The Will
Before I sigh my last gaspe, let me breath,Great love, some Legacies; Here I bequeathMine eyes to Argus, if mine eyes can see,If they be blinde, then Love, I give them thee;My tongue to Fame; to'Embassadours mine eares;To women or the sea, my teares.By making mee serve her who'had twenty more,That I should give to none, but such, as had too much before.
My constancie I to the planets give;My truth to them, who at the Court doe live;Mine ingenuity and opennesse,To Jesuites; to Buffones my pensivenesse;My silence to'any, who abroad hath beene;My mony to a Capuchin.Thou Love taught'st me, by appointing meeTo love there, where no love receiv'd can be,Onely to give to such as have an incapacitie.
My faith I give to Roman Catholiques;All my good works unto the SchismaticksOf Amsterdam; my best civilityAnd Courtship, to an Universitie;My modesty I give to souldiers bare;My patience let gamesters share.Thou Love taughtst mee, by making meeLove her that holds my love disparity,Onely to give to those that count my gifts indignity.
I give my reputation to thoseWhich were my friends; Mine industrie to foes;To Schoolemen I bequeath my doubtfulnesse;My sicknesse to Physitians, or excesse;To Nature, all that I in Ryme have writ;And to my company my wit.Thou Love, by making mee adoreHer, who begot this love in mee before,Taughtst me to make, as though I gave, when I did but restore.
To him for whom the passing bell next tolls,I give my physick bookes; my writen rowlesOf Morall counsels, I to Bedlam give;My brazen medals, unto them which liveIn want of bread; To them which passe amongAll forrainers, mine English tongue.Who thinkes her friendship a fit portionFor yonger lovers, dost my gifts thus disproportion.
Therefore I'll give no more; But I'll undoeThe world by dying; because love dies too.Then all your beauties will bee no more worthThen gold in Mines, where none doth draw it forth;And all your graces no more use shall haveThen a Sun dyall in a grave.Thou Love taughtst mee, by making meeLove her, who doth neglect both mee and thee,To'invent, and practise this one way, to'annihilate all three.
having fallen from three to all below it: annihilate
Words in this poem
- bequeath v. t.
- To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property. [OE. biquethen, AS. becwe to say, affirm, bequeath; pref. be- + cwe to say, speak. See Quoth.]
- argus n.
- A fabulous being of antiquity, said to have had a hundred eyes, who has placed by Juno to guard Io. His eyes were transplanted to the peacock's tail.
- capuchin n.
- A Franciscan monk of the austere branch established in 1526 by Matteo di Baschi, distinguished by wearing the long pointed cowl or capoch of St. Francis. [F. capucin a monk who wears a cowl, fr. It. cappuccio hood. See Capoch.]
- civility n.
- The state of society in which the relations and duties of a citizen are recognized and obeyed; a state of civilization. [L. civilitas: cf. F. civilité. See Civil.]
- courtship n.
- The act of paying court, with the intent to solicit a favor.
- disparity n.
- Inequality; difference in age, rank, condition, or excellence; dissimilitude; -- followed by between, in, of, as to, etc.; as, disparity in, or of, years; a disparity as to color. [LL. disparitas, fr. L. dispar unlike, unequal; dis- + par equal: cf. F. disparité. See Par, Peer.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- bedlam n.
- A place appropriated to the confinement and care of the insane; a madhouse. Abp. Tillotson. [See Bethlehem.]
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
- 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,]
- annihilate v. t.
- To reduce to nothing or nonexistence; to destroy the existence of; to cause to cease to be. [L. annihilare; ad + nihilum, nihil, nothing, ne hilum (filum) not a thread, nothing at all. Cf. File, a row.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Will 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 Will, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/the-will.html, id L04901.
