee for thee B, P): By being to mee then that which thou wast; 1633: om. A18, D, H40, H49, N, TC
- Stanza 3, line 2 neithers Ed: neythers D, H40, H49, JC: neyther O'F, RP31: neyther their Cy: ne'r their 1633-69, B
- Stanza 3, line 4 thy 1635-69: my 1633 (thy in some copies)
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.