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Theses and Dissertations

1963

The significance of John Donne's "Anniversaries"

William A. Digel
Lehigh University

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Digel, William A., "The significance of John Donne's "Anniversaries"" (1963). Theses and Dissertations. 3150.
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ihe Significance of John Donne's "Anniversaries"

by
William A. D1gel

A Thesis

Presented to the Graduate Faculty

of 1.,ehigh Universtty

in Candidacy for the Degree of

Master of Arts

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This thesis is accepted and anproved

in oartial fulfillment of the requirements ror
the degree of Master of Arts.

L.
in

'd of the Dep·a.rtment or English

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Table of Contents

.Abstract • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . . . . . .1
Chapter I: The w·riting of the "Annive:r-saries" • • • • • 4
Chapter II: Publication and Early Reception. • • • • • 20
Chapter III: "And new Philosophy •• • II • • • • • • • • •
Chapter IV: Recent Criticism. • • • • • • • • • • • • .44
Chapter V: Structure and Text • • • • • • • • • • • • .53
Chapter VI: . Explication of 11
The It1 irst Anniversary" • • • .56
Chapter VII: Exnlication o'f "The Second Anniversary" • • 92
Appendix I: Outlines of the "Anniversaries" • • • • • • 124
Appendix II: Vi ta •• • • • • • • • • • • • • . . • • . 127

Footnotes • • • • • • ·-· '-~- :~ :•= •. •• • • • •• • • • • • • • • 128

Bi bliogra.phy • • • .• • '•.- ._: ·:•: • • • • • •• •• • • • • • • • .144

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ABSTRACT

'!his thesis describ es the signifi cance of "The First

Annive rsary" and "The Second Annive rsary" by placing the

poems in the contex t of Donne' s life and furthe r clarifi es

the meaning s of the poems through examin ation of the releva nt

critici sm and through exolic ation of the ooems, includ ing

J'

de.taile d analys is of' their structu res and explan ations ot

obscure referen ces, phraseo logy, and usage.
More than most poems, the "Anniv ersarie s" must be read
in relatio n to the life or the poet, for much of Donne' s
...
lire is reflect ed in them. 'Ibey were written in 1611 and
1612, toward the end of the unhapp y middle ~eriod of his
lire, the years between his marriag e in 1601 and his ordin-
ation in 1615. Donne's hopes for secula r preferm ent had been

fading ever since his marria ge, and he was consid ering a

career in the church. H·oweve r, he wanted to be sure that

he had a vocatio n before he took orders ; his concern is
re.flee ted in the "Anniv ersarie s," :for they are nettern ed

after religio us exercis es of the type that could be used

to determ ine electio n. ,.,-
...·:-: . -,
{
.
The "Anniv ersarie s 11 were occasio ned by the death of
1
Elizab eth Drury, the only survivi ng child or Sir Robert
Drury, a wealthy ,and somewhat influe ntial man who became
Doll.&.-ie' s patron . Me_ny readers f'eel that Donne was insince re

·1n writing th·e 11

.Anniv ersarie s, 11 for they contain ext,rava gent-~
praise ot' the daught er or a rich man, a girl Donne never

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eve n saw.
Eli zab eth 's dea th was on ly "the occ asi on for the ,::,oetry and·
tha t Eli zab eth ser ves ch ief ly as a dev lce to roc us Do nne 's
tho ug hts .
However, a car efu l rea din g wi ll dem ons tra te tha t
Oth ers ins ist tha t the poems are all eg ori es, wi th
I

(
Eli zab eth reo res en tin g the Log os .,.or Queen Eli zab eth . 'lhe II

all eg ori cal rea din gs are im po ssi ble ; in the fir st pla ce, l
the tex ts wi ll no t sup po rt the m. And in ad dit ion , the y lrm it r

rat he r tha n ext end the me ani ngs of the poe ms , un lik e tru e
all eg ori cal rea din gs.
The mo st wi del y-d is cus sed as pee t of the "A nn ive rsa
rie s" L

~
C

D
is wh at the y rev eal of Do nne 's att itu de tow ard sci enc e. [

Aro und the tur n of the cen tur y, cri tic s bel iev ed tha t Donne,
lik e the ms elv es, had bee n dis illu sio ne d by the dis cov eri es
of sci enc e and had become a sce pti c. Oth er cri tic s hav e in-
. sis ted tha t Donne was ext rem ely me die val in ou tlo ok . Bo th
sch ool s of cri tic ism are lar ge ly in err or: Donne was ne ith er
me die val no r mo der n; he was a Re nai ssa nce po et who use d his D
0

va st lea rni ng , inc lud ing his kno wle dge of sci enc e, as a
-
sou rce for no eti c ma ter ial s. He was cap abl e of dra win g
me tap hor s of sp iri tua l dis tre ss fro m the de str uc tio n of the
old un ive rse by the new sci enc e wi tho ut los ing his fai th in
God.
The "A nn ive rsa rie s" are,· as com pli cat ed as any of Donne• s
poems and are dif fic ult to ex pli cat e. The ex pli cat ion s in ·.:'J·•

thi s the sis are bas ed for the mo st pa rt on cri tic al . art icl
es
in pe rio dic als , boo ks of cri tic ism , no tes in ed itio ns of the
poe ms , and the Ox for d En gli sh Di cti on ary . The tex ts of the
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poems are quoted in full for the convenience of the reader,

and every effort has been made to take advantage of the
best textual variants.

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• ' ·.I CH AP~ R I

0

Do nne 's rea son s for wri tin g the "A nni ver sar ies" may~
be bes t und ers too d thro ugh a stu dy of his 11.f e dur ing _the

per iod bet wee n his ma rria ge in Dec emb er, 160 1, and his
l
ord ina tio n 1·n 1614/15. The se ooe ms wer e com pos ed in 161 1
I
I
I~

and 161 2, rat her nea r the end of thi s thi rte en- yea r per iod ,

but the situ ati ons whi ch led to the ir com pos itio n had the ir
ori gin s in the .cr isi s-f ille d yea rs imm edi ate ly ai't er Don ne• s
ma rria ge: of cou rse , all of his exp erie nce s bef ore the ir
com pos itio n hel ped to sha pe the poe ms, but onl y tho se of ·thi s

per iod had a dir ect bea ring : on the "An riiv ers arie s. 111
The ser ies of eve nts tha t cre ate d the occ asi on for
the "An niv ers arie s" beg an wit h Do nne 's ma rria ge, whi ch
cha nge d his ent ire lif e. Had he not ma rrie d Ann More,
he pro bab ly wou ld hav e bee n abl e to con tinu e his adv anc e-
men t int o bet ter pos itio ns and roy al pre fer me nt. In 1598,
thr ee yea rs bef ore his ma rria ge, he became· sec ret ary to

Sir Thomas Ege rton , the Lor d Kee per , and sub seq .ue. ntly

beg an a~ po liti cal car eer , ver y oro bab ly ser vin g in Par lia - I
I
l ,,

men t in 160 1. 2 It,. is se.f e to say tha t Donne was mak ing
con tac ts tha t wou ld hav e hel ped him alo ng to a nos !tio n
of imp orta nce and tha t he was ola nni ng a car eer in gov ern -
me nt.

Lad y Eg ert on' s rav ori te nie ce, More, spe nt a

gre at -d~e .l of tim e at· her unc le's hou se and was tre ate d

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as if she were an adopted daughter; her own mother was dead.

After Lady Egerton died in 1600, Ann mana.ged her uncle •··s

house although she wes only sixteen years old. Donne, living
in Sir Thomas 1 s household as an employee and a trusted friend,
q·u1 te naturally ca.me to know Ann very well. As time went by,
,, ""
nature took its course and Donne fell in love with Ann, and
they met in pr1 vate after she returned to her f e.ther· 1 s home
when Sir Thomas made plans to marry again. 3

Donne and Ann were secretl:r mB.rried in December of 1601.

Donne's best friend, Christopher Brooke, ga.ve Ann P.'tva.y, e1.nd

Brooke I s brother, Samuel, who he.d recentl:l taken orders,

performed the ceremony. Donne, we presume, had thought

the.t Ann's father, Sir George 1' Iore, w9uld grudgj_ngl~r l1ccept 1

.h·er m:~rriage; he could not he.ve anticipated tha.t Sir Geo-rge

wtluld r.e"a.c·t ·in th·e wa_y in ..which ·he did. The delicate task
t.
:of: l.nf·o.rm·i·ng S tr George. o·f the marri2ge 112.s entrusted to the

E.arl of ~-Jorthumberlend, 11 e.fter numerous hints he.d only made

Sir George angry and~- suspicious. 11 The Ee.rl f B~iled to persu_a~de

Sir George to .2.c·qep·t the marri 2.ge. Sir George, "who we,s ·a vain

·.tn.an Etn:d 2.t t·his tim,e st-.ooa high in the Queen I s fa.vor·, n "v\'as
te_rrib:Ly angry,. ins'is-ted tha.t Egerton dismiss Donne, and had -
'.:Dohrie: a,nd. the BroQkes impri·soned "on the che.rge of breaking
t:he- ·c.ivil and canon :i.av1 by marrying· a girl with.out: .her f a.ther I s
,·

co.ne.ent. 11 Sir George ·tried to hB.ve tne ma.rriage a~nnulled,

j.
but Donne managed to persuade him to drop the charges and to
.. ··i

allow Ann to join hi~.4

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Al though Donne managed to persue.de Sir George to a.ccept

Ann I s marriage, he could not induce him to gi v:.e Ann her

dowry. Donne's future did not look bright: his wife was

denied her a.owry, he had squa.nderea_ his inheri tBnce and had
incurred heavy debts, and he.had lost his position as secretazy '1
(_

to the Lord Keeper. Even though Sir George had refused to

give Ann·. her dowry, he tried to help the Donnes by asking

Sir Thomas to take Donne back into his employ; but he refused,
apparently feeling that dismissing and then rehiring servants
was improper.5
..
Donne and Ann went· to: 1·1.ve wit;h. Sir Francis Woolley,

~n 1 s kinsman ana_ Donne I s friend. Later, "Donne rented a

smB.11 house a.t Mitcham and divided his time between it and

.rooms in the Strand, 11 in which he p.r.eJ?e.red ,materia.l from

can.-on law and the Fethers for the use of Thomas Morton

,Etg8"i,Qst the RomEtn pa_rty. Do.nne- 1 ·s ·house .\

1r12.s small a_nd da.rnp.;-
i
he w2.. s frequentl::t :lll. :s·oth. h·e end Ann hed been used to )
I

comfort, but tliey crno.. thetr: ,ohl.ldren, vJho were bor.n 11 in rapid
succession," hl3.d to· l . ive in _nee.r.-poverty. Finally, in 1607,
JI

Donne :had a ch~noe to improve·h1a lot. Morton was made Dean

elf Glouc-e_:ster, a.nd he suggested that Donne ta.ke orders, '

rn
'"

H_promising to give him a. corfs.!d.erable benefice. 116 Wal ton, I

citing Morton es his source, reports that Donne refused

·Morton's offer because he vJa.s uncertain about his reputa-

tion among those who. had known him ,r1hen there hPd been

"some irregularities'' ·1n his life,; fearing that these men

might mistake hi~mot1ves 7 a~ because he was not entirely

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pe rsu ad ed th at he wo uld be ac ce pt in g the no si tio

n ou t o·r
re lig io us vo ca tio n as he sh ou ld, or ou t of ne ed
of means
to su pp or t hi ms elf and hi s ra mi ly . Go sse sn ec ul
ate s th at
Donne wa.s st il l at tra ct ed to the Roman fai tr1 ,
rem ind ing us
of hi s up br in gi ng .8 Mr s. Sim ps on ad mi ts th at Go
sse may be
pa rtl y rig ht ; bu t sh e be lie ve s th at Wal ton is"
to be re lie d
on in th is in sta nc e, su gg es ts th at Do nn e's de cis
io n may ha ve
be en in flu en ce d by hi s "li ng er in g ho pe of se cu la
r ~r om oti on ,"
and co nc lud es thA t al l of the se mo tiv es co
uld ha ve be en at
work in Do nn e's co mp lex mi nd .9
As fa r es we know, fo r some tim e Donne was no t
of fe re d
ot he r em plo ym en t. He was ao pa re nt ly in a "s ta te
of ac ute
de -o res sio n, 11 fo r he wr ote Bi ath an ato s, a tre
at is e in wh ich
he ca ref 11 lly ex am ine d the gr ou nd s up on wh ich
su ici de is
co ns ide red to be a mo rta l sin . He co nc lud ed th at su ici de
(

is ju sti fia bl e in ce rta in cir cu ms tan ce s. '!he wo rk was

int en de d fo r nu bl ica tio n, bu t p~ nn e, fe ar in g m isi
nt er pr et a-
tio n, de cid ed to se nd the ma nu sc rip t on ly to "'so
me pa rti cu la r
fri en ds in bo th Un iv er sit ies ~,ulO

In Fe br ua ry or 16 09 Donne was co ns id er in g em ig ra tio n

to Am eri ca . A le tte r wr itt en in th at mo nth sa ys "News is
he re none at al l, bu t th at Jo hn Dunn se ek s to be
se cr et ar y
at Vi rg in ia ."· Th ere is no ot he r re co rd of Do nn
e's in te re st
in th is ve nt ur e. La te r in th e same ye ar Si r Ge
org e wa s
f~ ll y pe rsu ad ed to na y An n's dowry, wh ich en ab led
( ,, ' ' Donne -

to se ttl e down and fin d a ~e an s of su pn or t in lit

er ~r y en -
de av or . As was me nti on ed ab ov e, he ha d· nr ep are d ma
t·e ria ls
- . . -- '.

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...., ...,,,..,, ........ ··----- .............-. ......._,.., . ......... ..,

.... ,. .. ......,.,. '. ._...... .....
' . .
.
. .. ~ ... ,, ....,, ,_._,. ...... ~
i••
.... , ..,-..... • - ..........
. .. ,..,. ..,_~ .
~ ,·;t. .
• ·"', .
........... .

"
•

dealing with controversial theology for Thomas Morton; and

he continued study in this area, composing hie Pseudo-Martyr,
a work which attempts to persuade Catholics to swear allegi- ~ t
;·
,.

ance to the king. The Pseudo-~artyr, published in 1610, is ~

i
f
•a learned and temperately worded discussion of the quest~n,
and it won the approval of King James.n 11
Donne published Ignatius his CQnclave in 1611. Like
Pseudo-Martyr, it is a work controverting Roman Catholic
beliefs; Donne was by this time a "convinced Anglican."
Mrs. Simpson believes that Donne at this time was free from
the pride and scept1c·1sm that had marked his earlier writing
but that his faith "was chiefly an intellectual matter and
awakened no deep emotion.n 12
It is easy to see that Donne must have been nearly
,frantic with worry about his chances for a career and enough
steady income to support his growing family. However, he was
soon to find support 1n the person of Sir Robert Drury.
Donne may have known Sir Robert tor a number of years:
r,

Walton states that Donne attended Cambrldge,13 and his period

of residence there would probably have overlapped Drury's. ,-,
"

-(..__

l
__ ~,--·-·
J .... ~
,'.
And 1t :1s certain that they had acquaintances and friends in
.. -- .. •· ..

common; for instance, Sir Henry 1votton was one of Donne I s

--ii
best friends, and Wotton was friendly with Sir Edmund Bacon, J

'!'

Drury's brother-in-law. In addition, both Donne and Sir Robert :~

·,,l

were frequently at court, although in different positions. Sir

Robert 11 had an acknowledged place among the nobles and gentle-
men who attended on the K,tng, 11 and Donne, obviously an

·....... ···- . .. .,...,

.

,·. ......... .
n
••- ,, ..... .. 0 -·,-· --·-•-•""·'"--H--~·-•--• ·---•••-·- - - - · · · - · ··-·--~---- '_.., .. _. -·-·-·-··-·----·.-•·-• .... -•O-••-•--- .....- .. - · -
I
 (

--
f
~----·------.------- -·'" -----
..
-·

~.. ........ .
·-
. .. .· . ...... . .. .... ,......... ..
-·· •-v·-·· ···-·--·-·
-~.""f•••· · .....
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... ,, .,·. ...
• ,r._.,.,_,
..........
. '
... ..,,,~...
. . . ..... ....,,.,..., . ....
; " ,.

':,,, ..... ·• •• • ..,,,,...Q,C • • •. .: . ·•. ·~ "':"........!:':.'" .. '

.
......
•• OM,.•
.. . .....
.•• • • ........

'

intellectual, would no·t ord1ne.r1ly be expected to attract

the friendship of Sir Robert, who had _no great intellectual
-
interests. However, a close friendship did develop between
Donne and Sir Robert; its development was undoubtedly due to·.
Sir Robert's gratitude for Donne's sympathy in wr1t1ng "A
Funeral Elegie" for Elizabeth Drury. Elizabeth died early in
December of 1610 at the age of fifteen, and her death was a
great blow to her proud and loving parents. 14
One might suppose that Sir Robert was simply flattered
by having a 11 tere.ry work i1ri tten in memory of his beloved

daughter. R. C. Bald describes Sir Robert as proud, short-

tempered, and notoriously tactless; a.nd notes that he ,vas
perpetually seeking a position of ·responsibility in government .•
Such an off1ce-s~eker might enjoy the publicity attending
Donne's elegy. 15 However, Sir Robert had not responded with
friendship in 1605 when Joseph Hall dedicated h1s Two Centuries
ot Meditation ·to Lady Drury and himself. As a matter of fac~
. Sir Robert refused to g~ve Hall a stipend that was his due as
the Drurys ''. chaplain at Hawstead in Essex.16 Therefore, we
may suppose that Sir Robert's reaction to Donne's elegy was
motivated by his appreciation of sincere sympathy rather
than the less noble motives that we might suspect him of.
.
I't is impossible to ascertain exactly how DOflne decided
to address an elegy to Elizabeth Drury. He never saw the
girl, probably did not know her mother, and in all likeli-
hood knew her father only slightly. However, R. c. Bald has

.:.
,.;_ .. ~~.·::"". :······~·· - ··-·· "'' ··-....., ..... ~ .... ~

' I

···-·· ....... - -·· ··-· . ..• ..• • -,· -· - ···-····· -·----·-- - - -- . ··-··--·- - . - --··· .. .. . ·-. . ,. - - . .... -- - ...... .,. ----- --- ----·-· --------- -- •, -- - ----------- - - ---·•-····· - - - -- • - -----·- ·- ---- ----· ···- ·-··- ---- .. --.,, ___ • .•. ·---·------~---- •• --·-··----·--·- ·- .J._ -·----------- ...---~---. :·t···. --~.,
-~ · - - - - - - - ............ ... -.. --, .. -- ..

: L..'....· I
. . -~'
 ---•.•·.r"•t;t~uv-:-· ·i·r,· ...... ---· ·- • ·

........ ~·-
•··
··-· .-,. .:....- ·,...
·•.. . ............:""" .. ·· .,r • ,·
' ........... · . ·•, .........._. -• . . ·. . . . . 10 ·. -·..... ·.... --- -
.. : ... ••,f••. ' .....

discovered a link between Donne and Sir Robert that may

have had something to do with Donne's composing the elegy.
This link is William Lyly, who married Donne's elder sister
,

Anne, a widow, 1n 1593 or 1594. Anne probably lived w1.th

i
him at Hawstead from 1598 to 1603, where Lyly was an intimate
I
friend of Sir Robert. Joseph Hall, mentioned above, who was
pastor at Hawstead, had nothing good to say about Lyly; he
felt tha.t Lyly, "a witty and bold Athe1st, 11ao!1he.d so deeply
insinua.ted himself into a position of influence with Sir
Robert tha.t he could not "work any good upon II Sir Robert.
/·
Bald feels that Anne Donne Lyly introduced Donne to Hall
while she was living at Hawstead. - He supposes that Hall's
J
animosity towards her husband did not include her. "Such a
meeting, 11 Bald says, "would help to explain how Hall ca.me to
-
. act as the 'harbinger • to the 1:Ann1v.~ra_ar1e.s..,' 11 end would also
explain why Donne at a later date included Hall among his
"'dear friends and benefacto rs.'" Also, Bald notes, it 1a
probable that Ann knew Elizabeth Drury because of the
friendship between her husband and Sir Robert, and that Anne
hers,elf suggested that Donne write an elegy for Elizabeth . 17
}

It is fair to say that Donne's motive in composing the

elegy for Elizabeth Drury was not entirely his sympathy for
her grieving parents. Donne was still looking for employ-
ment; the e-le.gy was undoubted ly in part· an e.ttempt to gain
the attention of a potential patron. Donne had previously
written parly mercenary elegies. Grierson says of Donne's
"Eleg1e on the Lady Marckham" that "elegies like this •••
·"7:,.-,ia-1,: ...

... ....,....
..

-..-.-.---·-···--,'•
;, -·- . '

,
~- ·--· --···--- ·•····--.. -·----·---•·----• _ , .. ___. , . ,.. ,~. ,,_____ . --••·-•-•··-------··~:·-·---·---·•-----·-· •----.. --..-,•..,••--·•-•--. -·-•----·• -----·-···.,·--•--•-~·:::~----"··-·•-·•------·-·•~ ··-•·--·-·-·-·-•--------•·· •· •·•- ·-~-·------.-- -------·-• -·-··· •·•-•·-•-••••-•·---·---•----..---·------··-------,d..-- ....,......_-.. , ,. _ . . ,.-.. -,-- ..;..--,..------• . --·-· •-·
')<
r
 .... ..,.,.
-••••· - -.. I:·.-..~·-· I-••. ---'-·•·'~"'·
' ,--d-...........
,_ . -. , : . . -.. -· .. -·- . .,. . 1·1·-- -
..-..._... ··-
- o• . - -·-""' o. L' /}.'",r.-.~·n:jl•·;,--- • -- - ... - r- - .. - t - •· - '
- --- .. - 4-- - .. _ .. -

•• ,.~. . ····-- . ..... ,, .........._... ...

... ~~ • ......
. •llo• ..,. . ••.· ' '

were frankly addressed not eo much to the memory of the

18
dead as to the pocket of the living." Much.the same
might be said for the ~Eleg1e on Mistris Boulstred. 1 Both
Lady Marckham and Mrs. Boulstred were kinswomen of Donne's
patroness, Lucy, CoWltess of Bedford. Donne was certainly

trying to please the cotmtess, as he was later in the

"Obsequies To The Lord Harrington"; Harrington was the
Countess 1 sbrother. Donne did gain the Countess I s favor,
partly through these poems. Grierson quotes Donne from a
letter to Goodyere: II I am almost sorry, that an Elegy
'1,.
~

should have been able to move her to so much compassion

heretofore, as to offer to pay my debts • • • , that she
sent me tio, e t c. "19
_ Considering the circumstances, inolud-
ing Donne's only casual acquaintance with Sir Robert, his great
"'
need at the timer, and the fact that he never lmew Elizabeth
Drury, Donne's elegy to her may be classed with those men-
tioned above as being designed to produce profit as much as
to express sympathy.20 . .
At all events, the relationship between Donne and the I
)
/

Drurys became friendship after the presentation of the

11 Funerall Elegie. 11 Sir Robert discovered, according to
Bald, that he and Donne had things in common: both were
widely travelled and both sought government posts. In 1611
Sir Robert decided, together with Lady Drury, to go to the
Continent. He was granted a " 1 license to travell 1 11 on
July 2nd, and departed four months later. Sir Robert asked

·'
.,·.,

--
\ - - ·----------···-·--- .,_,. ___ __,( ···--····---···--4---~-- .... --- -··· .. -·-----oil.. ..
' . . . ·-· . ... . .
_.. : ...~ ·-····
...... _. .............
....
- ,-........,, ....
.
·•
= _ ......·7°'-~"'
.. , _ . 4 : , . ~ ..
1a
, .. . _.\~-·. ....·""".'~"""....., ..,.,,.. .,.. . ,. : . /. . ~J
.......

' . . I
i'
Donne to accompany him, pre sum abl y hop ing to use Do nne 's
ab ilit ies as a lin gu ist and sec ret ary . Donne did , in fac t,
ser ve as Sir Rob ert 1 s sec ret ary ; let ter s tha t Donne wro te
for him have sur viv ed. 21
·Donne I a fir st rec ord ed ref ere rtce to Sir Rob ert' a '

inv ita tio n 11 1s in an und ated Lat in let ter to Sir Henry
Goodyere 1 whi ch has not bee n inc lud ed in any rec ent col -
lec tio ns of Donne 1 s let ter s. The let ter makes it cle ar tha t
Donne was unc erta in abo ut acc ept ing Sir Ro ber t's inv ita tio n;
he was hes ita nt abo ut 11 ide nti fyi ng him sel f too clo sel y wit h
Dru ry. 11 Sir Rob ert 1 s rep uta tio n for tac tles sne ss ~as bee n
me ntio ned above, as were his uns ucc ess ful que sts for a
res pon sib le gov ern men t off ice : 1 t is eas.y to und ers tan d why
Donne mig ht wis h to avo id too clo se an ass oci atio n wit h Sir
Rob ert. Walton tel ls us tha t Donne 1 s w&fe did not wan t him
to go, for he wou ld be away from home for an ext end ed per iod ,
and she was bot h 111 and wit h chi ld. Walton als o say s ·th at
Donne had res olv ed to rem ain at home wit h his fam ily but
,. '

fin all y yie lde d to Sir Ro ber t's rep eat ed req ues ts beo aas e
he fel t tha t Sir Ro ber t's kin dne sse s had obl iga ted him .
Bal d que stio ns the cor rec tne ss of ~val ton 1 s sta tem ent s; '!he '

fee ls tha t "Donne had pro bab ly been made suf fic ien tly des -
per ate II by his fai lur es to obt ain employment "to_ gra sp at
any thin g tha t gav e • • . pro mis e of inc rea sin g his qua lifi -
cat ion s II or of est abl ish ing "new and use ful con nec tion s. 11 22·
When Donne fin all y dec ide d to go wit h the Dru rys , he
· gav e up hie hous·e at Mitcham and sen t his fam ily to the ··i- '

-·
 -~....._ • ," ;,.o,-t'f"~'"'i.\' •

\
• ' .. . • .. . • •! . . - • .. - ~ - - • ..
13 . . ·- I
··-~ ...... v . . . . . . . .
• .... I,.,.., 'r •
···-····-····· ,_ ... ...,.... ., ···•c:'D • ,1" ' I U , ..........

