To Mr E. G
Even as lame things thirst their perfection, soThe slimy rimes bred in our vale below,Bearing with them much of my love and hart,Fly unto that Parnassus, where thou art.There thou oreseest London: Here I have beene,By staying in London, too much overseene.Now pleasures dearth our City doth posses,Our Theaters are fill'd with emptines;As lancke and thin is every street and wayAs a woman deliver'd yesterday.Nothing whereat to laugh my spleen espyesBut bearbaitings or Law exercise.Therefore I'le leave it, and in the Country strivePleasure, now fled from London, to retrive.Do thou so too: and fill not like a BeeThy thighs with hony, but as plenteouslyAs Russian Marchants, thy selfes whole vessell load,And then at Winter retaile it here abroad.Blesse us with Suffolks sweets; and as it isThy garden, make thy hive and warehouse this.
Words in this poem
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- parnassus n.
- A mountain in Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and famous for a temple of Apollo and for the Castalian spring. Grass of Parnassus. (Bot.) See under Grass, and Parnassia.
- dearth n.
- Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine. [OE. derthe, fr. dere. See Dear.]
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
- vessell v. t.
- To put into a vessel.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mr E. G 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 E. G, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/to-mr-e-g.html, id L04973.
Form and metre
To Mr E. G is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 60% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% 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 AABBCC--DDEEFF------ soA · belowA · hartB · artB · beeneC · overseeneC · posses · emptines · wayD · yesterdayD · espyesE · exerciseE · striveF · retriveF · bee · plenteously · load · abroad · is · this
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Even as lame things thirst their perfection, so | 10 | /·····˘/˘· |
| The slimy rimes bred in our vale below, | 10 | ·/˘···/··· |
| Bearing with them much of my love and hart, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Fly unto that Parnassus, where thou art. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| There thou oreseest London: Here I have beene, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| By staying in London, too much overseene. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| Now pleasures dearth our City doth posses, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Our Theaters are fill'd with emptines; | 10 | /˘/˘˘····· |
| As lancke and thin is every street and way | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As a woman deliver'd yesterday. | 10 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Nothing whereat to laugh my spleen espyes | 10 | /˘˘/····/˘ |
| But bearbaitings or Law exercise. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Therefore I'le leave it, and in the Country strive | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Pleasure, now fled from London, to retrive. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Do thou so too: and fill not like a Bee | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy thighs with hony, but as plenteously | 10 | ·········· |
| As Russian Marchants, thy selfes whole vessell load, | 11 | ·/˘/˘···/˘· |
| And then at Winter retaile it here abroad. | 12 | ···/˘·····˘/ |
| Blesse us with Suffolks sweets; and as it is | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thy garden, make thy hive and warehouse this. | 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 5 beene, ... London,] no commas, W
- Line 6 staying] staing W
- Line 7 dearth] dirth W
- Line 7 posses, ... emptines;] posses ... emptines. W
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