To Mr T. W
Pregnant again with th'old twins Hope, and Feare,Oft have I askt for thee, both how and whereThou wert, and what my hopes of letters were;
As in our streets sly beggers narrowlyWatch motions of the givers hand and eye,And evermore conceive some hope thereby.
And now thy Almes is given, thy letter'is read,The body risen againe, the which was dead,And thy poore starveling bountifully fed.
After this banquet my Soule doth say grace,And praise thee for'it, and zealously imbraceThy love; though I thinke thy love in this caseTo be as gluttons, which say 'midst their meat,They love that best of which they most do eat.
At once, from hence, my lines and I depart,I to my soft still walks, they to my Heart;I to the Nurse, they to the child of Art;
Yet as a firme house, though the CarpenterPerish, doth stand: As an EmbassadourLyes safe, how e'r his king be in danger:
So, though I languish, prest with Melancholy,My verse, the strict Map of my misery,Shall live to see that, for whose want I dye.
Therefore I envie them, and doe repent,That from unhappy mee, things happy'are sent;Yet as a Picture, or bare Sacrament,Accept these lines, and if in them there beMerit of love, bestow that love on mee.
Words in this poem
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- starveling n.
- One who, or that which, pines from lack or food, or nutriment. [Starve + -ling.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- embassadour n.
- A minister of the highest rank sent a foreign court to represent there his sovereign or country. [See Embassador.]
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- envie v. i.
- To vie; to emulate; to strive. [See Vie.]
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- sacrament n.
- The oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers; hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. [L. sacramentum an oath, a sacred thing, a mystery, a sacrament, fr. sacrare to declare as sacred, sacer sacred: cf. F. sacrament. See Sacred.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mr 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 Mr T. W, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/to-mr-t-w-2.html, id L19910.
Form and metre
To Mr T. W is 28 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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.
- 2 -AA narrowly · eyeA · therebyA
- 3 AAA readA · deadA · fedA
- 4 AAABB graceA · imbraceA · caseA · meatB · eatB
- 5 AAA departA · heartA · artA
- 8 AAABB repentA · sentA · sacramentA · beB · meeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pregnant again with th'old twins Hope, and Feare, | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| Oft have I askt for thee, both how and where | 10 | ·········· |
| Thou wert, and what my hopes of letters were; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As in our streets sly beggers narrowly | 11 | ··/˘····/˘˘ |
| Watch motions of the givers hand and eye, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And evermore conceive some hope thereby. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| And now thy Almes is given, thy letter'is read, | 11 | ·····/····· |
| The body risen againe, the which was dead, | 11 | ·/˘/˘······ |
| And thy poore starveling bountifully fed. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| After this banquet my Soule doth say grace, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And praise thee for'it, and zealously imbrace | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Thy love; though I thinke thy love in this case | 10 | ·········· |
| To be as gluttons, which say 'midst their meat, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| They love that best of which they most do eat. | 10 | ·········· |
| At once, from hence, my lines and I depart, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| I to my soft still walks, they to my Heart; | 10 | ·········· |
| I to the Nurse, they to the child of Art; | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet as a firme house, though the Carpenter | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Perish, doth stand: As an Embassadour | 10 | /˘········ |
| Lyes safe, how e'r his king be in danger: | 10 | ········/˘ |
| So, though I languish, prest with Melancholy, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·˘ |
| My verse, the strict Map of my misery, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Shall live to see that, for whose want I dye. | 10 | ·········· |
| Therefore I envie them, and doe repent, | 10 | ···˘/···˘/ |
| That from unhappy mee, things happy'are sent; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Yet as a Picture, or bare Sacrament, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Accept these lines, and if in them there be | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Merit of love, bestow that love on mee. | 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).
- Stanza 2, line 2 Watch] Marke W
- Stanza 2, line 2 As W: as 1633-69
- Stanza 4, line 3 love; Ed: love, 1633-69
- Stanza 4, line 5 of love,] of love 1633
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