Isle of Wight , where they 11 ved with his wife 1 a siste r,

Lady Oglan der. Bald belie ves that Donne worked on "An
L

Ana.tomy of the lvorld , 11 an elabo ratio n and exten sion of the

"Fun erall Elegi e" for Eliza beth Drury , while he waite d for
S1r Robe rt to make final arran geme nts for their journ ey to i
I

the c.ont inent . 23

No one 1s sure why Donne decid ed to conti nue the 1 Fune rall
, I

Elegy "; Donne did not conti nue his elegi es on Lady 11arck.ham

and Mrs. Bouls tred. However, Bald notes that certa in themes
1 n t h ese e1 egies are conti nued in the two Anni versa ries. 24

This thema tic corre spond ence helps to make 1t clear that the
"Anni versa r1es II were not composed solel y becau se Donne i1as
so·rry that Eliza beth Drury v1as dead, but were rathe r merel y
focus ed by the theme of her death , givin g Donne a conve nient
oppo rtuni ty to expre ss ideas that had conce rned him over a
perio d of sever al years . Donne 1 s reaso n, then, for conti nuing
his tribu te to Eliza beth Drury was twofo ld: he knew that it
was to his advan tage to 11ri te poetr y that would pleas e his
patro n, and he felt a poeti c comp ulsion to expre ss the
1*'

thoug hts that were burde ning his mind. A glanc e at the
"Anni versa r1es II will show that these ,vere grim thoug hts indee d;
formi n them into poetr y helpe d Donne deal with them, if we !)

belie ve 1th T. S. Eliot that "poet ry is not a turnin g loose

of emot i n; it .is not the expre ssion of perso nal! ty, but an
escap e fr 25
perso nalit y."
The Dr;;, i'.and their party , inclu ding Donne, left for
Franc e befor e the midtll e of November, 1611. Bald is sure

..... . .. -~ ' ···-·--·-·-···· . ..

"" ' ,.

..
..... . --- ...
'\
 .~

__,... . ... ,.,,..,.......~: .

, . er.;
... ' r·-~v.r:'"'····w•• ...... .,. •.,.. .,..... .....
.-.·'
...
.
...........
A:' ... ,~-·
14 .. .
. ,. . -··,r1 .. ...
er;~.

~ .
··--··· ...... --.. - · - · - -............,... -..... • .• -~!..> _ _ .................. .. .,......_) . ~ ,,o11 ......,, .... .,. ............ ~ ......... All'!. ........... .--......1:11,,

. I,- ":.

tha t "An Anatomy of the wor ld, 11 the firs t of the "An nive r-

sar ies, " was com nlet ed befo re this time ., and tha t 1 t ac tus l-

ly may have been in urin t, for the firs t prin ting bea rs the
date 1611 on the titl e pag e; if it had been prin ted muc h

late r it prob ably wou ld have been date d 161 2. 26 This edi tion ,
of whi ch two cop ies surv ive, incl ude s in 1 ts sixt een nag es
"To the wor ld" and "A Fun eral ! Ji.le gie, u the eleg y for Eliz a-

beth Dru ry, in tha t ord er.2 7

It is alm ost cer tain tha t Jose ph Hal l is the auth or of

,.
"To the pra ise • • •• 11 "Ben Jons on told Drummond tha t Jose nh
ll
'I
i
Hal l was 'the harb eng er to Don ne's Ann iver sari e ' 11
; Jon son 's
.' t,,

refe renc e is II to the vers es pre fixe d to 'i'l'he Pro gres s of the
Sou l,' 'The Seco nd Ann iver sary ,' ent itle d 'The Har bing er to

the Pro gres s, 111

·but it is reas ona ble to assu me tha t Hal l wro te
the intr odu ctor y vers es to the r1·r st of' the "An niv ersa ries ." 2 8
I

ii'ii
Both the edi tion con tain ing the "Fi rst Ann iver sary " and the J
II
I
I

late r edi tion con tain ing both 11

Ann iver sari es 11 wer e pub lish ed
by Sam uel Mac ham , Hal l's oub lish er from 1606 unt il 16~5;_

both Hal l and Mecham were nat ive s of Ash by de la Zou cha.

Bald and Key nes beli eve that Macham was engR ged as nub lish er u,
I\

bec ause of his asso ciat ion wit h Hal l and tha t Hal l SAW both
volu mes thro ugh the nre ss. 1
.. Bald adds a sor t of inte rna l J
)
I

evid enc e to the prec edin g ext ern al evid enc e, sayi ng th~ t be-
caus e Hal l had been "no ted in tt1e uni ver sity for his inge nuo us

mai ntai ning • • • tha t Mundus sen esci t ( the wor ld grow eth old ),"
the them e .of the ''Fir st_ Ann iver sary " wou ld hav e app eale d to
him . 2 9 '···

·.. --.--·•·' ·.. -_

. i·

. " .. ,. _.... ·~ ... - ··'. ......

 . c·, ,. .. , .·• •
. .. . .-- -~ ., , ., , ........
, . , .. ~ .•.... ·, ·,-·,.·,··.•·. ·.•"·· ...·. \!.• ·.
,-..:.;
• :\.~'.~-~: r• -.--""""''..''"'-·~~.... _p··:..·;~-, 110
.
.. o ~~~~·.,
1 c ..,..~·~tii'~.....__.. .........,_
--
. ' ..... ·.·• \• ·.. ·. : ~ : . ~ ~ - ; " I D l ·.
.............. , ...• ,.,..o, ....... ..-h ..-0r1••· . .-..,.....,~.... w1 ... '•"'f'~..,.. ,u.,,~.; .~.:•.ti......... , ••. "'..•::.'•-" -•··"'•"'~·""''.~ ,,, ................11U, ., .• ,. . ....,....... -. ,., . ' ·: ..•• ,~-'
. . . . 1.
.',~ .. .,,,. ... _.,, •• _-., .• 4, - ..... .
.

Sir Rob ert and his par ty, wit h his coach and hor ses,
his ride rs, his serv ants ·, and his haw ks and pack of hou nds,
were sett led , acco rdin g to a surv ivin g rep ort, at Am1ens
by the fou rth of December. Don ne's dut ies evid entl y incl ude d
.f
the wri ting of lett ers for Sir Rob ert. "Some of the firs t
news sen t back to Eng land by the trav elle rs surv ives in the
dra fts of two lett ers ," which are in Don ne's han dwr itin g.
One is add ress ed to Rob ert Ca.rr, Vis cou nt Roc hest er, the
Ii
I'
Kin g's fav orit e; the othe r<l to Sir Dav id Murray, an infl uen tial 11-

'l~-
11

figu re in the hou seho ld of Hen ry, Prin ce of Wal es. They
I

1'
-~·

"have no oth er purp ose than to rem ind thos e of power and 1'

:~
infl uen ce of Sir Rob ert Dru ry's exis tenc e." 30 [~

Donne cer tain ly had a gre at dea l of time to spend as ·~

1
he plea sed . Bald beli eve s tha t he had brou ght many books
with him . He was con tem plat ing taki ng the deg ree of Doc tor
of Laws, wit h a view tow ards pra ctis ing law in London in
the Cou rt of Arc hes, and aske d his frie nd Thomas Mor ton, new
Dean of Win che ster , if this cou rse of acti on would be adv is-
able . Acc ordi ng to Mor ton' s sec reta ry, Ric hard Bad dele y,
who reco rded his memories of Don ne's req ues t for adv ice,
Mor ton told Donne tha t he sho uld prep are him self for the
min istr y. Evi den tly Donne rega rded the pra ctic e of law at

I the Cou rt of Arc hes as ben eath him, for 1n a lett er of Apr il 14,
161 2, to George Gar rard , he den ied eve r hav ing con side red
such an occ upa tion . Donne adm itted tha t he reQd law , but
r _9\
only for "en tert ainm ent and LPJ pas tim e." 31 Bal d, ho1 ieve r,

-: ........ . .
-~

..... ...
- , ·~ • • • '.... ~ • '· • . ; . .....,.., ~--,·~ , ........ " -'I., .... ,. -.I .... - •••• - - •• ,, •·• ,. • - • ~
~ f. •' • • .o 1. , .,, ... , • ._ __. .. _ ·----- · · - ........... , .. - - . · · - - - - - - - · . -•··· - ···• ·-----v . k.":.
I.'·
 ....::=.:-=-...-=-==·=-.==..=--=··=-==-=-==-=·-=·. -=. . ==·™=·....- - .
·~-------=·-·=·-·-·-=---=·=-·=·-=--===.. =·=·=======-·==-=-=:..::: J&UEM&t&&J&U&Zlll!&&!.LL&ii!&EiE!--

... :4t1··· . ·• - . -- - . -·· .. ·-- ·-··· . -·· . - ·- -·-- .. :-,_-;-,-··- -~· ...:.·::.~'.' -.---· .. ,~. ···-··_--..~---·.-··•·..-·--.-~
. ........ .. . ... ..
~ __ .,..,.....,...,.., --~ ·::_... . ...~.... ··· .................
. ' ':. "."'"' :,.. .;,;;;;·.. . . "..,...,, .
..__,,_,. .. ·-·· - .
. ..... ,• .- . ~- ....... , . .:· -~,=~=~~-;=~. .~.-::::_ . . ._.., ,~;~;: .~·~:;,; ;: : .:. :~--- . :.~-. ~-~+-~--.. ~~-·-:~-~~'.~,-~:: ~

believes that Baddeley 1s correct. and feels that Donne

was considering a career as a lawyer.
According to Bald, 11 The Progresse of the Soule, 1 the
second of the "Anniversaries," 1 wae composed during the
earlier part of the stay at Amiens. " The poem was clearly
begun in December, 1611, 11 perhaps on the very anniversary of
Elizabeth's death"; the openin~ lines announce that
. • . a yeare is runne,
Since both this lower world's, and the Sunnes Sunne,
The Lustre, and the vigor of this All, . , 32
Did set • • • ('·'rhe Second Anniversary, 11 11. 3-6.)
The concluding lines show that the writer is in France:
Here in a place, where mis-devotion frames
A thousand Prayers to Saints, whose very names
The ancient Church knew not, Heaven knows not yet:
And where, what lawes of Poetry admit,
Lawes of Religion have at least the same,
Immortall Maide, I might invoke thy name.
Could any Saint provoke that appetite,
Thou here should 1 st make me a F-rench convertite.
( "The Second Anniversary.." 11. 511-518. )
Donne says that the poem is his "second yeares true Rent"
(1. 520), but it is not, as many have thought, "a tribute
offered on the second anniversary of Elizabeth's death; Donne
33
was paying his rent in advance." Bald feels that the poem
was sent off to England as soon as it was finished, where
Hall furnished it with his prefatory verses· and saw that it
was published in the same volume with the second edi t1on ot ! .,.

"The First Anniversary." Criticism of the poems began to

reach Donne in April of ·1612. 34

Sir Robert and his p{U'ty left Amiens for Paris in the ·-
middle of March, 1611-12, where the Drurys "renewed their

·-- . - ·--·-·· --·-·····-·; .. _____ .... ····--·· -----.---- - ·---· ·-··-- ·-·--·· -- ' ···· •· . -··-··-·-··--·. --- :--·-· ·-- -····- -----·· ·-·-·------------ ~-~-~----- ----- ------------ . ·- ---·- ---------- ·-----·------- - ·- . ~
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.,_ . ~ ~
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. "4····"' .:,~_.•.......
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. --···
- ..-.. 1 • .. •
•

... ......
. .... ft'II .. -

.. , ~
. ••. _ . . . ,,. . . . ' ' " · · - ~ · . . . ll. ...... ..

acquaintance with some of the nobles of the French court.•

Donne seems to have spent his time in Paris studying the
French religious conflicts. The Drury party left Paris near·
the end of April, journeying slowly toward Frankfurt, where
S1r Robert intended to observe the imperial election. While
they were at Frankfurt, Sir Robert received a revealing letter
from Sir Walter Cope, which implies that Sir Robert was
regarded by the English government as an unofficial observer
'iQD the Continent and that Donne •was known by those in po,1er

to be preparing himself for an official appointment whioh he

hoped to secure. 11 The Drury party next vis1 ted the Palatinate
'
and the Elector's Court at Heidelberg, and then they moved on

to the Spa. They returned to England via Brussels, arriving

33
in August.
When Donne returned to London he at first planned to join
the court at Windsor. However, he changed his mind and went
directly to join his wife and family on the Isle of Wight,
almost immediately bringing them to live in London in a
house provided by Sir Robert near Drury House on Drury Lane.
Donne and his family \vere settled in their new home as early
as the end of September, 1612. Donne was probably ·more
pleasantl;f situated than he had been in many years; his hous.e
was new and located in a fashionable section of his beloved
London. 36
Yet his position was not secure; he depended upon
S1r Robert for h1s dwelling and upon his father-in-law for a
quarterly allowance, either of 1"Jhich could have been 1r11 thdrawn

at a moment 1 s notice. 37

:;, ..--,-;

~.
..... .. . .. .. 18.•.· ,....... ~··
.. -

•.
... :... .........,, ,.~ •:-- . .. ,.... :-,,...........
~ .... ·,..:, ' ....,.,,._., .. J;. , . .,,,...._._ _ _ . ; . , ~ -•• ,ol,£,,;,i,,.a~·-
•

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. . -,- ··1•

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- - .

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~ ..... .. ·:.'....arw ..

Sir Robert had not advanced his position by his trarels.

He made the mistake of expressing an unfavorable opinion of
the Elector Palatine, who had now become engaged to the
Princess Elizabeth. This unfortunate indiscretion eliminated
any chance of Sir Robert's attaining government office; in
fact, his position in this respect was wo.rse than 1 t had been
before he went abroad. 38 By associating himself with Sir ' i

I
f i

Robert, Donne had linked his fortunes with those of a tact- 1

rr

less patron, and this relationship was probably behind 1

I

Donne's continuing failure to obtain a government post.

Donne~ association with Sir Robert continued until Sir
Robert 1 s death on April 2, 1615. At Lady Drury's request,
Donne wrote an epitaph for Sir Robert; however, he produced
no elegy, which indicated a marked change in his atti tqdes in

generai. 39 There seems to have been a cooling of the friend-

ship between 5ir Robert and Donne during the years between
fr
their return from the C ont1nent and Donne I s ordination in
January of 1614-15.
Donne was a member of the parliament which met from
April 5 until June 7, 1614. "The speedy dissolution of
Parliament was a blow to his political hopes." He continued
his su1 t at court, currying, fa~or 141th the notorious Robert
Carr and others, until James I made it clear that he would
never advance Donne outside the Church. 40
The part of Donne 1 s life that has special bearing on

( .
the "Anniversaries" ended with his ordination. His thinking

-..,·v···_\..,.,. . -
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settled into solid Christian patterns as he beoame· a famed

and populer preacher. His fortunes were finally secure; he
no longer had to write his obsequious and fashionable elegies
in hopes of obtaining the means to support h:is family •

..
.,.

'\,--..

. ._-:-··.:.""·· . .__ :.. · ..--·.;· -·-··-- .. ., -·-T·-:·· ----~

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-·
- -·-·- - - -- - ----·---·-------- ... --.-----

CHAPTER II

Ae was mentioned above on page 14, 11 To the Praise of the

Dead a.nd the Anatomy, 11 the introductory verses by Joseph
•
I
II[
t
He.11, fc:,-1.l·owed by "An Ane.tomy of the World" and 11 A Funerall
Eleg_ie, u were first published in 1611 by Samuel 1-1e.cham: this

w.as the first pub.lication of Donne I s work. l~a.cham reprinted

these poems in 1612 together.with Ha.:11 1 s "The Harbinger to

the Progress" :q.nd 11 The Second Anniversary. 11 In this edition,

"An Anatomy of the World 11 is c.a.lled "The First Anni versctry. 11

Thomas Dews printed editions of t~ese poems in 1621 and 1625~.

·11 Donne I s na.me did ,n.ot appee.r in any of: t-J,1ese edition~, b·u:t
.-
the_ir authorship w::aB· doubtless w-e:11 ·k.ttow·n~ 11 accordir\g. t·o
Keynes. Griers·o.n :notes that t·he. erd:iti=ons w.e,re_p·r1:n·t·ed w.ith.

i-ncre~tsing: C.?.re:l·ess.n.'.ess and t·h-a.t tn:crst· tff the erro~.rs w-ere:

tlorrected in the defin.it1ve collected Poems of 16·:~:3.. ·Lcite::r
\
seventeenth-century editions exist, but they ere cJf -~m;c{l.l
importe. nc e .1

Donne I s ·authors:hiJ) of ·the .·11 .A.nniv.·ers::ar:·:tes" ivas certai·ril_y.

kn.own to a. number of people:. A l_.e:t. t:er.: .a.·at·ed April 14, 1e1::2:_,,
;f'rorn n·.ox1ne to a friend, probebly Ge:orge Garre.rd, cont.a.ins
~- t];1e p.e:re·t:' s· answers to critic ism of his work:":;
Of my Anniverse.ries, . the fa.ult that I ack.l1owledge
i
in my self, is to have descended to print any thing
'
!
}
•• . in verse, which though it have excuse even in our
!
'
I:
times, by men 1vho professe, a.nd practise I;l!µch .
gravitie; yet I confesse I wonder how I declined
to it, and do not pardon ·my self: But for the other
part of the imputation of having said too much, my
defence is, that my purpose- was to say as well as ,,
···-,,

f .... ~ .. ; .
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·.-·-·,_ .. ...:~--•:",;;:
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......... . .•.. . :• " ............ . . ' . ................................ (,.,."' ,,&-~.-...._•..•

. .... ~· _,._ --· ·- -·

- - . ..
----·-- _,. . --·- - - -- .. ~--- ...... -
. --~ -~- ....,... .' . .
 . 11:i 21 . .,,,,,.. ...
,, ...• ,--.....
,
.. , . . . " · · · · . . •...."r ...
'
. .... "...
....::
. -·

I could : for since I never saw the Gentlewoman,

I canno t be under stood to have bound my self to
have spoke n just truth s, but I would not be
thoug ht to have gone about to prais e her, or any
other in rime: excep t I took such a perso n, as
might be capab le of all that I could say. If
any of those Ladie s think that Mistr is Drew ry·
was not so, let that Lady make her self fit for
all those prais es in the book, and they shall
be hers. ~

-.Another lette r, addres sed.. t.o c?..:n unide ntifie d ns1r G.F., "
co1i'taii1s a simil ar defen s.e of the "Anni versa r1es 11 : I
; I
I

I hear from Engla nd of many ~ensu res of my book

of Mistr ess Drury ; if any of those censu res do
but pardo n me my desc~ nt in print ing anyth ing
in verse (whic h if they do they are more chari table
than myse lf; for I do not pardo n myse lf, but confe ss
thB.t I did it again st my consc ience , that is, again st
my own opini on, that I shoul d not.h ave done so), I
doubt not but they will soon give over that other
part of that indic tmen t, which is that I have said
so much; for nobod y can imagi ne that I who never
saw her, could have any other purpo se in that,
than that when I had recei ved so very good teSi-
of her worth iness , and was gone to print verse s,
it beca.me me to say, not \vhat I ivas sure vJas just
truth , but the best that I could conce ive; for that
had been a new weakn ess in me, to have prais ed any,
body in print ed ~erse s, that had not bsen capab le
of the best prais e that I could give.
:ln. the .fi:rst· :1.ett er ciuoteo. above , it appea_rs that t-he
0Anrt:i versar .ies.J1 had: of'fe-h ded ''certe "in great: lad·ie·s to who.rn
• . • [Donn e] was in the habit of writi ng eulog istic verse s. tt 4
:Grier son belie ves tha-t Donne II a.tone,d for hiii 1n·co nstanc y b·y
subtl e a.nd erudi te comnliments·. 11 in
. . . . ···~ his. verse -lette rs to the
Coun tess of Bedfo rd and; othe,r s; Go-s·s.e. is of the sa.me opini on. 5
Gosse quotes-. ·f.rom: t·h·e v_ers e-lett er 11 To the Coun tess of Bedfo rd
"

Begun in Fran:c,e· but: -n~ver perfe cted. , 11 as an examp le of this

a.tone ment·:

First I confe sse I have to other s lent /

Your stock , and over prodi gally spent

.. ~ . .. . .... ... .. ...... •· .. - .

....
 ,.. II'~, r ,r-a- r,; _

. ...... .. . . .. '\.. . .... ., . .. -..";.,., . . ,,20

... •'
•. •..
......-..
' \
·'1·'--·
.\ . ...·
'-~·· ····---·-·- ·-··"'·
' ·-~"
.. -............ ,. .

Your tre asu re, for sin ce I had nev er kno wne
Ver tue or bea uti e, but as the y are growne
In you , I sho uld not thin ke or say the y shi ne,
(So as I hav e) in any oth er Min e.
(11 . 11- 16) .
Dbhne 1 s ver se- let ter s are usu ally har d to dat e, and 0

tio
oth ers con ta.i n pEtssa:ge·s tha t lih k them dir e·c tly to th:e·
"A nni ver sar ies .'' It is pos sib le to ~pe cul e.te t.ha~t oth ers
of his ver se- let ter s. we.re wri tten in apo log y for the
"A nni ver sar ies ," but t-h:e·re is no v1ay to pro ve a_ny dire c·t

rel ati ons hi~ bet wee n the poems.

Ben Jon son obj ect ed to Don ne's lav iah pPa i£e .6~
.El iza bet h Dru ry. Drummond rec ord s tha t: J.o:n·ao:n sc=fid
''th at Don es Ann iver s-a- rie was prof·ELPe ancI ful l of :Bla s-

phe mie s II a.na_ tha t: :tl°f-f it h?d :bee.n· 11r,i tte· ii bf the Vir gin
112.rie it· -h2.d be,:e11 s:·orn.e:th}ng. n6,. (Jo nso n I s cri tic ism and
Donne:' s rep_ l.y ,ire d~i-s·c·ussed belo w on pp .44-48.) Evi den tl;/ , ·i
I

I
Pon ne s pra ise of Eli_z·a~beth
1
l\Tas too lav ·ish to plea .Se many '1

.of hi·s rea der s, eve n in an ag~- w:Q.:101.1 appr-eci.-at·.e..d

ext rav aga nt pra ise in ver se.

. . 1.1ost cri tic s dep lor e the poem:s:, ·;;l·vi:n·g t11a.nk·s. wit h
Gos se tha t .Do.nne did not: · "ca rry .ou·t· .his :dr.e ad.f ·ul tnre e1.t of

i:n.d i tin g a l:q·ng ~Jo·em upo n ea-.oh qJ1r1ivers·e.-r_·_·y_,: ·r··o.f Eli zab eth
·, .· \
Dru ry's d·ea :th. n7 Oth ers h-txve J'·b.t:(ticl.. so:m.e. goo d in the poe ms;
Dry den , fo.1-i e2~ample, pr·a.1s·ed ·t.·hem Etnd use d them a.s e mod el

for "Eleono1-aa. nB: The IIAnn:·l.ve:rsa'J:-•ies" he.ve sna re.d the in-
crp ase d pop ula rity of Donn.e I s poe try in gen e~a l i.n thi s
1· ~

cen tur y, but the y are sti l.l not as wid ely rea d a.s his oth e.r

,1o rks. Man y cri tic s a.re c.o:rtce.r:·n.,ed. wit h _s_p ecia l e.sp ects :of

.. ' ...... ,. . " ... . . .. ·-· "' --·· . . I .• .. ,~. - . ..

 ~·~··',_ .. ,-- '-r'.,•i._•..,i,i..,-N.,_.,...-.-,._._ -·-,-,- -,· ·--..i.,.,,'\o... , ,...._.,..,...,._ ...

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.• .
__ ...... --- ..
. \"'J.;Y• ... .''.
,. . .....
.
..:,, •..-- . '· ~
.. :;,.
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" .
23 --~-·.
. , ,.:,.._.'

the _poems, such as their evidence 6f Donne's concern with

science and their illustrations of his knowledge o·f a variety
o.f other subjects.

.
o·
-._ \-

..

~.
;[". r_

--~

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... .. . ' .~. . . ' . ,i;
~

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;.
··--·· ...,,,. ... · . ,dn, 1 ...... • .-.. -v ....... •1·• • • • .,,..,,. ."!',;
•·
'··-··'···' ..u
.,,..

