Analysis of Twickenham Garden

John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)



BLASTED with sighs, and surrounded with tears,
Hither I come to seek the spring,
And at mine eyes, and at mine ears,
Receive such balms as else cure every thing.
But O ! self-traitor, I do bring
The spider Love, which transubstantiates all,
And can convert manna to gall ;
And that this place may thoroughly be thought
True paradise, I have the serpent brought.

'Twere wholesomer for me that winter did
Benight the glory of this place,
And that a grave frost did forbid
These trees to laugh and mock me to my face ;
But that I may not this disgrace
Endure, nor yet leave loving, Love, let me
Some senseless piece of this place be ;
Make me a mandrake, so I may grow here,
Or a stone fountain weeping out my year.

Hither with crystal phials, lovers, come,
And take my tears, which are love's wine,
And try your mistress' tears at home,
For all are false, that taste not just like mine.
Alas ! hearts do not in eyes shine,
Nor can you more judge women's thoughts by tears,
Than by her shadow what she wears.
O perverse sex, where none is true but she,
Who's therefore true, because her truth kills me.


Scheme ABXBBCCDD EFEFFGGXX XHXHHAAGG
Poetic Form
Metre 1011001011 10111101 01110111 01111111001 11110111 0101111 01101011 0111110011 110110101 11111101 01010111 01011101 1111011111 11111101 0111110111 11011111 110111111 1011010111 101101101 01111111 01110111 1111111111 01111011 1111110111 1101111 1011111111 111010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,081
Words 205
Sentences 9
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 9, 9, 9
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 283
Words per stanza (avg) 69
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

1:02 min read
220

John Donne

John Donne was an English poet, satirist, lawyer and a cleric in the Church of England. more…

All John Donne poems | John Donne Books

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