Womans constancy
Now thou hast lov'd me one whole day,To morrow when thou leav'st, what wilt thou say?Wilt thou then Antedate some new made vow?Or say that nowWe are not just those persons, which we were?Or, that oathes made in reverentiall feareOf Love, and his wrath, any may forsweare?Or, as true deaths, true maryages untie,So lovers contracts, images of those,Binde but till sleep, deaths image, them unloose?Or, your owne end to Justifie,For having purpos'd change, and falsehood; youCan have no way but falsehood to be true?Vaine lunatique, against these scapes I couldDispute, and conquer, if I would,Which I abstaine to doe,For by to morrow, I may thinke so too.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- antedate n.
- Prior date; a date antecedent to another which is the actual date.
- reverentiall a.
- Proceeding from, or expressing, reverence; having a reverent quality; reverent; as, reverential fear or awe. [Cf. F. révérenciel. See Reverence.]
- unloose v. t.
- To make loose; to loosen; to set free. [1st pref. un- (intensive) + loose.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Womans constancy 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, Womans constancy, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/womans-constancy.html, id L19839.
Form and metre
Womans constancy is 17 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 AABB-CC----DDEE-D dayA · sayA · vowB · nowB · were · feareC · forsweareC · untie · those · unloose · justifie · youD · trueD · couldE · wouldE · doe · tooD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now thou hast lov'd me one whole day, | 8 | ········ |
| To morrow when thou leav'st, what wilt thou say? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Wilt thou then Antedate some new made vow? | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Or say that now | 4 | ···· |
| We are not just those persons, which we were? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Or, that oathes made in reverentiall feare | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Of Love, and his wrath, any may forsweare? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Or, as true deaths, true maryages untie, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| So lovers contracts, images of those, | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Binde but till sleep, deaths image, them unloose? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Or, your owne end to Justifie, | 8 | ········ |
| For having purpos'd change, and falsehood; you | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Can have no way but falsehood to be true? | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Vaine lunatique, against these scapes I could | 10 | ·········· |
| Dispute, and conquer, if I would, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Which I abstaine to doe, | 6 | ······ |
| For by to morrow, I may thinke so too. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
Notes from the edition 1
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 8 Or, 1633, 1669: For, 1635-54 (ll. 8-10 in brackets)
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