CHAPTER III

The preceding. discussion of the period in Donne's

life relevant to the II Anni versa.ries II has shed light upon
two aspects of the poems that should concern the critical

~eB.der:. First of a.11, it pointed out tl1.e events that put

Do!,'lhe in cl position in which he found it necessa.ry to compose

:ove:rwhelrningly flattering elegies for the daughter of Sir

R·ob·¢rt Drury and described his rela.tion·ship with tha.t unusual

.m:.::an. Secondly, t:he d_iscuss.ion indicated in pe.rt the psycho-

-logica_l and biog-raphie:e.~l r·e:asons for the pessimism of the

"Anniversaries. 11 T-he seco.nd. ,polnt.,. pessimism, immediately

leads us to an_q.ther, t::bp. iq ·t:-ha.t will illuminate Donne's
poetry_,. hi.s ·v1e1,J:s c:on:c-$-:t~,t1i:r1-g_· t1h~~t C·herles t1. Coff i:n ca..1.1::a:.

:11 a. stins:.ible .de-c.e.y· :o,f 1th.e: }10.:r.1.a.·11 .and the new science.s,, ·es·-
pe:cially 2stronomy .1

Both of the 11 Anniv:e1~·sarie·:-s. ;o: .a:re. con. ce-r.ried largely wt·tJ1,

the deca? of me.n ana his uni verse. Be:f·p)?"~- ·discussing, Donne I s
·feeling-s a.b,o:Lt·t t·.his uni ver~sal de.c2~-Y, i't: is· be·st ·to outline

is gradu-2:1.1.y (le.caying, thE1t e.11. order ls becomi-ng chaos, dld

no.t- or_igina·te in Donne's time. Al though..it became populgr i.h

the sevent-e'se.n.t·h century, it originated in ;antir_uity wi:th the

Stoics and Was cu:rren t during the Middle Ages. 2 Even today,

the idea. still ·h.as a Q·e1-itain arnount of currency, although it

is usually noi justified or expl~ined in the manner of Donne 1s' -Ill.·

11 Anni versar·ie-s.• u .At lea.st once ·a ye~r a religious sect will

.-

.............. , ....

.,

,('
 ....... ~ ...... t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
\
·••• •• -·--··J .. , ••.· ···•.itH'•U' •••lll'f "• -•·•,,.,· 25
• . .., ·~.: : :
'. ~ . . . .,. ,.,
w . : ,. . . , . _ . .

decla re that the ~rorld is comp letely worth less and \Judge ment

Day is at hand, basin g their predi ction s on Bibli cal passa ges
and the unfor tuna.t e behav ior of men ana. natio ns. And y\l .B. Yeats
wrote "The Secon d Coming" in our centu ry. The conce rn over
the decay of t_he unive rse 1vas stimu lated. in Donn e's time; "the.
old idea of -the muta bility a.nd decay of the world ~,as meta-

morph osed by the new a_stro nomy follov Jing Cope rnicu s. n3 Men
began to ha.v:e serio us doubt s about the valid ity of the old view

of the unive rse. The new ·a:S.tronomy seeme d to prove that the
.Pt.o.le.rn=aic system was in.va.l id.; Etri:d. m?]1y think ers linke d this
.t.nval. idi.ty lrJi th the olq td.e.a; of· ·d.eca:y, belie ving that the
aid system hcl:d been corre ct in the pc:st but we_s fa·llin g a~part=,
.dec?-y ing into the unive rse descr ibed by the aston. omers .

Donn e's conc·e .rn with the probl em O'f ·decay devel oped in
:hls middl e a_nd l_:a_ter :Y.ears
-·
;and i=s ·e-·xp_re'ssed chief ly in the
. . ;

. .
tlAnn iversa ries''·· cfnG. i.:n ·a n=umbe-r of hi.s $ern1o ns. At th·e ·be-·
g_inni ng of his· car:ee r he wrote his: Parad oxes 2,_nd p:robl emes
in whicb he denie d that his age could be said td be declin ing~
. .
In Biath a.natb s,. writt ~n a_t the egrli est in 1606,. 4 Donne quote d

Cypri an II
to sho"'1 ths.t me.n a.re :b,o-r:n old_, 11 but he di·.a. not· "-t1ev. elop
the obvOJ.o.us oppo rtuni t:1 ~:f _ ·.J~es cribln g in detai l the: .d.e-c~,,line a_nd
·CQ]::~rup·t-:.ion. of the uni verse ." Igna. tius His= C·oncl~1ve.,. in· which .
:.pot1tre e:Xflibi,tea. a simil a.r minor conce rn over decay , wa.s writt en
I~

;t:n: ::L61-0 at the. earli est. 5 Both Biathe na~to s and Ignat ius show
that Donne , 11
1n .an ~teu r fashi on, 11 had follow ed 11 recen t
·disco verie s in ·s·cien ce 11 which he µ.s-e .d "to prove that muta bility
exten ds ·t'.·o t}J.e heave ns as well Eta· to the ea.rth . 11 Refer ences
~o_, __q-'~.9i'3Y :in :hi-s. ee.rl-¥ __p_o_etry are usual l:, l1mi ted to II a con-

f····· ---···----··- .. .. __ ,.., ...• , ... 1-••h•······ -- -·

,. . . . ---~ . -· ....
 ...

......"""_' , ,. ,
··iii; .
I I •

. ...
: ., .,,.. . .,,,~Y'
• .....~4. - ..,
,. •,• .
• • .. 'I
26 ..., .
·-~·''
_...1;;,.;... ' ' '\ • • • • • • . :.. • •

... ·-·· ., ....·-. - . .~ .., ~ ·-·--·>- • •• - - .; ,,.,.•1: • ._._,.... P ... --.~·• ' ••A•• 4 .,,~,. • •It/'
•• ...... i ..... -~
...... ,,.. .,

.'

ventional phrase or two describing present decline from thk

golden times." Donne I s first develonme
... nt of 11 the full impli-
cations of universal decay" was in "The First Anni~ersar .y. 116
"

. . The old view of the uni verse is very complex, and 1 t

varied from philosoph er to philosoph er. Much has been said

about 1 t; the following discussion cannot pretend to complete-

ness, for it is intended merely to .establish a background for

some of the concepts that appear in the 11 Anni versa.ries" and
to set the stage for a review of· certain critical positions

concerning the poem~.

~,rl'·'

;B.:o:th Donne ancl the s.ev·,E?·n,.te·e:nt-h century bega.n thei.r. Cq:J:-.e·ers

::t,f:1.t·h :a, very complete e.na complex view of man a.nd his univ·ers·e:.,
a composite built up f:r;om: ·traditiona .l religious and 1jl·tilo-

so:? :1.1 c 2.l be 1 i e f s • 7 ':rhe. ·ee.rtn.., thought to ·be th·e center ·of ' -~~
·,ol,

' '

fi·r:e. The . se le1.yers: e.:re ·e~na.1.ogous ·to: t·h'E~ l·ay.-e.rs of; at1 :o·nio:n.
Beyond the s1Jhere o:f r·1re l.sy the immt1tttb·1e spheres of· th~.: ·-

· the sphere of the f·ixea_; stars. Aji th·efre spheres were sup-
posedl2r kept in mot-i on by at1 o·ut:e.~m.ost s-pher,1e, the primum
j

mobile. All of ·t.his ~·ys:te.rn 'Wa.-s. b·as-ed o·'h: C.hr,i.stian belief

I,
'

in the unity and or-d.er of all ·creat-·i-on :a.n:a. -~1-e~>El b..elieved to

have been crea.ted to minister to ,man and tcJ b·e g.ove·rn·ed ·by
di vine le~w. 8

All matter and C:t.-.-eat.''ur-e:S· i.n .t-fte. universe were believed

to be rela.te:d in ·tJ~·rrtrs _o:t a definite hiera.rchic al pattern,
....,..

.:. ... .:. . - ·-=--·!·· ...·... -

 27
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. . ..,.
.. -····
,, .. , \.
. .
' .
,.••
..... ~, ,111(1,.J.a•·>r
.
.,..I • '•~t _.. . .,......
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a "grea t ohain of be1ng 11 desce nding from God throu gh the

angel s, man, anima ls, 2nd veget ables , endin g at ·the bottom
wi tl1 inorg a.nic ma.tt er. .All thing s hed_ their place s in the
chein -- angel s were divid ed into class es, indiv idual types
of men and anima ls were class ified accor ding to their merit s,

and e2.ch clas~s had ranks 1rJi thin i ts·elf . All thing s, creat ures,

and ideas -we-r·e :11·nl{ed to ectch other by ena.lo gy 2.nd corre spon-
),

dence . lvl2.n;: 2.$ ·ponne obser ved in one of his -holy sonne ts, was
thoug ht to be 11 •• ,~ 1-i.ttl e world. tnc:cLe: Cfunn ingly/ Of Eleme nts,
end c:n Ange like ·srpri_g-ht:, 0 -a -mi.c:ro:cosrn paral lel ctnd analo gous
:t:o: the mclcrocos·m.,_ t}i-e unive rse. 9
Thus ma.n explc= lined himse lf and :hi-s. e.:nvi1 'onmen t.

t.hing had it·s pl2,ce in the divine - orde:~; nothi ng was 1v_i:tho,ut:

signi fican qe. In many v1a·ys. this ,v-o.r:la.-view proa_u ced a ha:pp.y

si tua.t.i.cin;, .rne~ny men f.elt :sec:u re in. -~t.heir tightl y-org aniz~ d

unive rse., t:'.nd. 2.rtis ts .end~' ivrite rs were nrovid ·ed 1·11th an .:i.trt- ~ : .
I
I

r l'•

:r.n:e·n$e com-rrto·n becke ;round of symbo l e.11,Q. myth. fill ·cr.:e.Etti·on.

Jte-emed. t_o be est8.b lished and @$:ttlea_.

-P·e-:rh.a.ps unfor tun2t ely, this ·b.eeµ_t-i-f·ul schem ·e .of th:in:g s

:had. 1·1ttl e conne ct:i:on 11i:th rec1l ity. In 1543, Cope:r ,nicus·
nubl·l s:hed his On T-he Revol utio.n s of the Cele stial 'Orbs. in
·.L.. . --- . . --

i
<

' w"J;ric:h he arguec 1 the.t the phenom en2, of the movem ent.s of t·h.e·
'·
,-•.

e2:rth , the s 1.1n, ti"nd the pl2_n ets _could :b·e. ·m·o:r_e- simi='l Y exple.i--ri-etl
·--
b;y 2:ssuming th_a-t -t·he etu:.n 11a. s 1.oc:e._teo. ··-a,t the cente r of the '

~
:S·:fstem. Cop·e:rn.:Lc--.us ·vJ-.Et.-s. ·b-y no tn·e-e.rts the first to· doubt th.e I

ifalld ity of the geoce ntric Prole matc system and to propo se
a helio centr ic system , but he was the first to prese nt hlij
r-"""-

.... ; ·• .. -·--- ' .. - ,,' . -. ' . . . . .. . . . - ·- . -~ ---·- -·--·---·

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. ,....

arguments in a logical and convincing mRnner. His theory,

hovJever, 1"1e.s not immediately accepted; men still believed

that the old system offered a s2tisf2ctory explEtnation for

the movements of the heavenly bodies. Part of the difficulty

lclY in the fact tha.t the tools for underst2. nding Copernicus

· did not exist until Newtoh discovered them in 1687. More

positive evidence of the inaccuracy of the old view of the

cosmos wes presented by Tycho Brahe. In the 1570 1 s he was
e.ble to demoris:tr.e..te the.t changes were m.king place in the

he2.vens 1,Jhere· no cha.nge vJas s:upposed to be possible. He

I •

observed the
.. ret·urn of Halle t 1 s Comet a.nd c2~lcul2.tecl that . . .
1
~ . .

it 1·1as m.ov.i:ng (e.nd thus chan.ging) i·n the in1.rnut2.ble regions

beyond tb.e .rnoo·n·;. and he ob·serve·d. $; ·SUJJernove., 2_ ne\1 sta.r

:1n the constells.t'ion of C2.ssiopeia., anothe.r change in ·an

:t1nch8_nge2.ble :aree.. Kepler observed end. p·ublic.izea~ a second

i
ne1\J star in 16.04. I11 1610, G2.lileo publ.ished his Sidereus

I~uncius, in ~vhich he described the .t_;s.t:ronomical discoveries

he msde vritr1. b·is: improved teleB.co_pE{ 1 .1.nclud.ing four of

,JuiJiter 1 s moons, the irregul2:rit.i~.s:of the s:urf·.a:ce·c,_f the,

moon, 2nd 21. nu.rnber of fi.~ed sts_rs: .·not previous:ly obs;e.rved ..
All of tbese observ2t1:on.s encl b·ooks v1ere we·11 :known in:
10
En;: 1 a.na..
·'-'

Copernicus's theor1e·s: i1·e·r··e 110·,t. especiEI.11::~?:: dis·tttrtring:

t:o those 1·1ho , · su1Jported the. o.ld. ,vorld-viei·t;. t:hey could e~l1ve.ys·
t;J
argue ag8inst his theorie·s, for there ~as little in.the way
,'

of f~ctua1· evidence to su9port Copernicus. His work was

Jo.a. sea_ ·fo.r t.he 1nost p2~rt on mnthena:tics and reB.soni ng. Suc.h

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'

was not the case "'11th t·he 11ew s·t-a.1~s: .End 1-11 th G2.lileo I s tele-

scope; these provided concrete .fa.cts, 2,nd one could not den~,
that they proved that chenges took pl2ce in the supposedly / -~

immutable regions of s~ace.

It is 2. common :error to simplif:y history Bnd_ a.ssume

that the Copernican theory destroyed the heart of the old

• world-view, removing man and his earth from the center of .

'things and c2lling into doubt all theology by questioning

p2.rt of the tr2.a_1·tiort.2.J- theology-bo_sed view of the uni ver'se.
!~o such immedii?_te de"Struction· took _p_l2.ce.. As ·a. ma_tter of

f 2_c t, mt?.ny clergyme·n embr2.c ed C:operniciµ,s I s theor:r, upl1old.ing::

God I s co.ntrol of t·he uni verse·.. 11.os:t: thinlcers were .eontent I

I
r'
,I
:i'
~
.I
i
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I

m~ntg 6f th~ old order. 1Jcho Br~he, one of the first great .'I

I
I

·~

I
.'.I
(
,.
,.\
'l
[
r
nicus 2.nd Ptol.emy.. -He. submitted tl12.t the e·t3_rtl--i rer11r1.n·e.d tJ1:e
t'
j
.~
~ Lil

.Doa1ne· .se:ems to ht~·v·e· stibsc·rib.ecl t:o ·Brene I s s~rstem; :e'V.e:·n. in. bis
1._ P_t·- e·. r.. r,ror· 1r S,
'-" I• . . -"'~ . , ..

no. m·eane Q
C
e ,t:u +1
. · 1;
:u· . e.c.. b:·ir
. ~- .. e·-: I
D'orl.fl
·. -~. ·-
~-
~
+. ·, :' ..
u irn.e.• Sir r.r·_h_._o_·rnas .B1'"'-C)t.rne
., . . ,,]

2..na. he 1?c?.s tr.el:l 2,cr~uc)l.n·tec_ vfi-th rll the 2lrg.uments. Al:l three

:ot. t·he. vie11s of tl1e c-dsmos _:.. Ptolemeic, Tychonic, snd Co·oer-

,.
,.,. tf
rti-can ~: were current ih early seventeenth-century .England. 11
1~1uch ho_s been seic1 2_bo'u.·t Donne I s position rege.rc1ing r -~,

deec1.y ( or mu_t2.b-illt:-', cs it ie----ef te-n -e-all-ed) ~nd tl1e new

,. - . . . -.
.- --· ..... --·~ --··· ....... ···-··,·--·-·· ·-···-····· ···•··· -··-····-··- ··-···--·-·--······--· ···~ -·--··· .•. -·--·-·--· •······ -··-·····-· . . . . - ... ······-·•·--······ -~·----·· ... ··-··-·.... ···--···· ...... - --~··· ·-.
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, tt
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:Jt. . . . . . . . . . ._.,.,_.,,. ___ ,........... _~·----4t...t,. ,., ... ... --·---·-·
~

sciences, especia.11~, 2.st:ronomy. Some critics -- 1-Iiss Ramsf!.Y ~

1.1

is their chief-~ meintain t~et Donne was essentially med-

',

iev2l in his 2ttitudes towards mutability. Re_ms s. ,, 1 s the s 1 s V

concerning Donrie 1 s doctrines covers much more than mutability,

·b.ut for the pu.r~Joses of this discussion it }Jill not' be neces-

S:e.r.Y to de2.l ,~1itl1 c:11 of her 2.rgu.ment.s. Q,t:her critics, of

·,·rh om •
Co u.r-th. ope· i s t h e ·1..cii 1,..s t of..· E{ny ~)rom1ne.pc . e, fficl"').ini-P_in
_ Vv<
0.· ... t··.·
... .. c:
7:.·h·

.D:o.nn~rs: c\t':titudes tov12_ra_·s scien.ce 2nd_ raut2_'bili ty mD.rlt h:i.m ·e.s

:?J1 un·usµrlly mode1--an men of th.e: reneiss~nce; the~, find in Donne

:t..t·ti·tudes:
. . .
ti1-Dt becrrae TJo:yul.rr. in ·the ni11.eteenth 2nd t1-Jentieth
., . . . . l, •.

.;

cen'turie'Et. .A. ·t~1:ir.c1 .~.r·o\:t) of cr.iti cs .mri11t.?..1·ns t·hr-t Do11ne used.

. ~ ~

...

'.l:...·•. . .
1.n·,...··
V .i:..:.' .. I.../
L. ,,..,.,... ,.
..i.. •
-
l"'I
i.;... • Eliot

sch.ol:.c:~s., of v1hom 1-I.F. 1-lolone~r is reI)resentetive, b . e.lieve. ·t-112t:

?

:n-011n:-e.· 1S' :r.e··f e~ences t.J mute~bil·it\r

. . .... inc:icE:t.e ho: .. . .·.. .. . . .-
a~ec·o-- .
1Jer·sonc1.l
...

...e.::s ·t\·n .e;.:tet1sj~o·n of J)e.t"so11tl e~oir'i ·tt1.r. l d_i:f;:Jn:t.y·.· .• ~ ~ . .

T l1i s bo·r o U1'.).t.n£"·
. . .. ~ ,...;J.'.

.. .

crit.:ic2;·1. pos.itions;. m2,n:y crJ;t:ios overlap i.nto. tvJo of th_~ aJ5;o,te·

:.S·'c~:h:o·ols. Jlevert.hel.eps':!. :s-l;.lch: $ g1~ou~)in.g i~ril]. m2.ke the foll.or:r·itrg:

d'iscussion trtore :c.ohet.'ent 2,hd. th·er.~:·fo.re: mcYre mee.ningful. thJin ·it·

might o th:e1"11rii s·e. b·e •
.
Al though Donne re:r'°)9.:rs to ·~··E?t~.,8.11.c)m:·y., the other s.c.i.en:ces.,
1rrorks, the II Anni vers2.r:ies·, 0
·2'"nd n1utabili t~r i11 n;i2.n;)' of lii·s·

bec2.use of the num1J9r t.na. :exten:t of such references they

contain,: e.re centrel to1Jl.c:s in Etn·y: discus·s t.on of Donne I s

\.
.Ji.. -· _,
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•. - • ,I' l'"' - ...... ~ ••• - ,• ' • •·. ·- • ;_ ~. ~-· -.···••••

-··

.... ...,,.,. .............--.,......., ,. .. '···- - . ...,.,_._.................

'

' .. .. -• ·- -··-.. --, ...• -·- -· ' -·-~· ·-·-·-· - - '' - ···-·-· - -··· ...••. -- - ... ' ·~·-- - .. -· -· ... -- --·-- •.• -·---· ........... --- - ...- ............... ~-,. ~ . ··-·... • "-· ·-· ..................... __ ....... ~ _..... ·--....... l... ~.-. ----.. ·-· - ..
'•
. ·. -·~·--· ......... ~ ..... ' .....~-..........................................-. ..........~... _.................... ,...... _, . - ·-

-·
 •• ~~ ... ~ t·,l,~~~·· ·~ -;·;i ~·... ~.,.... ,._ ... ~ -
• -

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-
.... • •

- - - .....
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't'pt
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........ '....
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.
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.
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attitudes towsrd these subjects. Therefore, the following

• I ,

discussion will apply to some extent to all of Donne's works

even though they 'tvill be mentioned very infrec:uentl:l•

Bece_us·e most critics in their discussions of Donne, muta-

bility, 2nd science include the following passPge from the

"First Annivers2r~' it will s~~ve to focus the present dis-
cussion:
And ne1~, Philosoph~l calls a_ll in c1ou_bt,
The Element of fire is ~uite put out;
The Sun is lost, 2.nc1 th' earth, 2nd no mElilS v-7i t
C2n well direct him where to look for it.
An a_ free 1 y men c o 11 f e s s e the t -'c :-~ i s "t·J or 16_ 1 s s p en t ,
VThen in the Pl--2nets, :-:no_ the Firm21nent
They seek so rn2ny new; then see that this
Is crurnbled ou_t 2.r~aine to his P.tomies.
'Tis 211 in peeceS, e.11 coh2erencefforle;
All jus"t SL11-:,pl~/, 2nd_ s.11 Relction:'
'\ (11 - - • h..J \-../
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9 ·'l_ v~ - ":'-I
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- . ·-:: .'.

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·.
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.
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0

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11
.sion of tb-e- _ge·ne1"12:l sc:e~1ticis1J. 1>rotlt.1ce.eI .ir1 .hi.s [D·onne"·sJ

..
·h. e.--_·o·· 1-0· c:,~·-y.
·t:
. Q ••••
11
He b·elieve,s the.t Donne. ·u:,.,r C--:1,_.;
,-::_,-~
~~. e._c:¢.u2.inted 1vi t_'h
the Copernic211 the:o:r.y·,. b~t [v1Et$]. ,, • Q).il.y inte·restec~ in it:
...·
. ,,.S
p.•· .0
...
I O
c.r Cl
8.o
•
l . .
t . ...•
il1ustration!il 3 The last E,tstement seems to plec·e Courthope

in the objective cOPrelf·tive school of Donne criticism, but-

it is only a minor ·pt~t bf. his thesis. It is hgrd to believe :,

.. ___ ,..:_ .
•.•

.... .

• ,,,_,_, ,..,. ___ , ' •• -...~--,....... ___,.,..,_.,._ ...... ~- •• 11-..- •• \.,_, . . . . ~-----....:..:._~ .:.:.:.·, ·•• ·~ ·,.;_--:__ -_·_:.:::.:.~.:.~ ·_ ··:·...::·:..· :.__:_,.. -·:_-.._·~·:--:_ ... ··-··~--··-·-"'" -·- - ·- -----, - • --·- -- · · · - -... --~ - - ---·· --~-----···-·------ ·--·- - - - - · - - · - - - - - - - - - - - '<="-.f --------,----·----·----- ---- -·· ·-·- ___ ., ____ '\ _...,.._...,., __ _,_,, ___________________________ . --- -
 . ~· ;;--, • ··,..·t••·-•~,,.::--'-,.<,•~· .. - \' - II" .. ~ - • '

t.hat Donne \vas interested. in the ne'tv science onl~T because it

p·_rovided poetical meteriB~ls. After ell, Donne 1-Jas not a full-

time, .nrofessionel ·ooet, E'_nd the refe-renc,es to science in his ~

11orks indicate that he knew e great deel more· of the new philo~
soph:? than would hBve been necess2.r~:/ to. -~J.ri te his pO.$try. There
will be more a_iscussion of the point let er on in this pa.per.

Courthope c1escribes the inte-11-ectue.l temper of· the e2_rly seven-

te:enth century in the follot4ing manner:

Assailed at once by the forces of the new faith, I

0e netJ science, and the gro1r,1ing spirit of civic

riberty, the ancient fsbric of C2tholicism 8nd II
Feua_alism fell rnore 2.ncl. rno1,..e into ruin, but the
i n n O V."C . ""-I.J J.~ n
.i.
0'
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-~-.. .' J.'1- l• 1 Q s· 0. -.) fi JT
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\ .TC,-
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f c:. r fr Olu
r. -n h aV .L
~ Dg .i.
II

\ :ti

est2~lished 2 system of order and authority .... ·

'I
II

The first effect of the collision between the

opposing princi:)les 1'72..S to prope.gate e. feeling
of philoso9hic doubt. [Donne 2.nd other autl1ors
used] ••. the rich materi2ls of the old and ruined
philosophy ~o decorPte the_ structures which they
built out of their l2.11less f e11cy .14
•
Briefl~_r, Courthope. 1 s pos.ition lS

t·.. _ n'... e· ·p -_("> 0. 0~ U .C -'-_•· ·Q·• .t:tJ.· . 1~11

1·-·e 1• "('L ·t·. ·e 1· 1 cc·.
\
t ·. U r.1· f1 p .yam· e··n··. t·. (;··r· Cl r:- t.·· 1....,
o (~ "'o.:
. .
. ...( ,
'
··'.
t :f:i;e ,.
ne§c:-
.·' . .. . fl':(:'; .

.i..J.. .... - v u .1:.1 . .- ·.--- -~. . ·. -C. · ;.i.._ , ../ - .- • . . v. L-. • -·- tJ

o:·f -t.he 11 Anniver.-s2-r1.i·es":

One of the most interesting str2nds of thought

bbmmon to the twin uoems is the reflection on .,_

the disintegr2ting effect of the New Learning.

