To E. of D. with six holy Sonnets
See Sir, how as the Suns hot Masculine flameBegets strange creatures on Niles durty slime,In me, your fatherly yet lusty Ryme(For, these songs are their fruits) have wrought the same;But though the ingendring force from whence they cameBee strong enough, and nature doe admitSeaven to be borne at once, I send as yetBut six; they say, the seaventh hath still some maime.I choose your judgement, which the same degreeDoth with her sister, your invention, hold,As fire these drossie Rymes to purifie,Or as Elixar, to change them to gold;You are that Alchimist which alwaies hadWit, whose one spark could make good things of bad.
Words in this poem
- fatherly a.
- Like a father in affection and care; paternal; tender; protecting; careful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To E. of D. with six holy Sonnets 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, To E. of D. with six holy Sonnets, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/to-e-of-d-with-six-holy-sonnets.html, id L19928.
Form and metre
To E. of D. with six holy Sonnets is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 ABBAA----C-CDD flameA · slimeB · rymeB · sameA · cameA · admit · yet · maime · degree · holdC · purifie · goldC · hadD · badD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| See Sir, how as the Suns hot Masculine flame | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Begets strange creatures on Niles durty slime, | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| In me, your fatherly yet lusty Ryme | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| (For, these songs are their fruits) have wrought the same; | 10 | ·········· |
| But though the ingendring force from whence they came | 11 | ··········· |
| Bee strong enough, and nature doe admit | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Seaven to be borne at once, I send as yet | 11 | ··········· |
| But six; they say, the seaventh hath still some maime. | 11 | ··········· |
| I choose your judgement, which the same degree | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Doth with her sister, your invention, hold, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| As fire these drossie Rymes to purifie, | 10 | ·/········ |
| Or as Elixar, to change them to gold; | 10 | ·········· |
| You are that Alchimist which alwaies had | 9 | ········· |
| Wit, whose one spark could make good things of bad. | 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).
- Line 4 their fruits] the fruit W
- Line 6 doe 1633: doth 1635-69
- Line 8 six;] six, 1633
- Line 11 drossie] drosse 1650-54
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