To M T. W
Hast thee harsh verse, as fast as thy lame measureWill give thee leave, to him, my pain and pleasure.I have given thee, and yet thou art too weake,Feete, and a reasoning soule and tongue to speake.Plead for me, and so by thine and my labourI am thy Creator, thou my Saviour.Tell him, all questions, which men have defendedBoth of the place and paines of hell, are ended;And 'tis decreed our hell is but privationOf him, at least in this earths habitation:And 'tis where I am, where in every streetInfections follow, overtake, and meete:Live I or die, by you my love is sent,And you'are my pawnes, or else my Testament.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To M T. W 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 M T. W, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/to-m-t-w.html, id L04969.
Form and metre
To M T. W is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.5 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 AABB--CCDDEEFF measureA · pleasureA · weakeB · speakeB · labour · saviour · defendedC · endedC · privationD · habitationD · streetE · meeteE · sentF · testamentF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hast thee harsh verse, as fast as thy lame measure | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Will give thee leave, to him, my pain and pleasure. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I have given thee, and yet thou art too weake, | 10 | ··/······· |
| Feete, and a reasoning soule and tongue to speake. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Plead for me, and so by thine and my labour | 11 | ·········/· |
| I am thy Creator, thou my Saviour. | 10 | ···˘/˘··/˘ |
| Tell him, all questions, which men have defended | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Both of the place and paines of hell, are ended; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And 'tis decreed our hell is but privation | 11 | ··˘//···˘/˘ |
| Of him, at least in this earths habitation: | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| And 'tis where I am, where in every street | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Infections follow, overtake, and meete: | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Live I or die, by you my love is sent, | 10 | ·········· |
| And you'are my pawnes, or else my Testament. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
Notes from the edition 5
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 1 verse, 1669: verse 1633-54
- Line 2 to him, my pain and pleasure. W, and Chambers (without comma): to him; My pain, and pleasure 1633-69: to him. My pain and pleasure, Grolier
- Line 4 Feete, ... soule W: no comma 1633: Feete ... soule, 1635-69
- Line 5 These lines only in W
- Line 9 our] that W
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.