Copernicus 1 displ2cement of the earth, 8nd the
conse~uent d4sturb2nce of the accepted medi2eval
cosmology with its concentric 2rr2ngements of
· eleme11ts 2.nd. heevenl3r boc1ies, e. rrests anc1 disturbs.
Donne 1s im2gination much as the l2ter geology with
·-···-··-·· - --~--. ,-. . . ·- --- .. ---~-----····-. -- ··---· . ···---···- ... -···--·--- ......-- ···-···-·· ...... -~ .::.~-. :...~,·...:. ··~ .... ·--···

. - . - . - --- -----~ ··-·--··---·-,.--~·-- .... .;..,... __ ... ·-------' - ·--·-···-·- - ·-·-····· .

 ··-~.' •''.,c~:· ·'l'·:. :,.:,,·-.....a.: .. :"""'!'"'"'-- ,,. ' - ,, .. ~ .. .
-- _.. .... ,-r-..;a•-·• • • • ~ , _ . - , _ . ...................... , - ~ ......... j:......1- .

. -- .
' . . .. - . ·- ..
-:. ~ . . . . "'1,, ,.,
. - '... . -·
.,, .... ...._.-- . .-,
~

.
, ............, ......
~..-\
33 # • l ~ f .. , ..

. •
r'
. - · · .. ,
.J_tfJ6Y'f;J6"tl',
•' M'i,\ . . . . . . . . . . . . ·~- ,. ••

its revel ation of vanis hed speci es 2nd first

sugce stion of o. c.octr ine of evolu tion 8.bsorbec1
, [;nd pertu: .~bed Tenny son he wrote In Hemori2_m 1vf-5n
Etna_ tlu,.,o L1.r.:ho u t his life • '-

Mrs. Simp son's think ing in 1924 2nd again in 1948 is

eJ.ong these same lines : 11 [ Donne J realis ec!. so keenl~y a.11 that
was invol ved in the disco verie s of Keple r and GFlile o~ H~
S£3't·J th2.t the ne1v Copern:i·Q._ar1 QO$rnogon~.r releg_ r-ted. the eerth ,
which for so men\, e-e.nt uries.
.. heel seerne d to ~ . . .i be the cente 1 of 1

the unive rse, to e.· r:e.lt3.'tive1y unim~ ortf\n. t. posit ion. ul6 Lo,u.is II

B1 edvol d assumes: much the .s.e..me :~osi tion ·in ·1925 in hif e:ssa.y
1

~
I

entit led ·"·The P~elig1o·-u·s Tho·uz ht of Donne. in RelE. tion to 1,fedi eval
2.nd Let.,er Tr2c~ iti.ons . ul 7

wri tinr,. tn 19:31 ,,. c_o.n·t:-i.n11e s: the Cour thou

... e ,:.:) . . . . . . . ·.....
.

·1Do ·s··tn..,.,e
.. :-- ,.·.:. ,•.
~1,;;.;.; : .• "Donn e, livin g ·in e.n f·e;.e: o·,f' scien tific rev-ol utior~ ,
c·ciulc1 .no:t· h·e:.l.}') surve- ~ring ,:Ji t.~ .a ·e:·cep .tio.ts e;/e the s-tate of

•Cl'Oll fusiJil1-prese ntea_ by the chenf; ;ing 1-JOr1d. H Altho ugh Protz
..
.d.cres not P-J~')ly his st .~~ -t.e:n1e.nt to t··he "And: n.-evJ. Philo s oph~r. .. ti

Ge.o·r.ge 1qillia .mson o·ecu_r)iect .in 1935 2. 1)ost tion -ej_rr/i lt:r: t.-o
0 0:Urt·hO·:)t::l IS'.
.. . . .l·v
.1'.n
. .
·h·1· S e··s s· ·.?~--J,
...
,r . .L _v..;o··. ·i·: 1
lt~1··.1:u·t_q .1· t"'"r
--,. J1 D.e·o.r.·y_., .c.ntl Js~:o ob. e_:t~·n.
~ .· ·t·.· .,ne t· 1• ""-1·
-r::1-e····-1·
~- '. . ~-··
·~- n··• c· n'·~-·.o-··1· 'J
-.,.·.r· ·
• ...
11
r1.s v e s. -f:...u 2.·.•LLies
. .
, "·T1·1·
11 . 1..J:·1
··~ . .
plilJ:3.00 1• s cone e·r 11 e d· .

1vi t.h the: se:v·e_tl°t·e.$.rit11-c en~u.r y belie fs c=.onc·er-ni11g cle.c2":,r. He

•
'Ob·ae. rve··s th-2.t J)o:rine is conc2r 11ecl v·Iith the olct iclee of 1vorld .-
• ..

·c1ec2.y· B.S r:ev,e:a1ed b.Y tJ1e -ne1-v $Ciei1.o:e. H:f·s ;Josi tion. is not -~ .. .••

c·oL1p letel}t ide:nti .C2:l viith Cb urtnocr}e) H, for he 1)12.ce s mu.ch mo-r:-e
em1Jh esis O:n dec2::r, encl $e-nsi. bl·:r so.: T.hey B.re ve1.,~/ simil2 .r,

hov1ey_e;r., in their opinio n.s a.bout :8on.r1:eJ s attitu des to1ivc1.rds \ J· .

- ...... - - ... ·; :: l"'--:"" ---.--- ·--

•·•~.---·-·••~"'!'•!':,, -..·,. • •·•· r'.'"" - •·•:••• • .,: • .•• .·. • -.-: • .-. -.··., .·.: : ' -:~· ..-,._._ ~ , . , . • • ~ - - · • -- •••• -
--· ,_ ... _ .. ;, ·--, - . i: .... -.. -

I
!
:,
,_' -----.-----,--..... -·----- ..------··~·--·------··· ... .. ---~.
-~
. _,., . -- 1·,:. • •• ·• • . • ' ··-·-' -- .. - - .... - .. -. . . . . ' ... ~ - - -·· • -- - • .. ~- . ---· - ··-- --· ···------- ··-"-·······..--... ,----"~,-··-.. ·-·----·- ..·-··--· --~--- --~------··------~ ·----~ ----·-·---~ -·-······· .
 •.:. ·,, :··, . .. . __ ,_,_,..,__ ·... ·: • . . • i:;--: _·
•• , . - • .. - · - · -• ·- • • •• ··-.•---·••,-•--·,··•-•" -•• IC•~•

.
•)~•• - •
.....~
• • 0 I ~
........ ~
.Ju. . . ' . ·~· ...
••,. . . . .7.1,'r'"
•'
··-:::?.;'

scie nce. Cour thop e 1,10 uld heve Elgreea.. vJi th ivill iems on I s
..
sto_t erJen t thc:t 11 tl1e diso rder in n2tu re [a_s reve r\led by the
new scie nce] argu ed the deca y of the worl d • • • and . • •

adde d a modern ch~r acte r to the mut abil ity them e of the
l~idd le Ages . '-'
It v.J 2_s this tl12.t r") Ve
0r" C.. 2. scep tice. l turn to
th.e seve 11tee nth-c entur ·-r mind . ul9 t,

By f 2.r the most dete. i·led e2~9 osi ti:or1 o·f Donn e in term s
.
of tl1e Cour thol) e r,osi t:ion is found_ in C.1.r. Coff in's John

Donn e a.nd the Nev, Phi.l osop h;y, publ ished . in 1937 . Coff in,
like vv'ill i2ms on, has. a greo .t deal to se:/ 2.\)ou".t the conc ept
/:"

of -v1or ld-de c2.y. 11 u·nder the influ ence of the ., nevj philo soph y·.,, l :tr:
-O:of fin s2_ys. , · 11 the mea. ievrl scien ce r-n'd m·et:t.})hys:i.cs·. b.~g'·B11 ··Yrj.

Don ne's t-:L·:m.e. to suffe 1, a_isi nteg rrti·o n. a~na~ d .e.ce.Jr. 11 .·r· n
•. .
sp.e c.·k····
·- · .·· ·.·. · . ......
:.):11._g:
. -. ,.-... . . - __

. .
of J)2_r:.a·ll-elrI bet,v een the "Ele gie u~on the untime:l_y dee_t_h of

s2-:1s, !lit is e~;2.in • • • [Don ne's] preo ccup etion w_itb the nei~,

2stro nom y end 1 ts imp licet ions of c.onf u.sio n t·het cons titut e

b2.ck bo·ne of Donrie I s l)oet ica.i thin king . tr 20: Thes e ste.te ment ·s·

tvro. h.undr?c1 :e.hcl~ nine t·y-f our· po.g·:e-s: o:f Coff.i.n' 1·s: te:-~t-. ,
·The :c·ou rthop e 1Josi tion is .c.o-n,tit111ed in a diff eren t· vei11
"-··?..·1.,

by }1erg 21,et L. 1file J' in The Subt le Knot , subt·i ·t·led ~ Crec '~tive
Scep ticis m in Seve ntee nth-: Cent urv Enf-;l.s.nc1 2-ncl Dub lishe d in
1952 . She c"u.otes the. 11 And· netv Ph-'i losor >hy • • • 11 p2~ssc1ge

twic e, usin g 1 t. e.s an e:~2nrole of nesc ieno e, e. l(ind_ of scep -

ticis m whic h she does· not defi ne exce pt by exam ple. The
acce pted defi nitio n: is II the doct rine tha.t God, 2.nd a.11 t-ne.t
I
~ .. ····-. -· ........... ' ---·· '·- : -··· -·~ . . . ;,;,.~· .. ... . ...... ~. .... ,,._
_;; ... ~..::..
- .:

1:
1:
I
 . . ,. . 3S ......... •'C' ,·

. :· .., .. ~·~:~
.. ,~.-.,.. ,f
....• ~-
,,. ;.... --. J· 1 ,
1 ·,,.:.., '°'.f..C-., u,.-.·,~"".'J·: · .:, ·

..
goe s bey ona . -,n2turP1.l phe nom ena , e~re ihc a11 abl e of bei ng kno
wn. n21
She att rib t1t es Don ne I s "ne sci enc e" to his knov1lteclge o.f
the nevJ
phi los oph y. 22 She neg lec ts to no te tha t Donne con clu des the ·
...uoem on the theme of fai th in God and in hea ven (se e 11. 43 lff ,

"The Fir st An ni ver scr :l, 11 for e):e .my le). If 1-1iss 1·.Jiley use s
·ne sci enc e in its usu al me 2ni ng, 2nd the re is no rea son to dou bt
tha t she doe s, she is for cin g Donne to fit her the sis .
The- sch ol~ rs who h~v e bee n gro upe d abo ve 2re pro b?b ly
the mo st pro min ent p~o pon ent s of the Co urt hop e po sit 4o n,
but the y r.re no t a._lone. J.B . Lei shr ne. n' s stu dy, The 1,1on2.rch
0-~: :\fi t, oont&.in~. ste .tem ent s much lik e Co urt hop e I s; the sa.me
I
f
l ·rtiE.tY be :sf:,.id. of Je~ck: Lin dsa :/ 1 s ess2~~.r ebo ut Don ne
I end Bru no. 23
r
i

l
t
~-
Ra lph B. Crwn 1 s rem ark s in Sc ien tif ic Tho ugh t in Po etr y on
i
1.
,fi.. 11 The
Fir s·t A:.r 111 iver sary 11 2.re much the SEJ ne, es frr 0_s the :r go·: ..
;,:

'
Crum ss.y s tha ~t ''[I)on11.e I s] re2 .,ct ion on the 1vho.l:"e· 'tv·c~s o.ne of ~
I
I

··re ,sis tFtn ce. to the ne1:·J t'IJoD.gh-t. 11 24 Th is..s.eerh:s t·o be rs_ th~
r I

·_Poetr;r a.ncl Human.1·_stn als· o: .oo-n._tEt:i.:n-·s c:yni·n.i,::;rts: -mtlO:.h J..i,k.e Co urt -

..
.h0j )8
·~ . t
S.
25
,;.i.·.

'.l"
J./le F• 'H'
,~IJ. o· 1
·· .o·'.n
. · ·'e·
.. ' , ,..\r
'' . . .c.J ., B~ :ntember: ·of the ·ob jec tiv e cor :'le l'a. t·i.v e ·scl:o(Yl,
\

·cJb:_.j:e·c:~·s to tJ1e .irt ter pre ·t:. tio n of D-011ne I s tho ugh t pro
,.
pos ed b. y·
·tn..e ori ti.e s :9f t11e Co urt hop e 11er·su2-s1 on •. He o'ro uns mos·t: :o:f
,· 0 ' •,!. . .

tra. tin~ ; the ir cri. t1c ·21 po sit ion s thr oU [h the- us:e· of qu ota tio
ns.
:H1.s· pri m2 .ry ob jec tio n is to the ir im pli cit : or eY :pl ici t ola im
..
I
tha t Don ne s con cer n wit :h ·the . .:ne1v scien:ct=;-,, .es pec i2. lly
.ast ron om ::;

-•·• -•·· • • • , • • -••- ·• •• _;,i.c • _....,;,:......_.., ._., •• • : ··- • .., .._......... ~, - .· :_· ·-. -=· . .
. -· . -- ... ·-: -. ·;·
_....i.;...... -· - .. -- - ---- -· -
··-. •··- "'"''":' - ·-·· -·· ~--.;-· . -". •

,..

. '- ... . ._ __ . '

...• -- ·- ·- -···-·- --
~- -- . . ........ .,-~-- ---· ····--· ...... -----··--- - .. . •-••- -- - --- ___ ,. ___ -- - --- -~-----M------ ... - ------ ------ --·- ___ :.------~------.. ----··---~--
- .. ' .
---~----···-- - --·- - " --- . - - -• ....
 . _,........,_,~"'.
36
. :•All

was theological rather than poetical. He points out that the

old i:.vorld-vj_e,v vJ2. s not immedie.tely a.estroyed by the net'IJ scienc~
a.nd that Donne was in fact able to fit the new astronomy into
-his religious philosophy. l-1oloney quotes from a. letter thEtt

Donne wrote to Goodyere in 1609:

.,
I often comp2.re not you ~·nd_ me, but the sphear in
11hi ch your resolutions e.re, a.nc: m:,,l 11he.el; both I
hope concentricue to God: for me thinks the new
Astronomie is thus appli2ble well, thct we which
2re a little earth, should rether raove towards
God, than th2t he which is fulfilling, 2nd can
come no whither, should move towards us.26
Th:i:s I'2,ther cesuell refer·e.nc.e to t-r-ie. ne,v science, 1-!oloney
oelieve$, deoo.nstr:e.t.es. thf?t Don.ne. wes s.b·le t.:> 2.d.-:2:pt to the

nev, ide.s.s 1-1it:ho·ut bec-ora1.ng·_ r .s,c.ep.tic. I.-t- 1s: ·1.nteresting

thE-\t the res:t ·Of t;he le:tt.e.r 1.s- 1vn.e.:t 1.,1:}l.oney :cal'ls 11 persone~l:

pe:rt;ic.ulz/rl:I sta.rtling·_.: .lJ6'1o.ne.:,r ··c·ite.s· .ot:J:ier p2.ss r:ge·s from

._:,•,

·The rno:·s·t ··e·f-f-ective

. . . ..
·p2,.rt of 1:1olorr:ey 1 s argwnent with
- . . .. .· .· . .. I...,
the
O·.o urthoue
.. . .. .... sch,J.ol is the t vJhi cl1 is centered on the
. . - . ·• -· . . . .
11 .~d. new

-~hiloso9hy . • • rJ v·e1· ses- ~, 1

·irRead in the S.!).ir:i._t of the nine-

teenth centui..,Y, tr Jlolo·ne:r sa.ys, "these lin.eJ> ··v·ery definitely

•I,
essume 2_n eir of irtte:llectua:l s.nd s:9iri tue.:l bewild_erment. 11
•.
.'
He se.ys thet if one II trEtn·$1-e,tes them into the idiom of
Tennyson" they will se-em to be a.n 11 e1Jitome of the Victorian

confusion ~n the years when Hu:dey was baiting .._, Bishop

-- . .• :, - .. -- --- --=- - - - - ·- - • . - -· -~ -

I
.·.)

'

·;
I \.~.
.::.;

l:
;;;
,·,
n·
- . _,,.
 37
~ .. ~:. ', • ......_..,,' .-.. . . . .. 1,,.. .

liilberforce a.nd Tynde:11 wes solemnly ree4.ding God out of the

universe. 11 But the suiritua_l 2.nd intellectua_l environments

.J.. .

of tl1e nineteenth cent~y and the seventeenth century vJere

not the s 2.me, 1,Ioloney observes, m2.int2ining th2_t it is ~,rong

to treat a seventeenth-century work 2s if it were written in

'· ·the ninete·enth century. ·28

. 14-tllOney goes on to r~uote from HThe First Anniversa.ry" .:,

For the worlds beauty is decei 1 d, or gone,

Beeuty, thr.t 1 s colour, 2nd proportion.
We thinke the hervens enjoy~their Sphericall,
Their round pro,ort4on embr2cing 211.
But yet their ve.rious r nc1 perple:·:ed. course,
Observ 1 d in divere ages, doth enforce
Men to finde out so m2ny EccentriQue perts,
Suqh divers downe-right lines, such overthwarts,
As disproportion th2t pure foroe:
(11. 249-257)

H:e::rj·e_, 1-Ioloney se~~is, 1ve f.ina~ .Donne t.ur:p:.ing 11 ~vi·th ec_'_ua_l

-s:-ubtlety to to.y. ivl.th t-he ingenious. Pt·olema.ic theory of:
. . 12 8
e1Jicycles end. e·.cc.etrt1,.,~i.cs. ~v ·rt ·is.· \vell to cdd!, al t-hou·gn..
1

... ,.
l:1oloney d·oe.s :no·t do so·, thst the .r1~1v 9·h1I,osophy, the·

theories ·o'f' {}alileo ana_ Oo_p··erni.cµ$_,. l~E.d ¢tlsproved the

Ptoleme.i:c theories involV-1ng epicyc·1~s ·2:na. eccentrics:.
They hcH:L bee11 devise-cl :,to expl2_in the c_l teretions in the

movements o:1 th_e· pl2,n.et_s as ooseryed fror.i c, su1J}X)sedly

st2tionar:1 e2.rtb..; tJ1e·y -we.r.e. no longer necesse_ry in the

.new estronomy~39
Donne contirtu-es·:
It teares
The Firmament in eight end forty sheires,
And in these Constellations then 2.rise
New starres, and old doe vanish from our eyes:
As thou.g:i he2.v 1 n suf~erea_ earthc1u2,kes, l)eace or T~T r··
v~ C~~- .. , .
1~men ne1:v To1,Je1.-;s rise, 2nd ·Ole_ demolish I t 2_re
(11. 257-262)

I, ·- ··--·-----··--·~-·---·-···-·Jr.-<>•""· --·-·'''"'···· - ----· - - --··

. .- --
.· 'r,, ....,.. ' . ~ ,· .. ·, ~· :·. :;.t·~ .. ~· . ..,.,,. ··-'.!'---· .... ,,,,; .. ,, •• h...., .. ....,,.... '~.·-~

11 Donne uesses from the Ptolemaic

Here, Moloney exclaims, ~-

• .!
1 eight 11
o.nd fort Jr she ires I to the e..rents which are su~pposed
to have aroused serious ·~·uestioning of the Ptolema.ic scheme
'
of the universe, the new st2rs observed in the supposedly --,

immuta.ble hee.vens by Tycho Brc1he, G2.lileo, 2_nd Kepler. Donne

minr;les the old_ rnd ne1·: 11 wi th th2_t c-om_9lete e2se 2.nd p.er:·_f.ect
11
'4'1
c.asua.l.ne ss II which is "char\a:cte.r i·$·ti c ·of ·_,the Ren2. is s e,no.e.:. · v· r

:The combining of. the old wi t·h. the ne,,1 continues in-. the- ·"
r
.li-r1:.es .imnedietel ~r f 01101/Ji n·g tl1os e c_uotea_ 2-.bove:

They have imp21 1 d within 2 Zodi2ke

The free-borne Sun, 2nc1 1re epe t1·Jel ve Signes 2.11a~Ie
To vJ2tch l1is s te1)s; the Go 2 t 2_na_ CrF.b controule,
And fri~~l1t hi~~-: b2.cke, 1,rho else to either Pole · ·
(Did not these Tropiques fetter him) might runne:
For his course is not round; nor CPn the Sunne
Perfit 2 Circle, or meintaine his way
One inch direct; but where he rose to-d2y
He con1es no r.1ore, but 1,:i t:1 e. co uzeni11£: 1 ine,
~tor-:lec b~r
- \..I .J
+hr~+. ..,,)01· nt J snri
C,. U lJ (. - v
0 1· S Ser;,...-,ont1· ., . , e.
~ C • .o. 1..--
0
U ~ :_-' V .I. .. •

Anc~ seer11 1 ng ~"'"ea1#)··:/ v1ith l1is reeling thus,

He means to sleepe, being -now fElne nearer us.
So ' O··I'"' t n· e Uc.· T ~ -r re s -r •~ 'h i c -l
uC
n "'o o ~-~ s .,_lJ + 11. ,. t · -r. n, e ~ r do V,. . r u n·..-") e
- ni.l. .1.- L,.L' V ,.;
1
.J. ••

In Circle still, none ends where he be;un.

( 11 The First An11i vers ar :;- , n 1 1. 25.·7~·2.62).

fr-orn our ·.some,1h2t· enlightenec1 E_:~;.e, but by sevente_er\th-

ce.nt:tir:y st12ndAra_.s it i . s. c. e.rtrin·1:~r no-t confu_sion, .2.-rrd it is·
. ·e·v·en les·s so-=,. if ·1,;e 2.gre .e ,·lf th: li!olone~r ~h2t Donn,els: ·interest·::

in the new science 'l>l2S :lluoet:t.c.Pl r2t·her theri the·o.logic2_l

~' . . . . . .. . .. ti ~ ~

.·( CI.
~ .
p. 36 e_bove) • A poet is no·t ·bound toe cert2in limited
in his aea.rch for imeges -~ . especi2-.ll:r if~ .he is sea.rching

·~-·
.;
____________________
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _1111111!1_ _ _. . . .

. _,
' . .. ,....,
39 . . . ..,...
-··-·.. .,......
·• - .
'
-.......... .... ·• ..... .
.. .. ,.,~·r........ ~ .........
,f:#·. .~,o:- ,..:~...... ... ·.~~~~\ . }'~>-"':""'··· ·.,.-.•.~"'W. . . . . ~-~·.,.·.·:~r~~.1".·1 .,..~.. ·• .: ' . ··otJ . i ~; \ ·,. A, :- •. •. t
~

. •,'. .....
~
·"' '·~ '·
........ , \. . . . . 1'· '
_. ,,. ··"'·"
'.'!.• . . ' ~ ' · - ~ -·

~ 1-_n_ ._c{n. 2:·ge in tvh1c_:h: :9.u_cJ1_. 8~ ver: te.ty of..c-:c,s·mo::10,g.ie-~ ·we-re

OU':l~:,_re·n t. 32

Wil liam son be~:.ieveJ3 thet : tb.e se line s c·.re ind icet ive of

Sci ent ifiq sce ptic is~ ·(th at is, scep tici sm base d on the in-
,_,1

form atio n reva ~l~d thro ugh scie ntif ic obs erv atio ns). He
feel s tha. t the, , des crib e . .·- - L
II the defo rme d he2 ven s ~-lhi ch hav e
bee.n reve aled by the I new phi leeo phy . ' 1133 Mol oney not es,
·ho1r1ever, th2~t mov em.e nt of the sun 2s des. crib ed by Don ne is

due to the· :fctc·t tl12.t- th.e s:un t-pa vels · -o-n ·an ecl ipti c, 11 a
fac t bBaic tb the theo r.y .o·r Ptol emJ ' as wel l 2s to tha t of
l

:Kep ler. ff The re is nQ re2. son to att:r ibu. te Don ne) ,s s·:tt:rte---
tn:et).t-s= to o·ne re. ther · t·han the oth er t)f t·he 1vo'i~ld_-.vi-·eiv-s·. 34-: .,
'

'1Jfo1o·ne·Y ob.·$:·er·ves th2t _ t:he elem e.rrt .cYf fire ·, $::,: ting uish ed
··b·.y· i:ne\J ··Ph· iloso phy' r i.n ''The Fir st :A.n11:ive-r,s_.o_r·:v1:.,-f1 is reig ni te<i
fqr use :fn ·''T:.he :Se. co·nd Annivers2~r2.r'-';' line s 1-81 -206 of thc~t:
l
l

. . ·35_
_j
'T"
, -1-·
n ,-. -u·
Lr.I..-,.:·.·- · ei.erne·.rtt O'_f ·f ··_1·-;r:-ie·.

