Analysis of The Will
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
Before I sigh my last gasp, let me breathe,
Great Love, some legacies ; I here bequeath
Mine eyes to Argus, if mine eyes can see ;
If they be blind, then, Love, I give them thee ;
My tongue to Fame ; to ambassadors mine ears ;
To women, or the sea, my tears ;
Thou, Love, hast taught me heretofore
By making me serve her who had twenty more,
That I should give to none, but such as had too much before.
My constancy I to the planets give ;
My truth to them who at the court do live ;
My ingenuity and openness,
To Jesuits ; to buffoons my pensiveness ;
My silence to any, who abroad hath been ;
My money to a Capuchin :
Thou, Love, taught'st me, by appointing me
To love there, where no love received can be,
Only to give to such as have an incapacity.
My faith I give to Roman Catholics ;
All my good works unto the Schismatics
Of Amsterdam ; my best civility
And courtship to an University ;
My modesty I give to soldiers bare ;
My patience let gamesters share :
Thou, Love, taught'st me, by making me
Love her that holds my love disparity,
Only to give to those that count my gifts indignity.
I give my reputation to those
Which were my friends ; mine industry to foes ;
To schoolmen I bequeath my doubtfulness ;
My sickness to physicians, or excess ;
To nature all that I in rhyme have writ ;
And to my company my wit :
Thou, Love, by making me adore
Her, who begot this love in me before,
Taught'st me to make, as though I gave, when I do but restore.
To him for whom the passing-bell next tolls,
I give my physic books ; my written rolls
Of moral counsels I to Bedlam give ;
My brazen medals unto them which live
In want of bread ; to them which pass among
All foreigners, mine English tongue :
Though, Love, by making me love one
Who thinks her friendship a fit portion
For younger lovers, dost my gifts thus disproportion.
Therefore I'll give no more, but I'll undo
The world by dying, because love dies too.
Then all your beauties will be no more worth
Than gold in mines, where none doth draw it forth ;
And all your graces no more use shall have,
Than a sun-dial in a grave :
Thou, Love, taught'st me by making me
Love her who doth neglect both me and thee,
To invent, and practise this one way, to annihilate all three.
Scheme | xxaaxxbbb cdxaeeaaa xaaaffAaa ggaxhhbbb iicdjjkke llxxxxAaa |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111111111 1111001101 1111011111 1111111111 11111010011 11010111 1111101 11011011101 11111111111101 1100110101 1111110111 1001000100 11001111 11011010111 110101 1111110101 1111110111 10111111100100 111111010 11111001 110110100 01110100 1100111101 110111 111111101 1011110100 10111111110100 11101011 1011110011 1110111 110101011 1101110111 01110011 11110101 0101110101 111111111111101 1111010111 111111101 1101011101 1101010111 0111111101 11001101 11110111 110100110 1101011111 111111101 0111001111 1111011111 1101111111 0111011111 10110001 111111101 1011011101 10101111101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,190 |
Words | 416 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 283 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 74 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 2:06 min read
- 267 Views
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"The Will" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22611/the-will>.
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