Form and metre
The Will is 53 lines in 7 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 64% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% 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 --AA--BB breath · bequeath · seeA · theeA · eares · teares · moreB · beforeB
- 2 AABB--CC- giveA · liveA · opennesseB · pensivenesseB · beene · capuchin · meeC · beC · incapacitie
- 3 AA--BB--- catholiquesA · schismaticksA · civility · universitie · bareB · shareB · mee · disparity · indignity
- 4 AABBCCDDD thoseA · foesA · doubtfulnesseB · excesseB · writC · witC · adoreD · beforeD · restoreD
- 5 AABBCCDD tollsA · rowlesA · giveB · liveB · amongC · tongueC · portionD · disproportionD
- 6 ----AABBB undoe · too · worth · forth · haveA · graveA · meeB · theeB · threeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Before I sigh my last gaspe, let me breath, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Great love, some Legacies; Here I bequeath | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| Mine eyes to Argus, if mine eyes can see, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| If they be blinde, then Love, I give them thee; | 10 | ·········· |
| My tongue to Fame; to'Embassadours mine eares; | 10 | ·········· |
| To women or the sea, my teares. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By making mee serve her who'had twenty more, | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| That I should give to none, but such, as had too much before. | 14 | ·············· |
| My constancie I to the planets give; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My truth to them, who at the Court doe live; | 10 | ·········· |
| Mine ingenuity and opennesse, | 10 | ·˘˘/˘˘···· |
| To Jesuites; to Buffones my pensivenesse; | 12 | ·/˘·˘/˘····· |
| My silence to'any, who abroad hath beene; | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| My mony to a Capuchin. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou Love taught'st me, by appointing mee | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| To love there, where no love receiv'd can be, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Onely to give to such as have an incapacitie. | 14 | /˘············ |
| My faith I give to Roman Catholiques; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| All my good works unto the Schismaticks | 10 | ·········· |
| Of Amsterdam; my best civility | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| And Courtship, to an Universitie; | 10 | ·/········ |
| My modesty I give to souldiers bare; | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| My patience let gamesters share. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou Love taughtst mee, by making mee | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Love her that holds my love disparity, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Onely to give to those that count my gifts indignity. | 13 | /˘········˘/˘ |
| I give my reputation to those | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| Which were my friends; Mine industrie to foes; | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| To Schoolemen I bequeath my doubtfulnesse; | 11 | ·····˘/···· |
| My sicknesse to Physitians, or excesse; | 10 | ·········· |
| To Nature, all that I in Ryme have writ; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And to my company my wit. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Thou Love, by making mee adore | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Her, who begot this love in mee before, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Taughtst me to make, as though I gave, when I did but restore. | 14 | ············˘/ |
| To him for whom the passing bell next tolls, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I give my physick bookes; my writen rowles | 10 | ·········· |
| Of Morall counsels, I to Bedlam give; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| My brazen medals, unto them which live | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| In want of bread; To them which passe among | 11 | ········/·· |
| All forrainers, mine English tongue. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who thinkes her friendship a fit portion | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| For yonger lovers, dost my gifts thus disproportion. | 13 | ···/˘········ |
| Therefore I'll give no more; But I'll undoe | 10 | ·········· |
| The world by dying; because love dies too. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Then all your beauties will bee no more worth | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Then gold in Mines, where none doth draw it forth; | 10 | ·········· |
| And all your graces no more use shall have | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Then a Sun dyall in a grave. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thou Love taughtst mee, by making mee | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Love her, who doth neglect both mee and thee, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| To'invent, and practise this one way, to'annihilate all three. | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| having fallen from three to all below it: annihilate | 15 | /˘/˘·······˘/˘· |
Notes from the edition 15
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 Here I 1633-54: I here 1669, Chambers
- Stanza 1, line 6 teares. Ed: teares; 1633-69
- Stanza 1, line 7 serve her] love her 1669
- Stanza 2, line 1 give; Ed: give, 1633-69
- Stanza 2, line 2 These stanzas printed without a break, 1669
- Stanza 2, line 5 hath] have 1669
- Stanza 3, line 1 an incapacitie.] no good Capacity. 1669
- Stanza 3, line 2 omitted, A18, A25, B, Cy, D, H40, H49, JC, L74 (added later), Lec, M (added later), N, P, TCC: given in O'F, S, and all editions
- Stanza 4, line 6 wit. Ed: wit; 1633-69
- Stanza 4, line 8 Love, 1650-69: love, 1633-39
- Stanza 4, line 9 did 1633 and MSS.: do 1635-69, O'F
- Stanza 5, line 8 gifts 1633-35, 1669: gift 1639-54
- Stanza 6, line 3 more; But 1633: more, but 1635-69
- Stanza 6, line 4 forth; ... grave. 1669: forth ... grave, 1633-39 by interchange: forth ... grave. 1650-54
- Stanza 7, line 1 all three. 1633-39, three being below the line in 1633 and above in 1635-39: al. three 1650-54, the full stop having fallen from three to all below it: annihilate thee. 1669
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