·..J1oJ:,oney con clud es:

The trut h, it seem s to me, i·s tha t the eh!'. ~uir ing .
2nd avid mind of Donne, driv en on· by that pec ulia r
inte llec tu~ l rest less nes s whi ch ch2 r2c teri zed
his peri od, seiz ed ind iscr imi nate ly upon all
i n form r? t i o n th r_ t c sm e 11 i s tJ 9 ...: :.11 c1 YJ r e s s ea_ i t i n t o V - .L,

th2 serv ice of his ert. The men of the Ren 2iss 2nc e
h2d ~ Cap 2cit y for inte llec tuF r ~ssi mil ~t4o n Which
WRS , to sey the le2 st, rem ark? ble; for them a
new ide2 wrs no occ asio n for inte llec tua l ind iges -
tion . 1-Jor iver e they lilre l:i to be per turb ed by 8.
nevJ theor~,r of the W1i ver se, nq m2t ter hovJ sta. rtli ng 1

the imp lica tion s of th2 t theo ry mig ht be. For they
were the hei rs and the s~i ritu al chil dre n of the
men of the Mid dle Age s for whom the wor ld was ful l
of the stra nge and the won derf ul. The univ erse
mig ht, inde ed, be no long er geo cen tric , but for

\ . ·····~--,.....-·-···---.-· .
. -- ·---------·-" I. -. --~·--····- --·--·--·--- ------- ·-·--·-·-"---- ·-· ________ ........,,...,., __ ................ _____----·--:-·-·:"""' '
 ~· . ,,· - . / . 40 .
.. ' •.. ! , .. . ·······- ...... , ...:..,•.t"';. ,_.,,.....--~lo1n,:",.....lf•OW, •·-~....
~
r ' ~ ...... ~..-~,·~~,..,..-r ••·-~~-~-•~··•c:a• •I. . ,._.. .AMIIMI'
- 4 • ~ A'llfllll,V J·. ,.,..
. . . . . . . . . .,,,..
. ,
- · ~ .. ~~-·.af'"Al'.
,.....,.._ ··Tit

the vast majori ty of men, of whom ~onne was surely

one, it remaine d theoce ntric, and the transm utation
wa.s the pB_ltri est of detB.il s. It unq_u.es tion2.1Jl J is
difficu lt in en a.ge such 2s ours to regr:1in the 1
angle of vision from which they surveye d the myster y
of the univers e, but it will not suffice for purpos es
of critica l integr ity to substit ut~ a Victor ian or
1Jost-' lictoria n iJers1)e ctive, ,,~jhich rnc-i.kes a.n insolu ble
riddle of that mystery . 0 6
Molone y quotes with approv al passage s from Mary Paton
R2JI1say Is Les do.ctrin .es. medieva l·e-n .chez Donne. 37 He ~S-:e.s

her authori t.Y to est2.bl ish that "the. _scnole .stic on.il_.osQph~/
is E\fter 211 less 2, speci2 l system tha.n 2. method of though t. 1138

t~tErre· r10.'t: _hos.til-e: to s cien:ce r:tnct .oth~r origin2 l though t, but

·t·hey s eel\. t.o ,r.6ve di f·f e1"'en t tl1.e s e:s s.bo ut Do11r1e. \"---Rams e~2t

.f·.tter:11Jts to .shotJ t_het Don!B1 s thougl1 t is e~$e1,1t isl-l.y mE?dl~

:$,·Yr:]~,' 39
· · vvl11·1·e- l{ol,one y 2.rgues 1 · thc:.t Donne s tJi_o·ugl1t is '.neitpe-r-

ry r-_..'·:1,...,..l -.0.. ' " -:-,:·r-'

- ,~c
Q"· .....
;-; ·: ·1- ;,,.,
_..._,, · '...;_ · ·,. ·,'• 1.,. t ,.1·
,,_,•.......' ._, -:.L.' ..
i. •_ ,·(..,·I 0
-fu_.i...;1,;;, n- ·e··.-_-:1, ~ e----n·· ·c··.-_- '-'
.,_ .
r)· -....
.
·c
.
i'--i · ·"'. _.,. ._ ,_ ;;,_·h· r,· .J- 1· t" ,u.· .. . .-;_a·.
.
·:.. •.u ,. t,y . •
· ·l,.'_,
. ... l - 0 .-1·
-V _.
0 , - '-'·: 0.
r,
,.
~
t,
. ·- l .:.; ·
; . ._:")
!
u . . .,
c. •u •. .
- . '
C o -U,:----· -
' ' : •. ' ·1.·

--not· :he·l J b-ut intei.,e st Don1:1e,. bu.t c-.o.uld n·ot·, ·hoivevei~, tau.ch
~

·r·
. J.,
..i.;.. ·1· -.-
.;.. S.
, - _ . . ' . ·, - .;__ • :-~
8 8 8 8.Ll'L l :. ·11- ,./~ - r,
c·.
--n· :.. T Q ~ -~ ·r· -:-
ii.L,j u G ~: J
) .,

t. ,~ _.. ., -,.,,.., e . . +·V

I j ....-
... .1.\....1
••
~:-
I -.J,
._..:· ..
-~1-,·-·
u . 1· .e 1··-
.n
-
_ .__
-u e
. ~ ,I_- 1- . .
.J.. _l·,.,.,
-~ 1
,_,
._
1
..L o e --~·o··_-1,.,
... .__ ·-1:"l-
T" -',; _ c.·'

. . . . . .·, .'

::::cte,
··1·- -~- . ·o
__ f'_·. m·. -u·--·t-'
-1 . - c, , -·____1·- 1- ..i:.
,.,. -:o· ; -'-._L, -_,,,. .,_ ·r; u6
c.: ·n- . \... ,.)
1
,.. 0 b·_ e-. ,....11·
c .l:!J. yj t·1·0-
,...~ c:::::i- l.l : _ e
. n: · \,)_
r
1
,.-:--_ ~O-
u -V-._ e--.· ,-. i,, ,_r ,.0 S ·c··_-• _U
.. _'·r•-•. :~

:i~.ent in oo.tl1 tl1e .::.'ic1dle AJes 0 nql t·Jie Re.n·2.issr.nc:e-; it ctJ1·n.c>t . .

to e.- i _.t.,_-. '.n~.

·- 8
. .,-1.
1 o· r::,,...,. •
(·~·-o
·,;

·t--:h9.:t: c·o-ula. be inser:te· a. into Ramsay 1 s te:ct 1·Ji thout creatin g

. '•

2.n.y in·congr u.i ties ( c.}S·-id-e fr orn the cliffere i1ce of the 1

:\•

.. -- -. ·-·- --- .. - - -- - -- ... ~. - -· ............... -·· ... . ~ .-

 ..
•"!'!,··'
. . .. . '.,
.. .. . . . .4-J.,. ,.
... .-,,-,, ..
. ..
-
.....
....... ·-r· ..... ~ •,r.ur:".. -...;..;,\:.r41111M,.\ . ...-1'.' .,.,,.. ..... .,,,.,.•; .. ~ ..;,.::.;.:~"""··· :__,_ _._ ··~.,: \',.,t-,........~1, ...·tt
.~ ;
',..,., -- ··~·:ll'"..

lang uag es). In'" s,p_ ·eakit1g·' ,of the 1i.-ew s ta.rs a_nd the new
.-the orie s, he sr~y s:

Yet we sho uld not attr ibu te to thes e disc ove ries
mor e sign ific anc e than they mer it. The scie ntis ts
them selv es do not find in the ir new know ledg e
any ind ic2t ion s of dec ay. The div ines and the
poe ts and the pop ul2r scie ntis ts who wri te abo ut
dec ey 2.re sti ll lilre l::r to ta}:e tl1e ir a.str onom y
fror.a Ptol em~ r a.nc1 the ir zool ogy from Plin y. \vhen
con flic ting w2y s of thou ght beg in to con verg e in
the sev ente enth cen tury , whe ther in the poe tic
ima ges of Donne or in the lit~ r2l des crip tion s of
Cctr pen ter 2.na~ S1·1e.n, the bel ief in deca_y u.nc tues tion -
2-bl~l shol vs the inj:l Llen ce of conte~111Jorr.ry scie nce ,
but it rem ains the old bel ief 2nd si!£ 1Y invo kes
the new disc ove ries as con firm atio n.~

Joan Ben nett is ano ther cr.i . t.ic of the l-1oloney .or

tion s. 11 Hi.:s... e:-:p·lorfrti.,O·n,s incl ude d th.e ne1} sc1e:nce·s, she

• • 11 11,p es, she

sa.:ls the; t Don ne n uses the he1·J 1?hi loso 1)l1y c1_s L:~n 1:11u_st..r.~.-
ti,(> n. '" Don ne, 2.cc ordi ng to l1r-s.~ Ben nett , "now he.re , e:.ithet:1'

i)i Y:er se or pro se, .

;.f 11.c
· •·· 0·.n· s ,f .c:.) .._L, ·:,;..,
Y.'. · . f'.'1·. ·0,...., C
· · -i
.• dl
•
l...J ,..
. · b.
··c
•
..·.
u .t.:.u...
·. J used eith er . .
ind iffs ~sh tlv or the .. '.~

.tJot ifl.i. ct be t1:~.reen the t1;10 , f:O:r tlie :e:~pt.es Ef'iO:n o··f some t:r1ing-
el.s· e. ·n4 2

2tti tud es tow& rds the new ~cie nce and mu tab ility . F~2 nk
Kermode, a cri tic who se idea s r.ese mbl e R2m say 1 s, h&s made
stat eme nts abo ut the mat ter tha t are W8 rth. quo ting in S:Ji
..... te
.
·,
. .

of the ir inco n-cl us-tv ·enes..:s :· . ~ .. .- . ..- . ·. . . . . ,. . . ' . - .,

..... ,,
.. . . " . ···.... _ . --·" -- .... " - -· - - ... - .... ". " •.. ·- ------- - . ·----- ·-···- -- ..-·-··- ·-··----·- ...... -· - --·--·-·"-·-··". •·-· - ........
- _,, --,...- ......... --
 ~,I f •, •).' • .._ i (r ! T ' ~ • ""'

_",.,..... 1i'V'''•'·• ..... --·~-'"""""'9,..._..... ~--·~,,;····: -~i...· ........ ·•. . . \. .. ... . ...... -....................~. .---.. . ·-· LJ2. ._.,. . ...
.. .,......: . ., ....t·~;:St-- t.
.. . ·OJ
_.,,., ......

i t•

. • . the old emph2,.sis on the 'mediaeval' q_uaJ.ity

of Donne's thought, thow.gh in neea_ of c~u2lific2tion,
is more to the point than the more recent stress
on his modernity. A great deal has been made of
his interest in the 1 new philosophy, 1 and the
disturbance supposed to hove been caused him by
such astronomic2l discoveries as • . • the cor-
ruptibili t? of the he2.vens. Certoinl:r. • • Donne
was 2~are of such developments • . . • But it is
the greatest yossible misunderst2.n,iing of Donne
to SU}Jpose ths.t he tool[ this .2_s any more than
another proof, where none was needed, of the
imperfection of humen intellect. liu.t2.bility
reached higher towards heaven than one hrd
thought; but this only shows how unreliable
hwnan lG1o'tf1ledge must ali:·12~:rs 1)e. • . • The
f2mous 92.sss_ge in The First .Anni versa_ry . . .
is merely pErt of the demonstr2tion of 1 the
fr2ilty and decay of this whole World 1 men-
tioned in the title of the poem -- a theme
enforced by mRny illustr2tions taken from a
wide v~:riety of su~bjects. • . • It 1vould 1Je
very unlike him to be much affected by the new
1;hiloso1Jhy: · 1 if there be any a.ddi tion to kno't1-
ledge, 1 he says in a seroon of 1626, 1 it is A
r (,,_ +he"Yl
0
u- ... neTwv. \' 1..-;-.QT,1lecc:·o
-a . . ,. , "'-1-ion
i. J. LJ _~ o. grea-1-cr
- Li .._,
1 l"'1'iQT,Jl ed·:Ye
n..J. v - • .r:l
.i. I ... 3
J..i..
0
.J- ' - ' .

J.C. :.12:i:1--.reJ_l co11cludes his eSS$,j.T e_ttac}cing 1-irs. Sir.1-oson

...

2:nc1 Coffin in p2.r·t1cul2r sna_ the Courtho_pe school in gen-~r-8.1-

little rto 2_ lon[; 1c1ai.r. His :use _o·f

Donne ['.lalces 2. . ~ I....,; ,.,
.,:

the sciences is of 2 Diece

.... 1:-.ri tl1 >_is v!hole
constitution of mind: the curious combin2tion
of love of 2ccur2cv in 02rticul2r feet with an LI -

unc1erl:.ring co11 te:-~1::)t for II u11concerning tl1int;s,

mnt t ers of f 2.c t" ( 11 Tl1e Second An~i vei- sa.ry, u 1

l. 285); of enornous intellectu2l appetite

a n /1 s 1 °,..., .,_ n °vuc o
.. "-·- <./.. ~- ~.... 11
L, --. hr; t n~ 1· s c on t e :1~l.-"'
Cl ( .i: ·,or \... ·- r;...... e
-i-
L, .... C. ..i. ....
:-1 0
0

recognizec1 in l1im 2,.s 11 1r!i t 11 ) 11ith e.n uJ_tim.2.te

lack of the ~isinterested intellectual curi-
ositv of the scienti·st or the ~hilosonher. 4
LI . - . L -

Perh2ps 1,1e will -ne·ver· J:no,·1 ex2ctl2r wha.t Donne I s at-

we must conclude that Donne often used the ideas of

science 2.s m2.ter'i2.ls for I)Oetic imeger:l 1-1i thout either
--- ·--· - - .. -· ·- . ~ - . ·-;-7 . -· ~- - ~-

believing or disbeJle-ving in ·therI1. His mind. must have

. -· •· --··-· - . . . .... ---···

- . -- . - .. --·-- ·- ..... -----·--..-·-·-·-·--·--- - - --- ____ ., -----···--·-·-- .. --· ..~, ..... -.. --,~ ............. -
 ••\""" .......... '/k ......• •• • ,., · 1 ~ ....... .-...,. . .
.. • _.,....
_,... . -. 4!'
..
--~ . " '
,•,
....._,_., ................
··'·

Qr>,
:bee11 like a spon ge, soitk ing u~ idea s \,1he rever he fouri d

them: thes e idea s, take n out of the cont ext of his

poet ry, misl ead crit ics into thin king th2t he was deep ly
conc erne d with whrt was ~ere ly gris t for hiS poet ic mill .

....

ti..

,.·,j :.• ·:

:.:..

- •,-. - :; . :·-

....,:·,

. -·- ....... ·····. . ---~- .......... ··-···•----- ......... ..

- ·•
·- - - --- ,, - .......I- -··
 .,.,w,..,.~·-··.. , ........,,·;.,,.........• ..
44
~·· T" . . . --· --..r •" ..
.

CHAPTER IV

Few pe:o pl:e l1ave bee n a.bl e to re.a d :Do rine 's "A nni ver sar ies "
1111 th any gre at· ·e.11thu-.si2.sm. }1o st c. rt·t· .ics .a.re con ten t to
corn rnen t u·oon ·the:- ·con ten t o.nc1 oc_c-2:s-:ion .o·r·· t.h-e poe ms, usu ally

cal lin g atte:nt.i:o.n to the ".Ano. ·ne1t,r Phi los: oph y • •• • " pe_s s ci.ge
but not Eltt emp ·tin: g: to . de:: fend them c.s poet1")3r or es· com 9le te

}to: rks of' ~.rt • Tl1e bigc~.est stuJ nbl ing blo ck· :in the 1vay of
t·h~- rea:de1,, vJJ:to -s·:e_e:_1.·:.s to· 2b 1re ci2 .te the noe ms is 2.lmos. t
. - ·-
1
~

a·lTr2,ys tl1e ·p.r.obl>em bf: rec. ono l1in g.- tl1e su. bje ct \:Jit h ·lth-2.t is

i
.IJ

11 .,if·
. .. .
it hP.:cL ~Jee.T1 ;"Jr'i·tten: . o·f
. . . . . . the Vir ~tin 1-!o.rie lt· he.d
.· •.. .. . . . . . .. . ._.) . .. . . .. b.een
,'rl

4-

iri the JO.em.s:., 2.ltl10L1t;h 11.e c~_u2.l 1 fie s :his stc~ t_e. nent ,by s2.y ii\
6

I.

·$1JcJ ·vis i:o 11. 112 '-~L

1'.j'l..-.,·.os·
.. ... • · ··o· ·n··.
.:.
-. .._. ..
hr.-rr
.::Ye::,
.
·c
V·. u
1 ~':·t· IJt.,,,,_·
+L,,.;1.c - . . e.·· o· ·n··-1'-rr1
-.l. . :.I..·· . · -._· 'Ti:~y-
1,1:-C.·~ ·.·.: t·o··.· .• .·'l':1•'"'
1
.:..:..1.:c~J.~vr·o t:r.1A
vJ. _ 'v

._0.o.f fin f eel· s tl1.p~·t 'tl1e. pD ems s.re s2. t·i sf~ cto r:r o·n:lz( if one
::ce.n. :1a~e-nttf2r Eli zeo eth Jru r~r v1it l1 Cl1ris t. 4
One· of the key s to 2.n unc l..er stan ding of tne n.,Ann,, ve_r.s:·.·e.r·i·es 11

is to teg li7 e tha t Donri~ inte rtde & us to rocr :"' rel-
·'-'b. •,. Eli Zf. be_.·t. h_·
.Drur~r s.s. m·ere:l~r ttr.e O·C. c. e:·ELi.bn for the -p·o.ems;· the ful l ti·t .les
of the 11 .Anniver
·sc\r.ie·~}H :rr2:.lre tl1i s cle 2r: 11 An .An2.tomie of tl1e
1vo rld. 1vherei11, B~y oc·CE1s·ion of the unt ime ly de2 .th of 11i stri s

Eliz 2.be tl-1. . Dru.r:,r, tlie· t1~-a.i.:lty Etncl the c1ece.y of thi s· who le

-•• ---0 -~.·~'"''•M"• •.1•., --·, ,, - .j -· -- - - -· ---··- - - ·- --·· -· - "". -~: -- ---···,-· -- -· ------·- -----
,i:•, ,·

. '.

__ , -- -- - - •- . - . - -- ----···· ·-- ~ ....... ... _.,,......... --·---·-.----- -,..- .. ,4'--..------- ----- _ _ ............. --,··-
 .. . '
. .'f • •fJr-:.~l·:"•1 ~: !: S.Jl,'.;'·; / .\•i·: ,... :~· ~.·:::,.~.~+ti ~ii 1\-'?\-?~~f;'.~·:D('{~itltit?([;?'(:!:l•'.,·y, ·.::.
1
. .

.........
. .- . . .,· · ,...... . ,;,. . ""·~·~ . . ~ . ~ ·..~. ·:;; ;.·:·;;,· · . •·;#:~.~~··r ... ~·. . . _. .;. : :-~ , •, . . - ..,....,,v,r ·., ..... ·
~~

··45

World is represented1; e_nd "Of the Progresse of the Soule.

1~J'herein, By occa_sion of the Reli8~ous dec1.th of l:1istris

Eliz2.beth Dru.:r~r, the incor:-1modi ties of ·the Soule in this

life, 2:1"' e con temT)lB~ted .• ·u
... . . ..

The po ems 1lere not-: Of\lled 11 Anni versaries II until the sec··ond.
1·J2.s }JUblishecI_; i.t ·is rnislec>ctin.g t·o -c2.ll them by this con-

venient ·but ._111.precise titl:e vli.thout keeping their full

titles in rrti.nd.

bolicctl. :)r-2fiJ3:e-r~ of Elizc-.beth D:rt1r·y • • ~ ate only incidental;

wh.s.t ls E:;ssential 2re the refle::1 qns on the veni ty of the
.· l'· o -1.,.1
· 1~ : - d. ~ nd· ·r ·tn,. 1,"'. r 1 i· f'e·
1
t,· . ·P
·.~ ~·0(· .. :
·\. . :Y
.·The Anni ve1,saries:, lil<;.e
.ci.L.·

IJ. .. · · ~-· .. •

L ;{cl"d s s_, · i :r.o·meE.sur·c_o

.,.1 -;;i t r2.nscen-d +hi
1..,: e. · r .
1mrne d J..P·+·
ue occe..s
· · · · ion.
•
r-
uO 0

Ho1-Jever, ·the t.e)~t of the poem.·s. does not i11forr.n th·e ree.der
c _·1· >_:.Vr.·1· ·s· .1. .0J. ~ 1 i" : . C. "'.o e t L..
1
0 c0 n :_v. r :n> :"o-. ··e tu 1.·.~ e P. Dr
i g P..' 0.· ..0 ,, . •u·.. J..
't"l tr - .0.,-
..L
'"l
- ~ .1........,1 ·_) _1'1
-
>,,..,
- ._. - l. J..:J
.'l
J .~:. n.·
C..
0 ..

tni S 1 i fe. U ·01

1
II the frc=-·.i.lt'jr 2.hc;_ ·t.11.:e d.e:C:F::t ;Of thi.$ 1vh018
· 1, rl . ., f
·r,.i J":-.·o·r·
... . ..V- •.

t.. .'h
·l·: . \.;;: ·.c.J:~i• -'-u··.·1~.-_C:S
0
· T:,t1,1·-j
. . .. ·'. . ··s· )1,.-.:..,.c
... 1.... ,l · ·._,,.
r;. '.c.J.,..O··nco.
' : •. L? .· ··n·l S
.:.OJ,; · 1-. o-~)i·1: "'n·s
_._t -·- •;)
.L' • . : . ·.-·.,o·o·u·
.c .. '· ·. u.·. t-be.··
u .i.·.i. ·.!.;. ·i.":\.·.·o·
:1 _ ~.
•. ··.c:;
P.··~.-.ffi
. - ..

end insist t;rJor:i rer(lj_i:ic; them cs hcvtng one subject,

lt"l·i· "' ··"lo u ~nj
~· · ·· · LI u D,1~'") u· .,_·,r.
....
O
.
...
"'Vl
·
..

\ •

hrv2 ·oeen srtisfiecl if Donne h:d betn Clee.r in defining

his subjeot by the use of e. cle2:r1y... defirted ::-i~tte:rn .of

.8~;:,
.. . ;:r 6 ,.:i ~,lffil ·1 e. -~ns
. ..... t···en1....:~v(..'.:.· ~ ·. ..· .·. ·. .:.08:",·.u_.
C,- H 0. f'. 8-
• . ,•' .~·,.... ·t 8,TI(".""ec.
. • . · . . . . . ~ .m,e
....' ·,:: i)'.ClO.r. ·t·
.. C ·;,-- :, • • . .:

- ... -·. . . . . . - : . ;. . . . . . . . . '. . ·.

Donne replied to Jon.son's criticism h? sn.yihg that

he described "the Ides. of n \·lom2h, 011d not as she \'r.ss. 06
SJ!tlpe,thetic criticcs vho defend the 11 Annivers2:ries·11 u.suelly
0L1ote :Jonne' c. re1')l~r·,. st·"· te Jch.:~t t,hf:1 n:ubject is rnore than
--·· ' \
•• ,,_ • • • ""J" • ,. ~ ..... ' ' . __ ... _ .,. " • --~ ... -· ...... ' . ··-·•· • • • • • . •
 /; ~ 1 •' ,~ .. • W'1 ' • •

....-..: ..... .,.,,, .... ,.,- .., .... ,-it' . ..

., • •"t''
.
< ., •
I ' ..
' , . .. ,,<" .•,, .••.
.-.o. ••• , ,_f-,r. ~·r,\ -·• ~
..:..J., ..... ~-............ •,\;... ~-;,.-',j.!i;
~
. # ,.-,.i,
., ~-- ,J . .....
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, , ..
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...
............ ~ ........ --................ _
: ···• .. . . .. ...........,... •• .;~.., . . . ,,,,,
.
... •-«< :.:·.~ ·:..·._ :···-·--,,_,,.~;-; .. ,,.
. •· ........,,
• • ,.. ..,.. ............... .. ,1 ,• •

Elizabeth Drury, and go on without precisely defining the

v-1hole subject or l1ell')ing the reader _.21.cljust to v1hat appears

to be extr~v2gRn t praise of Elizabeth Drury) Critics un-

SJ1Tip2.t;he.-tic to the poems find them inconsiste nt; they imply·

·o_r st-c\te· th2.t Donne seems to hEve :describea. a s-ubject mor.e

·pr·-of.o:urtd tha_n·· Elize.beth Drur:l, _.a;na~ unhe~PPY 1fith Donne 1 s

f-ocus· ort- ·the unfortunat e girl, ·the}/ d~i:prnts·.s· -the poems 0'.S
....... ·. .
. ·_

:'il_:v·
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...
{ii. 341--34.2-)·; i .• _e .•
·- .
;

;xur·e. ancl- hol2r-1~1ith out th8 b·enefit of frsec1om f1 or_:. 01..,igin2.l 1

Elizabeth is not SE4d in so msny words to

be free of origine.l sin; b.u:t -D:on·ne ..c.J·ci~mA
. -~- ''-' ..... .._. ~o
u ~ou~~d·
-- tJ "'~· ..... he·r \.J
2._·S·

unf2_llen, Etnd urif2.llen m:£;11 110.s by definition free from

origi11Pl s.in. 9
......

-·•
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.
47
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. .,,·

Elizs.lJeth Dr·ur·.v··· 1 s :unf2.llen condition becomes obvious

~-

vrhen she is c on-tr·c-s-ted vJi th the her- thens. The heetl1ens are

,olytheistic·:
But 2_s the Hee.then m~·a_e tl1em severc:-:_l gods,.
Of ell Gods Benefits, 2nd 211 his Rods,
(For [_s the Vline, c:-.na_ Corne, :·_nc1 Onions 2.re ·· i'

~
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i
Anc1 ~?.8 by cl1rnging thr-t 1.::iole l)rec-; 0 U.S Gold. .I
To such sm2ll Copper coynes, they lost the olt,
Anc1 lost tl1eir onl2r Goe}, wl10 ever mu.e.t
Be sought a.lone, c'_nd. not in such 2 thrust:
So much mankinde true h2~pinesse mistakes;
l!o Jo"'r en.1oves tl1r,t L ~ U
tl12.t El[·_n,r m2.kes.
r:.1ei1, ~

( ll:-:.eco·nc. An;-,i·~1erc.r-:..,,.,-:.,. II 11 · Lto5·_.

