To Mr C. B
Thy friend, whom thy deserts to thee enchaine,Urg'd by this unexcusable occasion,Thee and the Saint of his affectionLeaving behinde, doth of both wants complaine;And let the love I beare to both sustaineNo blott nor maime by this division,Strong is this love which ties our hearts in one,And strong that love pursu'd with amorous paine;But though besides thy selfe I leave behindHeavens liberall, and earths thrice-fairer Sunne,Going to where sterne winter aye doth wonne,Yet, loves hot fires, which martyr my sad minde,Doe send forth scalding sighes, which have the ArtTo melt all Ice, but that which walls her heart.
Words in this poem
- unexcusable a.
- Inexcusable. Hayward.
- blott v. t.
- To spot, stain, or bespatter, as with ink. [Cf. Dan. plette. See 3d Blot.]
- liberall a.
- Free by birth; hence, befitting a freeman or gentleman; refined; noble; independent; free; not servile or mean; as, a liberal ancestry; a liberal spirit; liberal arts or studies. [F. libéral, L. liberalis, from liber free; perh. akin to libet, lubet,it pleases, E. lief. Cf. Deliver.]
- wonne v. i.
- To dwell or abide. [See 1st Wone.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mr C. B 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 Mr C. B, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/to-mr-c-b.html, id L04972.
Form and metre
To Mr C. B is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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 A-BAABBACBBCDD enchaineA · occasion · affectionB · complaineA · sustaineA · divisionB · oneB · paineA · behindC · sunneB · wonneB · mindeC · artD · heartD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thy friend, whom thy deserts to thee enchaine, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Urg'd by this unexcusable occasion, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Thee and the Saint of his affection | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Leaving behinde, doth of both wants complaine; | 10 | /˘········ |
| And let the love I beare to both sustaine | 10 | ·········· |
| No blott nor maime by this division, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Strong is this love which ties our hearts in one, | 10 | ······/··· |
| And strong that love pursu'd with amorous paine; | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| But though besides thy selfe I leave behind | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Heavens liberall, and earths thrice-fairer Sunne, | 10 | /˘/˘···/˘· |
| Going to where sterne winter aye doth wonne, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Yet, loves hot fires, which martyr my sad minde, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Doe send forth scalding sighes, which have the Art | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To melt all Ice, but that which walls her heart. | 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 9 thy self] my self 1669
- Line 10 liberall,] liberall 1633
- Line 11 sterne 1633, A18, A23, N, TC, W: sterv'd 1633-69, O'F
- Line 13 forth] out A18, N, TC
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