Twicknam garden
Blasted with sighs, and surrounded with teares,Hither I come to seeke the spring,And at mine eyes, and at mine eares,Receive such balmes, as else cure every thing;But O, selfe traytor, I do bringThe spider love, which transubstantiates all,And can convert Manna to gall,And that this place may thoroughly be thoughtTrue Paradise, I have the serpent brought.
'Twere wholsomer for mee, that winter didBenight the glory of this place,And that a grave frost did forbidThese trees to laugh, and mocke mee to my face;But that I may not this disgraceIndure, nor yet leave loving, Love let meeSome senslesse peece of this place bee;Make me a mandrake, so I may groane here,Or a stone fountaine weeping out my yeare.
Hither with christall vyals, lovers come,And take my teares, which are loves wine,And try your mistresse Teares at home,For all are false, that tast not just like mine;Alas, hearts do not in eyes shine,Nor can you more judge womans thoughts by teares,Then by her shadow, what she weares.O perverse sexe, where none is true but shee,Who's therefore true, because her truth kills mee.
Words in this poem
- blasted a.
- Blighted; withered.
- benight v. t.
- To involve in darkness; to shroud with the shades of night; to obscure.
- mandrake n.
- A low plant (Mandragora officinarum) of the Nightshade family, having a fleshy root, often forked, and supposed to resemble a man. [AS. mandragora, L. mandragoras, fr. Gr. mandragore.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Twicknam garden 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, Twicknam garden, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/twicknam-garden.html, id L19850.
Form and metre
Twicknam garden is 27 lines in 3 stanzas of 9 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABBCCDD. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
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 ABABBCCDD tearesA · springB · earesA · thingB · bringB · allC · gallC · thoughtD · broughtD
- 2 ABABBCCDD didA · placeB · forbidA · faceB · disgraceB · meeC · beeC · hereD · yeareD
- 3 ABABBCCDD comeA · wineB · homeA · mineB · shineB · tearesC · wearesC · sheeD · meeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Blasted with sighs, and surrounded with teares, | 10 | /˘···˘/˘·· |
| Hither I come to seeke the spring, | 8 | /˘······ |
| And at mine eyes, and at mine eares, | 8 | ········ |
| Receive such balmes, as else cure every thing; | 11 | ˘/·/˘···/˘· |
| But O, selfe traytor, I do bring | 8 | ········ |
| The spider love, which transubstantiates all, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And can convert Manna to gall, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| And that this place may thoroughly be thought | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| True Paradise, I have the serpent brought. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| 'Twere wholsomer for mee, that winter did | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Benight the glory of this place, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And that a grave frost did forbid | 8 | ······˘/ |
| These trees to laugh, and mocke mee to my face; | 10 | ·········· |
| But that I may not this disgrace | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Indure, nor yet leave loving, Love let mee | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Some senslesse peece of this place bee; | 8 | ········ |
| Make me a mandrake, so I may groane here, | 10 | ···/······ |
| Or a stone fountaine weeping out my yeare. | 10 | ···˘//˘··· |
| Hither with christall vyals, lovers come, | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| And take my teares, which are loves wine, | 8 | ········ |
| And try your mistresse Teares at home, | 8 | ········ |
| For all are false, that tast not just like mine; | 10 | ·········· |
| Alas, hearts do not in eyes shine, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Nor can you more judge womans thoughts by teares, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Then by her shadow, what she weares. | 8 | ···/···· |
| O perverse sexe, where none is true but shee, | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| Who's therefore true, because her truth kills mee. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 11
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 1, line 3 eares] years 1669
- Stanza 1, line 6 spider] spiders 1669
- Stanza 1, line 8 thoroughly 1633-39: throughly 1650-69
- Stanza 2, line 3 did] would A18, A25, N, TC
- Stanza 2, line 4 laugh,] laugh 1633
- Stanza 2, line 5 that I may not] since I cannot 1669
- Stanza 2, line 6 nor yet leave loving, 1633: om. D, H40, H49, Lec: nor leave this garden, 1635-69, A18, A25, Cy, JC, L74, N, O'F, P, S, S96, TC
- Stanza 2, line 8 groane A18, D, H40, H49, N, TC: grow 1633-69, B, L74, Lec, O'F, P, S, S96
- Stanza 2, line 9 my yeare, 1633, 1669, D, H40, H49, Lec: the yeare. 1635-54, A18, A25, L74, N, O'F, P, TC
- Stanza 3, line 2 loves] lovers 1639
- Stanza 3, line 6 womans A18, D, H40, H49, L74, N, TC: womens 1633-69, Lec, P, S96
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