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c. l_i
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. . .1 Y'i.-l;+- -i-\,) o· derive the tr2nscendent deity froo
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11
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1'les he~c first P:· r ents fr.,_ult, r-.nt. 11·ot l1er 01·1rte-: 1

·t·,[ho
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be 1· n:::_,
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St1ll heord God ple~din; his s~fe precontrsct . . . •

( "B econd Anr1i ve1.,s r r :/", 11 11. 451-460)
. t Lll. t.1ve,
1n

the use of rec.son." Donne. seems to ?t"tet:pt to re·m2~in.

t
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.
'
:eo·.r Eliz abet h
. . . . . . ' than for the heat hens , but the
fr,c't: thr.t she s 1ccee ded_ in deri vint ; 1
2. cora ~lete imo.ge of
Goc1 ·from n~_·_ture \vl1en tl1e hectl '1ens 2.c,~:_uired. only fr2.g -
tb.h: .
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~-
liiss lTicq lson: -s2.y_s-, r·.nc3. she feel s th2.t :_he insi sted u:)o.n t:he

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use of the differe nt spellin gs in the 2.I))rop ri2te p·la.c es.

"She, 11 e.ccord. ing to 11iss rJicolso n, refer's r,irely to

Eliz2b eth Drury and usu2lly to Queen Elizab eth. 11 Shee"

refers to a combin 2tion of the p2gan Virgo, the Virgin

lliIEtry, a:nc1 Queen Elizabe th, 2-. symbol of be.a.ut~r, virtue,
justice ~nd truth.1 1
!,fiss 1-Jicols on 1)1..,e·se>n:t_s e_ · d.e-te.ile d 2.rgu.me:n:t 1.-n. whic'h

:sh:e demo-ns t.re.tes t4c:.t oe:-rte~in· pEtssag es from the 11 Annive rsa.ries "

C~ueen ElizE,_b eth. b_y the Engli$h }'JO e_t-s-. She 2lso believe s
that Donne m_2.cTe use of th·e 01.a~ t·s_l,t?. of AstrD.ec., O·
c·o,ddess
. . ·or·
.,

Justice , 1:11-i:o 1e·ft th-.e t:ic"::ec~ 1iJo:c·ld for the he 2ven_s ,: ~Jl).er·e
..

she bee 2me the 00}1s·t ellttion 1J'ir 6 cr.

. · .,·.. , b.. 0 .]. ,_·• ·8 ·rr --- C;_

,-..;, 1• ·C·., ·O· 1·. go·
·J. -~.-·
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ecrth but -p~dmis ing to return ct a future .d:te. provi~e d

D,:)nne ,,1i th -~Jr.-rt :of( the elernen t s o·f ·Jes simiJs:i rnl optitti:s:r.a
. \

\,.-
1·Jlli ct1 form: th·e :be.sis of the :11·Ann:-i·ve1,,so.r ies_ •. u.1II 1

-2~. gr·eat de.E.1 of · e::cite_m ent. in the mr~nner of· :e. :sJ:illf ul lec-

Howeve r, there e111 e .c.t :leG.st tl1.ree corn:·}e·t:ent critics

--· ..... . ... ... _
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\v'ho- remr .in unco nvinc e.a.. In revie wing Miss Nic6 lson 1 s
booJr , Prof esso r G-rie rson strte c1 tl1~.t he h2c~ been uneb le

to·re ach 2nv ~efi nite conc lusio ns 2b8u t the use of the L .

a_ouble 11 -e" in .se·v entee nth-c entu r:y te::t s but thrt he sus- ·
pect ed thrt it: ~es used for rhet oric al emph 2sis. He fo unc1
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er Q
v ~ c1 c~.r A s s e c1 to
the l[)_te Quee n. rn cnot her· revie w, Joan Benn ett, unsw2yed
11 ee 11
1:1.i 6'ht 112.ve beeh tJ._s-ec1 to .indi ct t·e metr ic2.l stre ss on tl1e
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her ghost -- or the ima~ge of ·El.izPbeth Drury dee_d --- ·ive

:-:o
heve the io?-ge- of Anglicrnis·m. nl 7 In the course of devel-
cr.gLJment "; e 1·l le'/
.... f i11ds to Queen Eli;abetrl,
1~ho 1-1oulc~ cert2.inly be includec1 in 9.-ny a.iscussion of lFte
I.

C
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1• -"'-·l.. t e an·- +h--. '-:'. . . . l.l .L:•. seventeenth-century religious problems
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These in-t er::)·r et:-=· ti ons s e ern to im-1os e !:? me(..- r1i11g
u·:Jon the centre:_l ir~12.c;e i11Et :=:£?c1 of ~J_lo111 in; 2. 1

oe2.r1ins t8 devslop fro:J t::is image in e'"ccorc1-c.nce

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·o-~.o 1JOt}1 ~')08~iS 1ies itl ~f-~. ~2,2,21 t; on tht·.t reli·r~iDlJ.8 .

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Donn e I s b P_ s 1 c. i r.1 r.: e , t l~ e:~ , 1 s t 11: t of 2. 11 m-7 i c. 11

1)11.0 11,·e, recentl:.T a.iec1 c_n "untimel~, 11 (bu.t 2. 11 1..,eli;iJLlS 11 )
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still inr1oce11t. FrorJ this lJr--.sis he p1--ioceeds to

su. r1~ounc1_ the centr..:-:.1 fig.-u.r2 i:·:i tl:. irnc;;er~r of ·v2.lu.e
drc_~-.Tn fr.~o rel isiout-; V'encrr tion of the 1lir;i11 rnd
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l~2rtz ..__c·oes on: to C r,· srr

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that such im2g~~Y is nrturally going
to reseoble thrt of the noems in hon~r of Queen Eliz2beth,
but t i,., ....
J.J.,
+u Donne is .t-~Jplyin: it not to .2_ mon2-rcl1 but to the
("'\·o
v r.l u e s o f II int er i o·r ,·1 e:c. c e .1l :
-~ .
-~- · ·

• • . nothinG
Is 1-;ortl1 ou. r tr2.vc:ile, r;riefe, or perisn 1 ng,
But those rich joyes, which ditl )Oss2sse her ~e~r~,
Of 1-1l1icl1 sl12. 1 s no1,J :0?1,,tr};:.e1,, ::-·nc1 c ·:)'.-_rt.
( 11 The Fir s t An 11 iv e i~ s t: j: :t , " 11 • L1. 31- 43 4 )

1·

··ri,.

.,

...,... __ :t

~·
:,
~

j'
/
'' ·-~

t.,' -.,
•• -· - :_,•_ _:.. - C
7::-_.:., c,-,. ···-:-·,·.,:::·- :·:·· .·····:,-:--~· -·-:-:··-···., .... --·,·--,-·,-~--.··-":":'·-s~---···-·--,·,,··.d. ... ~. ·.-:-··· ---·- ·-.--.-. ··- ... *" . . : -·· , ..... ·. ·. "·· ·.. -:·-··---=· ·.···~·-"~·--"····· ..... "-··•···.

·.o

.. ·--· ··-·· ... ·•··• ·-·----, ........ ~ .... ··---.. ··- ~--···· - --· -·,•· ·- ·,; ·'" --\·• • ··•· "'- • • •,. ,.., ........ - 1 •• • .-. - · · · ·~r· .J • •-,,--...-•, •• ·1,···.---,,-·- •. , .. -.,.,·,,·.-·,-•,...,.,,.,~,,-.,-.... ~-,..,··r,•··.');-••···•· ·· ----- · · - · · • - • .. _<_ '>.
 . - --~~-~,__...,..,,....~..,..--,,----~------------~~===-·
~,;l,;·;. :','l7ui' l:•,,;,)'. :)!~..,, ~~'rWl lll'I'
fl NIii -·

.. ---·.' :
_,, .. ..,_.t/1 .....
............... • . ·-· ......'fill·•· . .•, 51 . ······-· ······ ...... jr;

CHAPTlsR V

Th e 11 Anr1l_versr.1--iies" 2t firE 1t reacl:in.g e.-e-~rn t.b helve

lit tle
or no cD her enc e. Fu rth e:, re2 din gs ~,Jill. rev ec' :l. a, .s_ kel et2 .l

l' I

i
rea de r iii. th l 1 ttl e ins·i_.tht int o tJ1e _n-.2 t_:Ul?e -O.'f ·t"l1e 1)o '
ems.
Gr ier so n .Dr ov ide s 'th is lrin d of: :ou tl:: ne for .e.?.C"h of the
.. . .
.-. :poern:e.-,

and e~:e.1 ted me ·di ta tio mo rti s b-r s:ed. on ~1c. comr2on
.. hemes
. . .. , . . ' . _. . . ' ' .
·t11 0 ·
.
.·.· . ' .. '. -.

. I

2 D-e Contem-otu,

~he clv.e thc .t lec1. 11,ar·t:z. t:o: :di .sc o·v er ·th·e reE~.1 str,u.c
t.ur-e. of
v-- ·e.'..
1-'A.· n··1 i"'l'rc ~l~
.+.··_11···
· l - V '.J .
q_r·, ,
~-
r,1· ·e· 0.
c ·•-•.·
. .
ff In . . :8.11- .;-
. ·c.. cr:.. se., ,...~i..... (? ·rt
.· . - :Z
.

..
to (~-ornprehend :the rri.-eoeti t-c?t ive · s·t·r~uct u1 ·e s_ ·:0.f 1
t11e· lJ O'e:7ls. r,.r1d.
+' ..
0. u·+1.1 .·-.·n-· ""-""
.. ..., .,l. . .
6 c~:::. -1.-· 10·: :-~.1..n
-.J.'...1 . . .
,.I.J · ,,.,_· e,..:p,
I
.L,-, . .. .u •

.::-.1.ar t z di
.. r
... sct 1ss es .,oot· 11
., poeL1s

The Po etr ·7 of liec 1-i tr:t ion ., 1-- i .,.L·.,~-. :·P.. ._.J~(i ·co., ·.·n· :_·~-r
,-'" . .:. i. ., . J
I
ii

oth er )~e ms 8f the sev en tee nth cen tu~ y, ~~e

I

brs ed U)O n the

11 ·2: rt ·of me·c. . it~ - tio n· ._-,, 2 1,!ea_i tr·. tio n usu alJ <v ·f<J1 loi vs, cer--t<Sti-.n. ... ·..u
II

in sev ent een th- c-~ ntr ury En ;l2 nd the se modes
II" \I

"
I

II
II
. II"
"
'·

. I

.Do·nne- 1}2:.E f::?mi:1ic:.r 1-.11.th Je su it

·+h-· n o· 1· 0 b'.:'v·v· ). . -, ,
U .'--'. .
n·:n·
\....· . .
•.

..·1--.r,~-0 s
l-~··- ...r_.., e
-

c.-ert2~inly- ·f.t mi lis .r 1rv1 th one or mo re of the -·1;-1orks· ..

·a.:esor.i.b1-n·g·
tr1:.e 1J:ri.r1clpl,es: o.f me di tr. tio n. 3

- .. - . . - - -~----·- -·· -·· ·-- -· ,·- ···- -·-·: -- ..... -. -· -.· .......... .' ·;·': ..... - • •· -·•••. ~-.-·--· ·-
..
-.··:--~·· ·.-··:· •· -~-•· .._, ____ ..... - ~ . ~ - ·-~·:~· • •e '
. ·~ . . ,.:........ ~ ~--· ........... ···:·· -·- :·· :;-·· -·· - -·:-;:· ., ~~--- . . . . ..

...... •' . .
::,;· .,_; ·.. ·,.. ;,: ~~ .

. ,
 .. , ... ,..,,.". ., .• ,i
..,.,·~·
···~··~·.... · . . . . . . . . . . . II.,
.. ... ' .....·. -·. • v ..
~-.
--~· .. ·-·· ....... ...., .
..... ·!

. . . .~ . . . . . '

"1~edit r.tion" here h2s· 2 speci.~. l me2.nin g. It is more

than conteo ~l2ti~n or )rPyer; it is 11 thinkinr ,· clel i-.: err.tel . ,r ~ ~

directec 1 to1·J211 c'L the deve·lo~ ~ment of cert2_in specif ic emotion q"

stFte of devotio n to God. 4 Meditr tion

the emotion s of the
is not 2. m~rsticr:-1 e:;p::rie nce: it "cultiv 2tes the be.sic, the

lovJer levels of the ·,· - 1

s1Ji1 i tu2.l life 11 ;:-:nd is a.v2.il9. ble to
.:i,.· .,

ev.er·yon e thr·ough ord.inE ry (:not· sr)e·cir. l) bc·roc C

:::::i
·' •
Ho1;1 e iler, it

:.·· orc1in~_r"'r
... conduc·t : -o::f
. c::.
r--·o-·.IJ.
I .6_... ""·.,a:.,.., 1·

. c
1· f o . I ·11 v
.• - 1...:1 • Th·e ·rne:2~:n1_:1r; of med_-it tion lrill l):eoome:

\\re -l(r+Olt :Of. Do11ne ., 8 1 if e. LJ ..·n

."""'-o·· 0
·. n·· ·v· ,.,..~.':" \.r:- .
·-:-·. s··.·.

:fern1li r ..i-:i 1lit}1 Je.s·u-i t t.het)lo2 ;,r in rtiE~. -.:o~th. .. ' . .....:....·•. t..,··· • .• •' • ... . • . ·.
;.110. 'he·. certa.i:n·
. .
1-~r
v.

:e ric o 1 , n-1:.. o r1 o:.·c.,

.. . . . · V~ .. V 1:.., - 1,,.., .- - . . i el]_·v
.e-s·.Jec . . . v·

:_:~_-r..;. .. ~·-n-·_.
·i':r11e· n· e·.
1
~--.. ·.
T ...
1
~\ r,s
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...:·1·
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;L.I
. .. ,._, _._
··1· ·n· ·c,..
... ~
og~p~rc
..... ._., \... . ,! u
~·n
.L ~.:.'. ~ _'·.~·... u.-~ .. '. -.. \--.· ...:c·l
·l"."l·Ql':'1t"Y"·Q··v·. e·i-·?•P,-1~ ·. ~
·t·h.~olo·(;" '~T .•.
·_••·\. . . ·.. ' . .::::r..,"·· 6

I ·n
.· - .·
·r:::,-c=i· . c!· 1·,.
t=· :-.\- .- . v.. \·o·_1.-::,
...:.1··· 'y'.') ··' .i...
J/ -0
, -c· ·.:,.Jo
s e ern s ve l'"' jr. \1:1 0 o-" ~o·1· -e: ·'G:lt' nn e use· d._
~ ·· · · · 1 -~ '

rrte.ditc ti-on to
. heln
. .... :~im decide vi1hetr1er oi,, not to· te_k·e· . . '

·0 rcje_-,..;
... · . L. :.;:_:· u. •
c
over tl1 1 s dec:iS:-i-o.n ....·.·· . ..

·7
.~-·.u··r· i··. ·n···..__;
Q :-:-,., t 1, :~ ~".J-,6..
u - J.. '-'' f
Yl
-·.
1· . . . . c:::i
.....) • ...
.. 1 -;..-,
• ~
.o J.·, 1
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'.~_, P. ,_ ·r. r-· -o·· +u ¢,
- ........ .... , ~ •·. ' .
-!-· °v\ 0
:u ~ ;.._....._':j IIAn·,-i v. . e~1 sr:.r1· e·c, u.
,. ... _ ,
1
l C. L. •
·,.

Ho1-J e ,r 21--i, mo ;.-,·c ·S,""'tisf retor":r ~)110.of o.f tbP vs lid i t·J of Il.r',rt··z.l;s .J.. ·'_/ • n • · .. ' • . o,' • .1:
.. .~·; • •. • • '"' • -. ,_,J • \.._ • - C.,.

·the_ms:el-:ve.s rit the nreclit-o ti ve l)·-· tterns,

·the pfrtt$rn s hel·:Js: the reader to see cahe_:r.9n_·:ce r.ncl pµr~~Jose

,,
f
f
·1· n
.L .
·.;;_:)_.,. , v ..p. -4-l.J r·. .,},. . ,.
I""\.
<ow( at .first s e eE1s confusi ng s:·nc1 q.:j_:re·c:tionle s s.

I
t.:_:_:··
• :i
~;

~t,."-.
.I h·a.ve s.ppende a_ lit.rt z 1 s ou tl.ines- .o·f the po.ems; the7 V

:$
i

., ·se.rv·e.. z..s the

,
OE~S lC
. fr2.me1-Jorj~-... ·- --for .msr. e"J-:1Jli cr.tions.
.- . . . . ·. ·
.. ... .... - ·- ... ..
'

. ........ . ··-·· . ..~ ....., ··-

,· . •• • • _'."•-";•i"·:• ' e, .-..-:-:-.••••:--•.'°:•••. -··: •'" ·--··"" 0 ··,f_••-:-•• ,,· •. -··,•.•.~"." •M-MO- ... _,_ 00• a• . . • · - • • • • • • • • • - 0
.... ... -- - ..... ... ·- " . - ._.. ,·.·- ..,.. .; , ·- ... . ···· .

,f .I• 'I. . ~

i t
·_: t_:
I '

. ; .. ' 'r .• . -
.
-~-····-'···--- ........ ~~ . .-..... , ... , ••.,..._ .... ,,-._, ............ , .. ,., • _ ... ,1Jo~o.L.- .....
'
,,..,"l.'·•... .,.,, ...,......,..i,.,",,._'J ........ ,,,o,.,·,cr,-. .. ,,............. ,..,. •• ., .. ., ........ , .••• ,·..•.
 .-
.
'. -~ ...... ... , .
'
~ . .....
55 ··-· .

Al together, l1artz has done more useful v-Jork with the

11
Anniversaries 11 tha.n any other critic ~-Jith the possible

exceptions of Fr2.nk lia.nl ey, the editor of the new edition

of '1The Anniversaries, 11 B.nd. Grierson; and I "t·1ill ha.Ve both

/

o·oi)Ortuni t 1r end 0:ooc1 re2.so11 to refer to his t.heories 2.nd

..I. J.. c., . . \...,,; .

insights. 8

n:?v'::i. oe 0 r1 CPre·~ru' 1 1 :;r

•
.... - ·- . . -..;,.
.,.
. .
.
'-:.... . :-:.:.
_c,
- __ -L ~-'.*'- ~-.v·. ea.ited. Tl1.e .most
. . ' . ·. .
irano1..,·t·Ernt e. rl_ .·1·
.. . :~:-.. . . . . . . •· .... ·\.. ·~: .
1-l,. 0 .LYl _i.? c;_
_'I 1.

. ·· c·r-}~
·\\r . . . 'h O ~
..1. ·c.i..,, been dqne ~
IJ 'TT
.
ti
·.L- ~

bJ1e· au..LJ.tlDr-,
. . .. .J.- , •. - . .

. ·. ·0
1trhe ·t is ··still tl'.'le st r nd. r-1,,d. ec1i t i.o.n ._ v T
.... h.· --~-·.·.v···-e. ··u·. ~
...., ·e· d. Hc.~0 J... ":J c'l. ~~·c9. :i. ·s ~ .,j,._ •. - .· .

·JAC·,,..,u· c c
l. ·~ .. (",_. .V L)
.

·f"'ie
~-..

lJ.. .· .....,0.
_;~ ·c-· l
...
., e. -on 1 ,. PQ:,:,·
. ~ .. J: ..... _~-
. .

,u' L.. t.·n~·. ·. e . i:rp O [,' r ,_, n..1-L,

'- ~~
.1.,,., ,
. , .. _;_..;; L.J..v:
r c?. in_· d·..•

rt .G,-, i ·e Y-1 ,.:>co· .•.·n· " s·

'
-~·T'
:~. _;_...1
·e··...1 1.,..... ..-·j .n· u;.-:, .T.r~ 1~
\........ __ .·. -·r· 1·. 1::..
- ·_;1:. ,. ;· p. :. · -..~-:(1}1 --e
Y':i u·
:~ -p
. :. . Yr'\ Yl J.;
t·. -~-6 Cl
,...;,. c., 1110 ..S Li. .;_/.
' .. . ·.. .L
-;"" • ' .. "'1..:
!"" 0 .1.. · .. .1..

·'"' 1· .+···· .• ' ·· •. f. ·.;..;..,. .

,-.: . ·
f}"-'.,< . v l<)fl
·.
O_ GilG
Cf
H-:~-.."':.TT,t[:·---~.
r1·c3
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: ..

L..
.
C!..Q.·· .Jn•• ·o
·..
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V ·U. ,~l
:J_ •
e ('1
U -}")Cl:,<l(:l·
.

..._,,,\: ...
. . ..,_. •

~
r1,b. . s
..

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,- i ..

f J..."Y"1·o·
·.. r,... c •· •.

:o.ther 0
• -.J
dl" ~u i· 0 0
J.·.riJ. ~.) •• T,1i ('). p ·.n·
-~ ,, . ..:..:_.f .,..,,
t· })..... Cl C
-.y ~- .. \ J
;:::i :o 1").
. ' ..... v.· c r: ..,,, 1• ·.
r-: Y"I , ·
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.l-
v -,,., C:i -::-i.fi · 1·
.• .
"'"'.\..;.
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n(-,.
·- .·.·
c.
.. L.\...- · J;·L_·o

.~;- o:..t··:_.;..
. . . 0~ ·v ·;-; ·(;·'·"\f._,. T r.·,_; ·__
1· ... l• ·1.. ·c.·. 1 1 2.ttention
.r:,
._ ·c_.,, : ·.~-

-i'- . ~
.l.. .10
rJ ...0 tJ.11em ..

0 ~ .-: -· -·:- ::-.:..~.:....~.- 0 ·•O ~.N" - 0 • ·- ,:•._":_ . :• -.·:a-~ - •· . ·- --·· .... ~·- ,• - ·-- ....... N-·- -- .- ...... - ... ·•, -~ .. ---.- ,, ___ -.- .. - · · - - · •• -., - !
.. '., ·•··, .......... ,,_., .... ·:-•· ... , ..... •· .. ,.-• ···- ... :- --· - -- -1-s,··. -; "•. . ..,. , - ......... .

·•
!,i·

"
 , ...
56
...................... .
••-.-. , .. ; .......

. . ,,,. ··-
._ ·claw, .. ._,,~,~~~:-·.t:·1-,,..C.~J Q I r Ll1f"W:tf•'W--:•~· ... ,··:-.·
·- .... ~.· '~ ••'
.•:.··
...........~.,,, ........ .,,_ . ....... .
t
. ...-·.
~·I

~
• • ..... ·-,,........... ' .
• • • I) .....
...
., .... ...

CHAPTER VI

"The First Anniversa ry" is divided into an 1ntroduct1 on,

five sections, and a conclusion ; each of the five sections
oonta. 1ne three subsection s: "first, a med1 tation on some
aspect of 'the frailty and the decay of this whole world';
second, a .:eulogy of Elizabeth Drury as the 'Idea• of human
perfection and the source of hope, now lost, for the world;
third, a refrain introducin g a moral •• • • " The form of
the poem 1s derived from "the tradition of spiritual exer-
cises"; the division into sections and subsection s 1s
modeled after the Jesuit spiritual exercises, which consist
of five daily exercises , each exercise being divided into
'

three pointso The division into five and three is found

elsewhere 1n religious practices; for example, "the
I

divisions of the Dominican rosary fall into three series i

i1
11
II

of five meditation s each," and each meditation 1s divided

into three po1nts. 1 II
Ii
I
I

As I indicated earlier in this paper, I will follow 1"

'I

the meditative structure of the poem in my explicatio n. A I

brief outline is appended to this paper for the convenienc e
of readers. 'i
I
1:1

An explicatio n or a poem should begin with the title: I

j
1 An Anatomie of the World" means that the poem is concerned
with the dissection and examinatio n of the world; "The First
Anniversa ry" is of course a reference to the occasion ot the

.. ·-·· ···- --;- ., ·:··· ,., ·.-:-· ,·;---

• · · - · · - · · .. ~ - - • •, , . . . , , . - --· •: • •••• •·-•-•• •••~ •o• •• _ _ _ _ , _ ... _,_ ••·--,,•, ••- -~---••--•--::'.-----•••.-.i...,--,.-, ....,___.. ,, 00 ,oO ••• O••• o+OOOO+O•• o, ·•-•••000_;... •••-~•oHO .. •-•O•o•••• .... _ • • • o "'" -· ,, .: • • , . ••+ 0 "·-·---·•••·-•(>::,.,:o:..._:,..... ~,••-••• ••--•

. .. .•'.· ·"'""'

. ;. . .. .. .. ··"·-.' • ·•·' . I '' • ' ' .. ' ... •

 57

poem, the anniversary of Elizabeth Drury's death. But

1 ann1versary 11 probably also has reference to the old
"anniversary days," the yearly celebrations of the martyr-
doms or death-days of saints; and to the 11 annale" or com-
memorative service performed daily for a yeal- attar a
person's death.
The 1ntroauot1on, which includes the first ninety
lines, deals with the suffering of the world after
Elizabeth Drury's death; the world has fallen into
lethargy.
When that rioh Soule which to her heaven is gone,
Whom all do celebrate, who know they have one,
(For 11ho is sure he hath a Boule, unlesse
It see~ and judge, and follow worthinesee,
And by Deedee praise it, hee i,rho doth not this, 5
May lodge an In~mate soule 9 but 0 tis not his.)
The poem begins with the statement that when Elizabeth's
rich soul (rich in possessing and rich 1n giving) is gone to
her heaven (again, a double meaning; it possesses her and
she possesses it), all who are aware of their souls partake
of that rich soul in that they know they have souls through
their souls' responses to the goodness of Elizabeth's soul.
°Celebrate" (1. 2) may also have a double meaning: 1 t may •'

mean to praise or to solemnize, as 1n religious rites.

