To Mr I. L
Blest are your North parts, for all this long timeMy Sun is with you, cold and darke'is our Clime:Heavens Sun, which staid so long from us this yeare,Staid in your North (I thinke) for she was there,And hether by kinde nature drawne from thence,Here rages, chafes, and threatens pestilence;Yet I, as long as shee from hence doth staie,Thinke this no South, no Sommer, nor no day.With thee my kinde and unkinde heart is run,There sacrifice it to that beauteous Sun:And since thou art in Paradise and need'st craveNo joyes addition, helpe thy friend to save.So may thy pastures with their flowery feasts,As suddenly as Lard, fat thy leane beasts;So may thy woods oft poll'd, yet ever weareA greene, and when thee list, a golden haire;So may all thy sheepe bring forth Twins; and soIn chace and race may thy horse all out goe;So may thy love and courage ne'r be cold;Thy Sonne ne'r Ward; Thy lov'd wife ne'r seem old;But maist thou wish great things, and them attaine,As thou telst her, and none but her, my paine.
Words in this poem
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- chace v. t.
- To pursue. See Chase v. t.
- sonne n.
- A male child; the male issue, or offspring, of a parent, father or mother. [OE. sone, sune, AS. sunu; akin to D. zoon, OS., OFries., & OHG. sunu, G. sohn, Icel. sonr, Sw. son, Dan. sön, Goth. sunus, Lith. sunus, Russ. suin', Skr. sunu (]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mr I. L 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 I. L, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/to-mr-i-l-2.html, id L19911.
Form and metre
To Mr I. L is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 73% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 AABCDD--EEFFGGBCHHIIJJ timeA · climeA · yeareB · thereC · thenceD · pestilenceD · staie · day · runE · sunE · craveF · saveF · feastsG · beastsG · weareB · haireC · soH · goeH · coldI · oldI · attaineJ · paineJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Blest are your North parts, for all this long time | 10 | ·········· |
| My Sun is with you, cold and darke'is our Clime: | 11 | ·········/· |
| Heavens Sun, which staid so long from us this yeare, | 11 | /˘········· |
| Staid in your North (I thinke) for she was there, | 10 | ·········· |
| And hether by kinde nature drawne from thence, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Here rages, chafes, and threatens pestilence; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Yet I, as long as shee from hence doth staie, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thinke this no South, no Sommer, nor no day. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With thee my kinde and unkinde heart is run, | 10 | ·········· |
| There sacrifice it to that beauteous Sun: | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘· |
| And since thou art in Paradise and need'st crave | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| No joyes addition, helpe thy friend to save. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| So may thy pastures with their flowery feasts, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| As suddenly as Lard, fat thy leane beasts; | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| So may thy woods oft poll'd, yet ever weare | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A greene, and when thee list, a golden haire; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| So may all thy sheepe bring forth Twins; and so | 10 | ·········· |
| In chace and race may thy horse all out goe; | 10 | ·········· |
| So may thy love and courage ne'r be cold; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thy Sonne ne'r Ward; Thy lov'd wife ne'r seem old; | 10 | ·········· |
| But maist thou wish great things, and them attaine, | 10 | ·········· |
| As thou telst her, and none but her, my paine. | 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 6 rages, chafes, Ed: rages chafes 1633-39: rages, chafes 1650-69: rages, burnes, W
- Line 11 these lines from W: they have not previously been printed
- Line 16 when thee list, Ed: when thee list 1633, A18, N, TC: (when she list) 1635-69, O'F: when thou wilt W
- Line 20 lov'd wife] fair wife W
- Line 22 her, ... her, Ed: her ... her 1633: her, ... her 1635-69
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