Manley notes tha.t "see, judge, and follow 11 (1. 4) ,are

parallel to "the t~ee traditional faculties of the rational

soul -- memory, understanding, and w111.u2
When that Queene ended here her progreese time,
And, as t 1 her standing house to heaven did cl1mbe,
Where loath to make the Saints attend her long,
She O s now a part both of the Quire, and Song, 10 .
This l'lorld, in that great earthquake languished;
--·-·~-- ~ --·~· -~ .... , ... ;.:. _;·---~---
 ,,._ ., '-4~,:

.J'

-·
' ·,·
. ~8 - . ··:.·· ......
' .·,.-.
.

. .• .ao, ·- -~. - ~ . , .....-~ .. -....... -......

r
...... •.. 1l'D.
. ,- • 4tlla •
.• • - '1J, ,· •.•
.. .... .;,~ I
\ .. : ... ,. ·• ...,.,
.... ,·~...,,
... . ..
··-· ··-~::.:.~.·- .. .. "

For in a common bath of tear es it bled ,

Wh1oh drew the stro nges t vi tall spir its out:
But suco our 8 d then v11th a perp lexe d doub t,
Whether the worl d did lose» or gain e in this , 15
(Because sinc e now no othe r way ther e is,
But good nesse » to s·ee heri -vJhom al.1 t·Joul.d see,
All must ende avou r to be good as shee ,)
This grea t cons ump tion to a feve r turn 9d,
And so the worl d had fits ; it joy 0 dD it mou rn'd; 20
And, as men thin ke 0 that Agues phys iclt are,
And th 8 Ague bein g spen t 0 give over care»
So thou sick e World, mist ak 1 st thy self e to bee
WeD, t4hen alas , thou 1 rt in a Leth argie o
II

f
(11. 7-24 ) l,.._

1 Prog ress e 0
r
in 1. 7 refe rs to the trad ition al roya l ;1
,r
T
'1
!

Jour neys duri ng whic h monarchs were accompanied by thei r 11f

'1

serv ants and the cour t; "stan ding hous e" in the next line
refe rs to the mon arch 's perm anen t resid ence : Eliz abet h's
real home is in heav en. She (in 1. 10) is 1n both the
grou p of sing ers and 1n the song 1 tsel: f' -- the soul afte r
·-
'".,,;
.• I

deat h was thou ght to be both abso rbed into the joys of 'I
I

heav en whil e para doxi cally reta inin g indi vidu al char ac-
teri stic s and bein g able to appr ecia te heav en as a spec -
tato ro3 In le 11, 11 ea.rthquake 0 may be a refe renc e to the
deat h of Chri st: but it 1s only a refe renc e, not a compar- '

ison of Eliz abet h with Chr ist. The imag e in 1. 12, 11 1n a

common bath ot tear es it bled , 11 is obsc ure beca use 1t is
very compressed: the eyes of all men are like the pore s ot
the worl d; the tear s men shed are like the swea ting of bloo d
by the worl d. 11 Vita ll
spir its" in 1. 13 are "sub tle sub-
stan ces of the bloo d ithic h func tion ed as the bond betw een
body a_n.d soul ," and they would be exha uste d by the biee ding
in l. 12. 4 The next poin t of diff icul ty begi ns in 1. 19:

0 • •• • .. • •o • 0 • 0 •"•••0" o • HO·-:-• -. ·•0 • • • • ·- - •" ··-• . __ ._ ..._._ ...... ····· - _ _,_ -. - ---·· . ·-··-~-·. ......... -· .... -·· - -- .. ...: •,~ ...... ;, __ -··-······--··-····-·

.·.... •• . • •. ..·1·-··- . -- . ~.•"•••:v•

"I • •
 -----..- .... , ..---..- . .- .......... ,- -~ ,,

-
',, ............, ~

.............
• 1 ' ..
· .. ·• ., ..
. ---
.
...... -· .... , ~ ..
,,,
'. '
:. ' ,. - t
.. ,·~.•-1'.
;:;j, ~• _,/_.;. .. ), J,I' •' •""_._;, • ., , . ·'•.I '
,..,....... '
·--
__...,. ........ ~ :.... ~._., . , . .•_,,-..., . . ····~·,;•• ·.-.-.. ~·.... ""*"""'"' -'~ ·' .. ~
. .
,1•
- -·-··· 59 ..
.• , • • " •. _ ........ ~ .. ~ - ..,-,. 'f/
-·

-··:11

· consumption, of the grad ual wast ing away or the body in

dise ase, resu lted from Eliz abet h's deat h. The worl d was.
sick . The dise ase became a feve r; the world 1n its feve rish
delir ium both re Jo iced and mour ned. Re jo1c ing is poss ible·
beca use acut e feve rs; or agues» were thou ght to be ben efic ial.
The worl d, conf used by its pain ful expe rien ce, mist akes a
damaging leth argy for heal th.
Her deat h did wound and tame thee then , and then 5 25
Thou migh t 1 st have bett er apar 1 d the Sunne, or Man.
That wound was deep» but !tis more mise ry,
That thou hast lost thy sens e and memoryo
'Twas heav y then to hes.re thy voyce of mone,
But this is worse» that thou ax~t spee cble sse growne. 30 ·.1

I
Thou hast forg ot thy name~ thou hads t; thou wast
I

Noth ing but shee~ and her thou hast o 8 rpas t.

For as a chil d kept from the Font 0 unti ll
A prin ce 0 expe cted long» come to fulf ill
The cere mon ies 0 thou unnam 8d had 8 st laid , 35
Had not her com.ming, thee her Pala ce made:
Her name defi n°d thee~ gave thee forme 9 and frame,
And thou forg ett 8 st to cele brat e thy name.
Some mon eths she hath e been e dead (but bein g dead , I

Measures of time s are all dete rmin ed) 40 :1

I
I
I

But lQng sheu ath been e away, long , long , yet none II
·'

Offe rs to tell us who it is that 's gone .

(11. 25-4 2)
In 11. 25-4 2 the concern for Eliz abet h's name is im- J
port ant: thos e who are spir itua lly leth argi c cannot remember ,[
I

l
thei r iden titie s, and Eliz abet h 1s the oppo site of them;
she 1s the Word, 11 the soul 8 s abil ity to spea k and call upon
God. 0 Thus in thes e line s Eliz abet h is 1den t1fie d. 6 "Mone"
in l. 29 is 11 moan . n It was bad enou gh when the worl d crie d
alou d, but it is far wors e now that the worl d has falle n
dumb •. Line s 31-3 8: 0 You, worl d, have forg otte n her name,
and you, worl d., were noth ing but she -- and you have lost
her. You, worl d, were like a chil d whose bapt ism was
postpoll.ed unti l the arri val of a p:rln ce who_ wa$ tQ __ pe.:rtorrn_. __ _

·-·· -.... ------ -;.-

...... - . ·- . - . - .
. .... . . . . _.......-- .. ·-··· - ....., ..
., • -·----............... - .. .
 . . -..~.-.. .. . .... -~,..... \. ,....,,,,.._...,,,.~~,;~..,, . . . . .,.,..""i...~~-~. .,... . ,. .~~ . . . . ,- ...,.-;.,.,_ ... _ ·--··'
. 60 ..-r;, ....... ,,,, ........ /W•.... .(, ............... ...._..,....~

. ·• ." ...... '' •. ·-~···--..- · ' • ···,'J' 'y - '\., ,. - .. ............: .. ,.\ .... ,.., ....... ·f• -~~ ••• ,,:-,,.... '"·". ' ···- ..... JI'-.. • .,,. . •. ·•111'1 -··-·· ... - . .,, ...... , .....,,........ --~·:.........

the ceremo nies; you would have remaine d unnamed if she had
not come. Her name, given to you as in baptism , defined_ you.•
1 Determ1ned" in 1. 40 means "expire d." The rest ot th1s
passag e is clear.
But as in states doubtf ull of future heires ,
When sicknes se withou t remedie empaire s e
The presen t Prince , theyure loth it should be said, 45
The Prince doth languis hp or the Prince 1s dead:
So mankin de feeling notJ a genera ll thai,1,
A strong example gone 0 equall to law,
The Cyment ,,rhich did fai·thf ully compac t,
And glue all vertue s 1 no,i resolvu d" and slaok 1 d, 50
Thought it some blasphe my to say sh 9 was dead,
Or that our weakne sse was discove red
In t~at confes sion; therefo re spoke no more
Than tongues , the Soule being gone,. the losse deplor e.
(110 43=54)

Lines 43-54 require little comment. "Thaw" in l. 47

means 11 d1ssol ution. 11 Elizab eth's example (1. 48) was equal
in strengt h to a law; it was the force ("Cyment") that bound
all virtues togethe r: the foroe-o ement has now been "resolv ed,"
or dissolv ed, and 11 slack 1d," or reduced in streng th. Man
saw that his weakness would be reveale d in admitti ng that
she was gone, so he spoke no more than does a man's tongue
after his soul has gone from his dead body.
But though it be too late to succou r thee, 55
Sick.a World 0 yea~\.. dead, yea putrifi ed, since shee
Thy 0 intrins ique balme 9 and thy preserv ative,
Can never be renew 0 d~ thou never livei
'
....
I (since no man can make thee live) will try,
! What wee may gaine by thy Anatomy. 60
Her death hath taught us dearely , that thou art
Corrup t and mortal l in thy purest J?art.
· .· (lle 55-62)

This passage is also

< .
relativ ely.ea sy to manage. There
1s one diffic ult term, 11 1ntr1ns 1que balme," which refers to
the Parace lsian idea that "every living body -- even the
·-· - .. . .. -· .. .. . . . - ' :.... _;· _. .. .. ........ ~. . - .. ,_ . ·--·- - . .. .. . .·--: :

!"." ,• . \ . /~ ~ - -1i
,):

/:'
:.,·d.~ '11.,.~---------·-··-"'_J":, •..... -.ff:,.'\I;'-··--.. ~---·--· ----eo, -:-··· .•• ,. -------·---,y-·~·-,,.•"···•,i-v-- ·~---- .,. --~- ~ ..... ~ .......... __ .......,_._ .• ,_ ... , ··~---.,-· ...., _..... , : .. ~ ~---- 1 .. , - -- ··- -, ···-·. -·--- ·-·. n, .. •, •. • . . •. __ .,,. I• :·._, - _,_ ~- - ' -: . ,. ' ' ' . .. . .
_. . '""···' - ...
:-...~-l ..•. •:.; ........ ·.... -.. ; ... , .. :..·._
 ._J '.,..._,.. .... -., ' ';.. ~.-......... • -

.. 61
... , ....... .,..... ,.'-""'\,. . ' .~
·:; .......; ...... ........
• /,. -. • •t9•,,. . ...

-· ··-
.

earth 1 tself -- contained 1 ts antidote tor all poisons.

When this balsam [or 1ntr1ns1o balm) was exhausted~ the
man, animal, or plant \1as dead, but until that time, all
could be cured if they would observe certain rules . . . • • 8
Let no man say, the world 1t selfe being dead,
1 T1s labour lost to have discovered

The worlds infirmities» since there 1s none 65

Alive to study this dissection;
For there 0 s a kinde of World remaining still,
Though shee i1hich did inanimate and fill
The world, be gone» yet in this last long night,
Her Ghost doth walke; that is, a glimmering light, 70
A faint weake love of vertue~ and of good,
Reflects from her, on them which understood
Her 'faTorth; and though she have shut in all day,
The twilight of her memory doth stay;
Whiohj from the carcasse of the old world, free, 75
Creates a new world» and new creatures bee
Produc 8 d~ the matter and the stuffe of this,
Her vertue~ and the forme OIJ.rl practice is:
And though to be thus elemented~ arme
These creatt1res; from home=borne intrinsique harme, 80
(For all assum 8 d unto this dignitie, , I
I

So many weedlesse Paradises bee 9

I
I
,1

Which of themselves produce no venemous sinne,

Except some forraine Serpent bring it in) I

Yet, because out~1arid stormea the strongest breake, 85 1.1

And strength it selfe by confidence growes weake,

This new world may be saferv being told
The dangers and diseases of the old~
For with due temper men doe then forgoe,
Or covet things, when they their true worth know. 90
(llo 63-90)

In 11. 63-90, Donne Justifies the dissection of the

dead world by saying that there is still a kind of world
in existence (1. 6?) and that it needs to be warned of the
problems of the old world (1. 87). He is not contradicting
.1

himself; the point is that the shadow world remaining is so l

unlike the world informed by El,izabeth that it is inaccurate

to describe them with the same word. The fadL11.g memory of
Elizabeth is strong enough to inspire a love. of virtue: her
ti· . '

r·. ~' .; .. --· ~ -.... . .. . .• .)

•.
 :.~ . . ' ........... . - . '. --. . . ... - .... -·· ·."- . ··-G• -- .. . ... ----. ,, . . . ... ···• .

dea th "sh ut 1n all day ,n but "th e twi lig ht of her memory
dot h sta y" (11 . 73- 74) . The mem ory of Eli zab eth wil l,
Donne say s, cre ate a new wor ld, whi ch ?~a nley ide nti fie s
~

wit h "th e tra dit ion al par adi se ilit hin an9 Alt hou gh the
,-._

new wo rld and its inh abi tan ts have the memory to fol low ,
the re wil l be dan ger from a sub ver siv e ele me nt, a "to rra ine
Ser pen t" (1. 84) . "As sum 'd" means ''tak en up" (1. 81) ;
·.~
(:

the ele ct who foll ow Eli zab eth 1 s memory wil l be lik e Adam
and Eve in the Garden -- the y wil l fal l unl ess the y are
pro tec ted ; the y have no evi l in the mse lve s but nee d pro -
tec tio n aga ins t out sid e evi ls. ..:,

The re has been some dis agr eem ent abo ut the eff ect ive nes s
of the int rod uct ion . Martz ma inta ins tha t 1t lea ds us to D
I

;,:i

exp ect the res t of the poem to con tinu e the hyp erb ole of D

D
I

the dec ay of the wo rld at Eli zab eth I s dea th. However, I

Ma rtz not es, we soo n lea rn tha .t Eli zab eth has "no thin g to ~

do w1 th the sen se of dec ay in the poe m"; we fin d tha t the II

wor ld was dec ayi ng bef ore Eli zab eth die d.l o In a rep ly to
Ma rtz, Ral ph Iviaud def end s the poem: "Nowhere in the int ro-
'j
duc tion is it imp lied tha t the old world was not fat all y
cor rup t bef ore Eli zab eth Dru ry's dea tha " Maud sub mit s tha t
we can not "ob jec t to the poe m's pro cee din g to a tra dit ion al
rel igi ous theme tha t has by no means bee n rul ed out by the
nat ure of the ext end ed met a.ph or of the int rod uct ion . 11 The
,\'~

int rod uct ion is ine ffe ctiv e and mis lea din g onl y if we ins ist
tha t the met aph or -- the dea th of the wo rld bei ng cau sed by
Eli zab eth 's dea th -- be con tinu ed thro ugh out the poem. Maud

:".
,,
 • ............ . . ' ..... .,
----- . ..... .... ' . -- .. --~> ,, -· · · · - · .. •·
63 ._ •• ,.a, ...

regards 11. 61-62 as the central statement of the poem:

the death or
Elizabeth has taught us that the world is
··---'
corrupt and mortal even in its purest part. This statement
is reiterated in the five eulogies in the remainder or the I

.
poem. Likewise, the didactic intention established in
11. 63-90 is fulfilled in the poem 1 s five morals. 11 Maud's
argument is compelling; we mu.st agree with him that Martz
is in error in insisting that the introduction is inconsis-
tent with the rest of the poem.
The first section of the poem is concerned with mutability
.,-

and decay; Donne's ideas are largely traditional. The medita-

tion includes 11. 91-170; the eulogy, 11. l?l-182; and the
retrain and moral, 11. 183-190.
There is no heal th; Phys1 t1ans sa.y that wee,
At best» enjoy but a neutralitie.
And can there bee worse sick.nesse, than to know
That we are never well, nor can be so?
Wee are borne ruinous~ poore mothers cry, 95
That children come not right, nor orderly;
Except they headlong come and fall upon
An ominous precipitationo
How witty 0 s ruine! how importunate
Upon mankind! it labour 8 d to frustrate 100
Even Gods pu.rpose; and made woman, s~n\
For mans reliefep cause of his langu1lsJ.1ment.
They were to good ends 9 and they a.re so still,
But accessory» and principall in ill;
For that first marr.iage 1rvclS our funerall: 105
One woman at one blow» then killud us all,
And singly~ one by one~ they kill us now.
We doe delightfully our selves allow
To that consumption; and profusely blinde,
Wee kill our selves to propagate our kinde. 110
(llo 91-107)
Donne begins his listing or the evidence of decay in
i;
man by using the olass1f1cat1on of devastating sickness
II;.
'
.
'
.

! ;

:,1
' '

1-,-·- ·........ ... -.

.........
;•,

"': ~ ...
......

I •• . IJ>'.· • .. - •• .,...._ .. _ ,., .• •. c.: 11 • . ,_;,_.. - ,.,,,. ; .., .• ....-., •• ,1. ,.t ...... - , ,. . lC:lilt•·o--- «t ..f~"·· ..,. . .,._ ...

I
.. '.. •. .... . v,..

... •,. · '• ,_. ,.,. ., '" . ··'~--,,. •,-:--,,, . . . -. . . . . .4. -••, -
~ ~ ---> •• J_., ...... .. ,...... •, ......... _ ...... _,_,,_,,.-:,.,........,._ ... ,._, .....~.,., .. ,.... __.._, __ ~. "" .... _____ .... ., ..... "~'-·' .-,., ·,,- :·
~
 .. ...
... •-
,

.... ..._.. ... ..,.., ... ._ _ _ _ ,,,,,, .•• ~ ) , ,a.,, . ., ...... _

r•,....,···. ·-
•..•. _., ..... ,,,.,
.... ..... ··- ...
··•·• ·•···
-- . ,,,~.. . .•.. '' ..... -., ....
._,. .. . . . ""'

l. and absolu tely perfec t health as extreme s between which

lies the normal, indiffe rent health , a view common in the
,;

early sevente enth century . 12 Not only is man never heal thy;
he 1s also born that way: •wee are borne ruinous " (1. 95);
we fall into ruin at birth. "Poore mother s cry,/ That
childre n" (11. 95=-96) are not born normal ly except in those
cases in which the child is born head-fo remost (as in a
normal deliver y) during "an ominou s prec1p1 tat1on. n If we
take "prec1p 1 tation" "to mean a "headlo ng fall, 11 Donne I s
express ion 1s redund ant; howeve r, "prec1p 1 tati9n 18 may also
(.)

mean a "compl fte prolaps us, a fallen ~c;>mb, 11 and Donne seems.
to have intende d this second meaning as a kind of pun on the
first. "Ru1ne, 11 person ified in 1. 99, is "witty., 11 or crafty
1n plannin g evil, and "impor tunate, n or pressin g and annoyin g,
"upon mankin de. 11 1Ruine" even :frustra ted God 8 s purpose and
made woman contrib utory and import ant (1. 104) 1n causing
evil -- Eve doomed us a.11, and now our 11 ves are shorten ed
by each instanc e of interco urse. 11 K111 11 in 1. 107 may be a
pun on "d1e," as Manley sugges ts, but it is not necess arily
so, for "kill" fits with the su1c1d e-throu gh-1nte rcourse
idea in the followi ng 11neso l3

And yet we do not that; we are not men:

There i~ not now that mankinde, which was then.,
When as, the Sunne and man did seems to strive,
(Joynt tenants of the world) who should survive ;
Whe~ Stagge, and Raven» and the long=l iv 8 d tree, 115
Compar 8 d with man 1 dy 8 d in mtnori tie;
Whenp if a slow pac 8 d starre had stolne away
From the observ ers ma:rking 9 he might sta.y
Two or three hundred yeares to see 0 t againe,
And then make up his observa .tion plaine ; 120

. ,,,,.

. ·--···--·-· ., , .................... -. ... , (\,,•..- ......... .

-~·· '
'- ., "'II ,' ' . ' . .· ..... ·, .'' :.:.1.-'.!.1.,·i.~ "':"'.1.-. . ~ •. ._. ~·. ~.~·-· ... ,~... ~:· .. ·::- ".': .,....
 ! ••

.. ,, : '•·,:'i',-r".·:t.'fi',.~'1.!1\"'j..~~W-.....""'1-M~!..,._._.........,....._,.'"'°l"'Qfr:""'l'..I ... _ " ' . .._

65
I ,

....... . ...
..... , ,......
I
. '· ··
.. , . . . . .
~ ..... ~ .. . •..•.. ,..
~-"*,-.noe.......,...••~•ffl• ............. ,:.,..
. , .,.,....,.. ,... ... .
•••U e,
...
....
., ............... ·~
. ..
. .. ~ .............,,
• -"i.
.... ·I.,, . "" ..... , ...v .....,·, .·• .,, . ~--·•.• 1.,.- •. ,,... .

When, as the age was long, the sise was great;

Mans growth oonfees 1 d, and recompenc 1 d the meat;
So spacious and large 9 that every Soule
Did a faire Kingdome» and large Realms controule:
And when the very statur~ 9 thus erect, 125
Did that soule a good waf towards heaven direct.
Where is this mankinde now? who lives to age,
Fit to be made Methuaalem his page?
Alas, we soarri live long enough to try
Whether a new made clocke run right 1 or lie. 130
Old Grandsires talke of yesterday with sorrow,
And for our children wee reserve to morrow.
So short is life, that every peasant strives,
In a torne house, or field, to have three lives.
- (11. 111-134)
i"
The meditation continues: evenqthough we kill ourselves
"To propagate our k1nde" (1. 110), we are unsuccessful. Lines
T1

111-134 deal with the men of the Golden Age, the patriarchs,
who lived for hundreds of years. Man was an equal or the
sun (1. 113), and he lived lO~ger than the stag, raven, or
tree -- stags and ravens were thought to be especially long-
lived.15 In the old days, an astronomer lived long enough
to obeerve 11 a slotiv' pac 1 d starre" that 11 had stolne away"
and finally mark it down in his "observation plaine, 11 two
or three centuries after he had first sighted it. The
· "observa.tion plaine" was the chart or table on which the
,,,.-•••.;;,
astronomer records the positions and movements of the stars
, 16
(1. 120)0 It was believed by some that the patriarchs
were long~lived because God wanted them to gain a competence
.
in the mysteries of the heavens. 17 The 11 slow pac 1 d starre"
·~

(l. 117) presents the reader with a problem: the ancients

believed that stars were fixed. There are two solutions
to the problem: either Donne introduces an anachronism --
he was concerned with the new astronomical discoveries ot
- - ~ -· ·~ . .:..,;.·.-· ~-·····:.. ... .

.
.. ....... <'\. .......... . : ...,...... . ..... .... .. . .
I~.'
,.,.,..~';JI"·" ' . -,-·.. ···~-··>'·,•···-- ..... .,,..,,,,---r:c-"'1'"1"11·-.' ..... ,. ~.· ,, .,,, ...... ~ • • ,•-:-.·-·~·.;•.. ,;--·· . . . . . . . . . . . . . •., ..
"···-- ·'·'~· ... ~ ·.•........ ·-··· . . .
 ·•·~ •••r•,-•._-.,.., . • ,., .• ,._ ,, •-~ .•-,, -·,.,. ,·-, -, ;-,-, ,.,. • ·- , . . . ,....•.. ~. ... .•

...... - ~...... . .............. ...........,-..•..

• i,,,,;,,_ •.
.cau:-..... . ,_.. '!'
. - ... ... .
• • • . • ;..., ... ·•·· . . . .
. ..,..,. ..... _. ._ ................ _,____ ...... ·····
66 -··
.. ...... .. . ...........
. - ;.:,...... •· .
....... . .,.\.
' ,

.. ....
'

. . ........ ' J . ·-·~"":4': , ... . . ... , ..................... ............ - -........-fl,\, .........~ . - · , .................. . . ,I• ' •.• ''""
..

moving and changin g stars -- ~r he 1s using "star" 1n a

genera l sense to signify any lumino us heaven ly body, a
sense perfec tly accepta ble 1n the sevente enth century ,
which allows the reader to underst and that the ancien t
astrono mer was observ ing a comet or anothe r object which
-
he· believe d to be subjec t to change . 18 Men in those days
grew to immense size: their food was good, and their growth
1 confes s 1 d" (1. 122),o r acknowledged and reveale d, the
quality of the food by being except ional; the food was
"recomp enc I d O by growth . It was commonly b·elieve d that .
the patriar chs had excelle nt food.1 9. Every man contro lled
a large area. of land (1. 124). Man I s great physic al stature
served to bring him closer to heaven (11. 125~126)0 Today,
no man 1s fit even to be a page to the great Methus elah,
who is said to have lived to be 969 years old. We don 1 t
even live long enough to verify the accurac y of our clocks (1.130 ).
Life is so short that "every peasan t strives " (1. 133)
1 1n
a torne house, or field., to have three lives." "Torne 11 /.,

seems to be a perfec tly wretche d pun on 11 rent," and a lease

'
of ~1nety -n1ne years is still in England called "three lives."
"Torne 11 has the 11 teral meaning of "ragged , 11 too.20 The
pun seems to be the best way to explain this passage ; no-
thing else is conven ient: for exampl e, it might be said that
the peasan t lives three lives in that he works such long
hours, but this doesn I t fit very we1·1.
And as in lasting , so in length 1s man 135
Contra cted to an inch, who was a spanne ;
·-"'""

. ~. ...
()I•,,, • . • . •, ......... ... _,, . . .

.,,,.,,.._ .• ,......_.. .. r . . . . . . .-. .... ·•

. ...... ......... .,....... _., ..... ~--·· ........
~

. _; " ·-. '" .

~ ,.__ . ... ,. ,.. .. . ..
 :...• ' - , .-,:-.. .''··'t'·.-- ... ~_ .... p ......... -,....... -• --·-~·' --~· ~ "1 ,. ... --~ • .• . . •

--. ·- - . ..,,; "';~ ·:

.... ! ,,.;
,, 1/
' . •• . , l / '. . ~\.
~ .. ,.. ... _,,.,~!IC;
"' • .... •~ , .. ,,,............ · ..... ~ 4. • • ..
"',...,.,.~. ·· ....... ,. . . ·•
•~-
....,..... - .............~...
•
·· ......... ,_...._.,.... ,._.....
•
·- .........._ ...-raii11t:ti.~-···"'PWl·-._..._.,....., ........""tf.,
. .
•• •••••......,..,•11 .,..__,: cu• . .,.....,• a· -·~-._.
L? • ,..
r,·~,
-·~..,..,._..,.
' .......u..... .. --·- .. .....,,. ,....·:... . . . .· ·~·. ; ;.;~ ":... ----,,,:,;,'"··· ,. .-~-~-.. . . . . .~_ ":. . ,__.,....:;.:.:~ .. . , . . _,,." . ~ . . . ....-: ..~..,..... . . . .. :":':.-: . . . .. . . ~.. . . ......... -~ ~) . . . . . . · ~"' ' . ...-··· ·--.~----:: '!.',

:i:
r:

l1
For had a man at first 1n forrests stray 1 d,
Or sh1pwraok 1 d in the Sea, one would have laid
·A ~,agerj that an Elephant, or ~1.hale, .
That met hims '&10Uld not hastily assa1Ie~· 140
A thing so equall to him: no11 alas,
The Fairies and the Pigmies well may passe
As credible; mank.inde decayes so soone,
weuEl.l:e s©arce our Fathers shadowes cast at noone:
Onely death addea t 0 our length~ nor are wee growne 145 j
In stature to be men, till we a.re noneo ,11

But this 11ere lightl) did our lease volume hold

All the old Text; or had wee ohang 8 d to gold
Their silver; or dispos 8 d into lesse flasse
Spirits of vertue~ which then soatter·d was. 150
But ntis not so~ w8 are not retir 8 d 9 but dampt;
And as our bodies» so our mindes are crampt:
1 T1s shrinking, not close weaving that hath thus,
In minde, and body both bedwarfed us.
(11. 135-154)
1 Last1ng" (1. 135) means "11ving" or "enduring"; Donne
parallels modern man's relatively short life with his dimin-
ished stature. Man is "contracted to an 1noh" (1~ 136) from
his :former 11 spanne," or nine inches. Early man was so large

that even whales and elephants would have hesitated to attack

him. "Fa1ries 11 a.~d "pigm1es" seem possible in modern times
because man 1sn 1 t much bigger than they are supposed to be.
Modern man is only as long as one of his ancestors' shadows
cast at noon: the overhead SW1 at noon casts little or no
shadow, depending upon latitude ~ time of year.
Donne accepts, at least for poetic purposes, the idea that
the ancient men were giants. This belief had some currency
in Donne's time; there were many reports of discoveries of
great bones in the earth, and many were willing to' believe
in giants. Augustine argued that "giants were pa.rt of the
natural economy, but that the men of ancient times were
similar to those of his own era. 0 21
·-· ,.. - ·-· • -: _,_ ••• - - - - -:·- •·"-·•· --;;" • .,... • 1,.. o' • ,. ·- - '

• I I• 10 . . . . ~·----

.-:

.. . ........ --···--· .......... , ............... .

• -• • _.,_,. o, ---· ,., , , . _ , _ _ . _ _ , , _ ... _ . _ . _ . . _ ... , . . , , . _ ,
-·
-·----·-•-•0.-•••-•--"'~'•"•-•••••" ...... A '•'' •
·- ..... . ....... ---·. , ............. . .... ,. •-·· .. "'··-·. -· ... ...•.. ... ... .. ..... _... .......,..

,.>.,_.."~•·••• :""''"'1•"• '•

• •• • • ·- • - O. + • -•••-• • .... -• - ·• ' - • ·•··,•., •••, .,-- •' - ' f -, --,., ,.. '"'· '•t. "r••H" '' O .. , "'< ""'"' • ••, • •.' ,• -~ ' -:,'.'• > • I•\,,,-,,'!/' O·~ ;•,;:, ,,- •• "•~;, "'.- / ... ": 0 ,_, ·• "' •h .... ,H-,.·,o r O • - - · - ._. • .•. , . -, ·'"'.' """'' '-" . . , , • , . ,·-·•, •;,. . .
 I
l
l
. !I,.., ...
· 68· ...............t
.
I •
.I
., ~
•;•
' • •• '

.,
•.; •' .,.

. ····---~-
• ' I ,,. •-•~•• • • ' •

..... -~-"" . ··~· • r -.::· .,.,.. ·•.·:i,.. W,l,

1
.'
!•

Death adds to man's length in that a dead man 1s

stretched out horizontally and his height turns into length,
according to Manley o 22 However, 1 t seems ju.st as reasonable
. -'·

to say that the relaxation of death makes the body longer than
1 t was in the contractions of a painful terminal illness. All
these things -- diminished stature, shorter life, reduced
power -- would not matter 1 Donne says, 1f we had kept the
old spiritual and intellectual oapac1t1es, if 11 \'lee chang 1 d
to gold / Their silver" (11. 148-149). Donne exhibits his
so1ent1f1o knowledge in 11. 149-150, "or dispos'd into lease
glass / Spirits of vertue 11 ; here, 11 the whole distilling pro-
cess is described 1n a phrase." The valuable material is
scattered in the fluid to be distilled, which is 1n a large
vessel. This fluid is heated; the valuable "spirits of
vertue" are vaporized and then condensed 1n the "lease glasse, 0

a smaller veseel. 23
"Retir 1 d" (1. 151) · seems to mean 11 conoentrated, 11 but
the OED does not record this use of the word; the closest
1 t comes is a rare use of the word to mean 11 oontracted,

11
shrunk. 11 l-!ore commonly, 1 t means "withdrawn into oneself,
which with·very little imagination can be made to work in
this context. The idea is that our powers are damped, stifled,
rather than concentrated; our minds are as cramped as our bodies.
Wee eeeme ambitious, Gods whole worke t 1 undoe; 155
Of nothing hee made us, and we strive too,
To bring our selves to nothing back; and wee
Doe what wee can» to do 8 t so soone as hee.
With new diseases on ou:r selves we warre,
And with new Physioke, a worse ~in farre. f?
160

·1
.,
. ·; ..;._ .....

·I

• ...-- --· • ',,,-. .. ._,,.,_.._,r• •-,-•.,,....·,~-,, ·•', -· .,, ' ' - L .'.

, .. _ _ •- /•• •••- • -•-•., .-,~~·""'-- o• '••• •• '"" ,• , .. , .... •' ,_...-

.......
• -· ·• -•· •·-·•• • · " • • •· • ••'··•--.-- ~- ....... •• ,.,. - ·-- ..

' .
- •·
/,!,.#~.
.,....... ..
..
,
--- .. ~.. ... '. . ..._.,,..., . ;~, .::. •.. ·· .. ~ ... ___ "'"'.;: - ...
........ 69
... .. ..................
- '. .. . ·... ""'' .. ,. ---
~ ~~

Thus man, this wor lds Vioe-Emperour, 1n, whom

All facu ltie s» all grac es are at home;
And if in oth er cre atu res they app eare ,
Th.e yvre but mans JJ:li niste re,, and Lsg ats the re,
To worke on the ir reb elli ons ,· and -red uce 165
Them to Civ ility , and to mans use : ·
Thi s man» whom God did wooe~ and lath t 0 atte nd
Til l man canAe up 0 did downe to man desc end ,
Thi s man, so gre at 3 tha t all tha t is 0 is his , ..
Oh what a trif le, and noo re thin g he is! 170
~ - (llo 155 -170 )
Lin es 155 -170 con clud e the firs t med itat ion : they
I

beg in with a comment on man 's per ver sity in des troy ing
I
··',,1
1i

God's work 1n him self . The most des truc tive of the "new ,,I

••
dise ase s 11 (1. 159 ) was syp hili s, whi ch ran wild in Eur ope
from the fift een th cen tury on. "New Phy aiok e" (1. 160 ),
a terr ible des truc tive dev ice, or "Eng1n," may be a ref- -

eren ce to the the orie s of Par ace lsus , whi ch Donne had
~ atta cke d in Ign atiu s his Con clav e. 24 The idea tha t man
is a 11 V1c e-Em
pero ur 11 (1. 161 ) is foW1d in G.enes1s.• All
"fac ult1 es 11 (suc h as reas on) and "gra ces" (suc h as
virt1 1e or bea uty) are 11 at home" in man; if they are foun d
in anim als, they are ther e for man 's ben efit : all cre atio n
was des igne d for man (11. 161 -166 )e God, unw illin g to wai t
u..nt11 man reac hed His lev el (11. 167 -168 ), came to man in
the form of Jesu s Chr ist. The med itat ion clos es wit h a
stat eme nt of man 's para dox ical pos itio n: eve ryth ing is his ,
he 1s all- pow erfu l on eart h, yet he is weak and use less .
If man ~,er e any ··thi ng, he 8 s not hing now:
Helpe~ or at lea st some time to wast» allo w
T I his oth er wan ts yet when he did dep art
J)

With her whom we lamentD hee los t his hea rt.

She, of whom th 1Ano1ents seem 8d to pro phe sie, 175
When they oal l 1 d ver tues by the name of she e; '

, . i..
- ·'
.
·:..::. -
 -
• • ... ~-~-,--,.--n-...,~" "" .__-,,r ~

.
. . .. . " ,......._., "' .. --··· ·-··· .. ,;,
~

. ~ . ·~~~..-..-.--~. .:::.-·.:.;:·,,:n•.-,. ~.~.::-.. . , . · ·-.'.~~~,- ·r·;·-·~~--·. ~ , ... «a• . ·~.;. ... • ...
-·~· -
70...
. '.,,..,,,,, ..
- .~~ ...·· ..

Shea 1n whom vertue was so much ref1n 1 d,

That for Allay unto so pure a minde
~~fi-~~-- Bhee tooke the ~1eaker Sex; shee that could dr1 ve
The poysonous tincture~ and the staine of Eve, 180
Out of her thoughts, and deeds; and pur1f1e
All, by a true religious Alchymie;
(11. 171-182)
The first eulogy (11. 171~182) maintains that "the girl
was perfect virtue; she ?urified herself and had a purifying
power over all. 11 25 Manley paraphras es 11. 171-174 in this
manner: 11 Grant whatever you want to man I s other wants;
give him help or at least some time to waste (both the time
~ - ,!

and himself). No matter what you grant will be useless

because he lost his heart • • • • " The heart was thought to
be the first part of the body to live and the last to die.
"Depart" (1. 173) means "give up, surrender, / and go away

from. 11 11 Vertuesu (1. 176), like other abstractio ns, are

feminine in Greek and Lat1n. 26 In the last six lines of
the eulogy, Elizabeth and her virtue are likened to an
"
alohemica l process. Her virtue was so refined, so power-
ful, that she took the form of the weaker sex and was able
to drive out of her thoughts and deeds the imperfecti ons,
original sin ( 11 poysonous tincture, " 1. 180) and the
"staine" of Eve, who led Adam. to sin. In alchemy, a
subject metal (weak, low in value) could be improved by
alloying it with a superior metal ( 1 Allay, 11 1. 178), whioh
would produce a stronger and more valuable metal. The
superior metal was said to purge the bad qualities of the
inferior metai.27

·~ ·. .

---~ ·-·
........ '
 ... -- -
. .. .,~,·
.. .. .... ·-· .. _,. . .... . . ... ·-
I .llr.,_ ' ' • ~-- ·•
. .
. , ... . .71

Shea, shee is dead; shee 1 s dead: when thou knowest this,

Thou knowest how poore a trifling thing man is.
And learn 9 et thus much by our Anatom1e 9 185
The heart being perish 8 d~ no part can be free.
And that except thou feed (not banquet) on,
The supernaturall fooda Religion,
Thy better Growth growes withered, and scant;
Be more than man, or thou 1 rt lease than an Ant. 190
(11. 18~190)
The refrain and moral of the first seot1on, llo 183-
190, is fairly easy to understand. Line 186 contains the
same idea as 1. 174: the heart is the first part of the
body to be alive and the last to d1e; if the heart is dead,
then the rest of the body has already died. ·0 Heart 11 may
also mean II soul. 11 The feed-banquet contrast in 1. 187
depends upon the seventeenth-century meaning of "bBJ.iquet, 11
a dessert which one nibbles for pleasure rather than a
meal upon which one feeds for noetrishmento 28 The moral
is that man must strive to be more than man; he must try
to achieve spiritual greatness, if he is to be above the
i,·

animals -- he will be lower than the animals if he d.oes not

strive in this manner, for animals do not have the capacity
of man for spiritual achievement.

The first seot1on of the poem described decay in man;

the second describes decay in the physical world, in
.i

oreatu.res other than man, and in society.

Then, as mankinde, so 1s the worlds whole frsme-
Qu1 te out ot joynt, almost created lame:
C
,.
t,
·'•,'·
~
1'- For, before God had made up all the rest,
Corruption entred~ and deprav 8 d the best:
It seisud the Angels, and then first of all 195
The world did in her cradle take a fall,
And t"Urn °d her braines a and took a generall maime,
Wronging each joynt of th 1 universall frame.

.. .. . ..,... . . ..... . . . • • f'W.1' ....,,... '

 .,, !'.'•· ":, '.' • :•:,' )' . ,·~"~ 'i 1::..,;.f,fl.'.'""'-,lp i ••<'1 "-'• · 1• ,,<r ·' . • • ~ ,• . , ,.., ··• r •., ·, .. ~-. •-· •

..
•. J#
...
•
................ ,...... .
-~........ .•.. .......... . ,.....~ ..,.•... "'•:\··~·_ ....
. .. ,.,.,,, ., ............... ,._., __._,...,.., ....._..........
~ "':·'
'
-
. ............. -·. ~·- ... . ... .. ...
..... - · - _.......
.-
. . . . .a.·,.1,·;njll'TA - - - -
. .. -·::~;..• .
--- • --- -------w~-----·-·--· . . ....._ J,
., . ..........,... ,. . , .~. ~-7-2

The noblest part, man, felt it first; and then29

Both beasts and plants, curst 1n the curs·e of man. 2_00~---_~1
So did the world from the first houre decay,
That evening was beginning of the dayD
And noi'\T the Springs a~d Somne rs which ~;re see,
Like sonnes of women· after f1ft1e beeo
(llo 191-204)
The whole world was 11 almost created lame" in that
the creation of the angels, usually accepted as God 8 s first
act in creating the universe, was followed almost immediate ly
by their fall, which of course preceded the creation of the
earth. "The angels were regarded as pure intellect, as Donne
puts it, the brains of the world, and by their fall they
became addled." Man fell after the angels (1. 199); the
consequen t decay was so rapid that "that evening was the
beginning of the day" (1.202). The evening-da y paradox
1s Donne's witty explanatio n of the Hebrew idiom trans-
lated 1n Genesis I:6 as "And the evening and the morning
were the first day. n30 Even the seas-ons followed this
original decay of day into evening, and now the springs and
s11mmers are like sons of women over fifty, weak and sickly.

The children of women past the age of normal childbeari ng

are tradition ally supposed to be puny. \
And new Philosophy calls all in doubt, 205
The Element of fire is quite put out;
The Sun is lost~ and th 8 ea.rth, and no mans wit
Can well direct him where to looke for 1t.
And freely men confesse that this world 8 s spent,
When in the Planets 51 and the Firmament 210
They seeke so many ne1v; "'Ghen see 'tha.t this
Is crurnbled ottt age.ine to his Atomies o
1 T1s all in peeces» all oohaerence gone;
All just supply 9 and all Relation~
Prince~ Subject 9 Father» Sonne» are things forgot, 215
For every man alone think.es he hath got
To be a Phoenix, and that then can bee
None of that kinde, of. which he is, but hee.
(11. 205-218) .... · .... ·-
·I
 . ..,....... .. --···. - ., .... _,4'1": ... .,;.-..
. . -.........i.-- . ~ ......
......,.. ...
-•~· '-•·i·
. ...... ' ...
••-· •••,•-> -.,L •• / .. r
UI . . . • • ' ,
. ~-·""···· ....... _73
............. ,

The "And new Philosophy" lines have been dealt with

If

in Chapter II.I • Lines 205-212 delineate decay and con-

fusion in the physical uni verse; the new ·astro·,nomical con-
cepts cast doubt on the old view of the universe. The
astronomers seek new worlds (11. 210-211) only because
they know that their planet is finished.· The 11 just supply"
(1. 213) is gone in social relationships as well: no one
remembers such things as the traditional relationship be-
tween father and son. Ea.oh man wants to be a completely
independent individual like the legendary phoenix, one of
a kind.
This is the worlds condition now, and now
She that should all parts to reunion bow, 220
She that had all Magnetique force alone,
To draw 9 and fasten sundred parts in one;
She whom wise nature had invented then
When she observwd that every sort of men
Did in their vo·yage in this worlds Sea stray, 225
And needed a new compasse for their way;
She that was beat~ and first originall
Or all faire copies, and the generall
·Steward to Fate; she whose rich eyes, and breast
Guilt the West Indiesj and perfwn 8 d the East; 230
Whose having breath 9d in this world, did bestow
Spice on those Iles, and bad them still smell so,
And that rich Indie which doth gold interre,
·Is but as single moneyj coynRd from her:
She to whom this world must it selfe refer, 235
As Suburbs, or the Microcosmer of her,
(11. 219-236)

·The eulogy of the second section praises Elizabeth as

having the power that might ha.ve reunited the disintegration
described 1n the second meditation. Donne's ideas about
"Magnetique force" (11. 219-222) were probably drawn from
William Gilbert's De Magnete, published in 1600. Charles
.,
-
j'

_,·;.:. ;· -~'"".·~-.. -·~ ,,,..;, ,, ... · :..:.~.: .J .... ~ .. •

..ce,·· 0911• . ,. •fl'-..... .·"~·-· . .. ,., ...., . •' ' ~ - , , , •... •• I!!-··.. • '"' D'·"I".-""•'• .... ~ . . . . . . . . . . .((I.•••
 ..•• .• '"#I',.... ' •• p • - · ,,
~. ~ ,. *'#"• .••
. .' . ···- - .~.,, ~-· .. ~- ...............
. 'ID ...
74
·-·- --= ·::....~·-: . - .... .,. _ ... .., ,_

Coffin has noted that Donne's cone t of a magnetism

1n!orm1ng the world is found in gr~,, t detail in G1lbert 1·B
work and that Donne spoke of Gilbert in Essays in Divinity.
"The analogy between Gilbert's 1 magnet1ck vigour• and the
cohesive force" that Elizabeth's soul might have imparted
to the world is so definite that Donne's ideas almost
certainly came from Gilbert. 31 Donne moves from one aspect
of magnetism to another: Nature had invented Elizabeth as
a compass for men adrift in the confusing world (11. 223-226).
Elizabeth was the first 11 of all faire copies"; a 1'a1r copy J
..
!

is a document copied perfectly after all corrections have r

been made. She ,ias also steward -- a.ooount-keeper, dis-

penser, manager -- to fate. Her charms gilded the West
.•

Indies (noted for gold) and perfumed the East (noted for I
i
I
I
l

perfumes and spices); she was the sou.roe of these treasures. iI

I

·I

I
Single money (l. 234) is small change; she 1s much more ;1

precious than the gold of the Indies: that gold 1s to her !

as.,: a single coin is to a whole mine. Man is usually thought I

·1

i
of as a microcosm in comparison with the macrocosm of the i
I
i
I
world or universe; however, Elizabeth is the macrocosm with
I
which the world must be compared.
Except for the first line, the entire second eulogy
1s made up of appositives for Elizabeth; they are all
picked up by the 0 Shee, ehee" in 1. 237, the first line
of the refrain and moral.
Shea, shee is dead; shee 1 s dead: when thou knowst this,
Thou knowst how leme a cripple this world is •

-· -·. ..,_.,.,., . ... .....

 .,
. ·- . -:·..-..:r·
.............
...........:::',.~-·· --·--· .• - . . . . . .:,.n•,
....... _
.
..... ,.,.. • ...... ~.....ai,") .... -,.'LIJPII.... ~- . ....... , ...... - .,. ·-- .......,.,.~--.,.,,,

And lea rn I st thu s much by our Anatomy,

Tha t thi s wo rlds gen era l s1c ken ess e dot h not lie 240
In any humour, or one oer ta1 ne par t;
But as tho u saw est 1 t rot ten t:tt the l1e art,
Thou see et a Hec tiqu e fea ver hat h got hol d
Of the whole sub sta nce 3 not to be con tro uld ,
And tha t tho u has t but one way~ not t 0 adm it 245-
The wo rlds inf ect ion , to be none of ito
(11 . 237 -24 6)
As was the cas e in the fir st sec tio n, the ref rai n and
moral are stra igh tfo rwa rd. Donne's poi nt is tha t the sic k-
nes s is uni ver sal and tha t the re is but one way to avo id
bei ng par t of the inf ect ion and tha t is "to be none of 1 t•
(1. 246 ). It is pos sib le to rea d 11. 245 -24 6 in ano the r
manner: if we tak e "no t t 1 adm1t / The wo rlds inf ect ion "
and "to be non e of 1t" as par all el phr ase s, ass um ing tha t
"admit" means "all ow to ent er, 11 the n the "one way 11 is to
foll ow Eli zab eth 's example in liv ing a good lif e. Eit her
rea din g is acc ept abl e, but the sec ond fit s bet ter wit h the
theme of the poem. A "he ct1 que 11 (he ctio ) fev er, l. 243 ,
is a typ e of fev er occ urr ing at an adv anc ed sta ge of an
exh aus ting dis eas e.
The thi rd sec tio n of 0 The Fir st An niv ers ary " dea l/
chi efl y wit h the wo rld 's los s of bea uty and of bea uty 's
components, ord er and pro por tion e
For the wo rlds sub tils t 1m ma ter1 all par ts
Fee le thi s consuming in1ound 11 and age s dar ts.
For the wo rlds bea uty is dec ai 8 d~ or gon e,
BeautyJ) tha t 9 s col our 1 and pro por tion o 250
, We thin ke the hea ven s enj oy the ir Sph eri oal l,
The ir rou nd pro por tion emb rac ing s.11 o
But yet the ir var iou s and per ple xed cou rse ,
I. Obs erv 8d in div ers age s 0 dot h enf orc e
Men to fin de out so many Ecc ent riq ue par ts, 255
Suoh div ers dow ne~ righ t lin es, suc h ove rth wa rts,
As dis pro por tio n tha t pur e forme: It tea res
The Firmament 1n eig ht and for ty she ire e,

... ,...... ,,., ....... ...... (Ill> ,, , .... •.·1. t '-••• • tt"l"Nt ....... 'II•• -- . C. ,,,;,,
 l
~
.. ......,, . .: "'·*· .•.•. t . ....... ' .
76
····- .. . :_. .... .J,,..,~: • ' - •.••• ' ,-,...~- 4 ......~ ........:... .........~'· · · " ' - - - ,...,....,.

. ~

And 1n these Conste llation s then arise

New starres , and old doe vanish from our eyes: 260
As though heav 1 n suffere d earthqu akes, peace or war,
When new Townes3·2 rise, and old demoli shnt are.
(lle 247c=,262)

T~e world' s "consuming wound" (1. 248) is eviden t even

1n the least substa ntial aspects of existen ce, "the worlds
subtil st 1mmate r1all parts 00 · (1. 247), for the beauty of the
world is gone. The idea that beauty 1s made up of color and
propor tion probab ly origina ted with Plotinu s; Donne may have
~ead of it in August inee 3 3 Order is probab ly the same as
harmony, which "denote s particu ls.rly the formal beauty of the
uni verse, the structu re and arrange ment of 1 ts ma.teri a.ls,

1
and is comprehended less by sense than by intelle ct. Color
l
..
embraces all beauty discern ible by sense • • . • n34 We
think that the heaven s are spheri cal, but we know that
the various and comple x courses of the heaven ly bodies
have made it necess ary for astrono mers who would describ e
their motion s to devise "eccen trique parts" (1. 255) --
the eccent ric circles used in Ptolem aic astrono my to accoun t
for the appare nt backwa rd motion of the planets -- and such
"downe -right lines 11 ( vertic al straigh t lines) and 0 overthw arts 11
~ (transv erse lines) that the heavens appear to be disprop or-
tioned rather than orderly . The organi zation of the "firma -
ment" into forty-e ight conste llation s is found in the Almagest
ot Ptolemy~ The suppos edly immuta ble heaven s are changin g
as 1f celest ial earthqu akes or war destroy ed things which
were then recons tructed : new stars appear and old stars

,.:,.
.: ,1,,,;u ,•• : .

.... -.a.,.. . ...._...... - .. >.............. . .. -· ....-.· "'"'""'"---, .. -·••\•,~ ..... • 'o ... w....,_, • .. _ •• ., .... 'Oo ...... _ _ .. • • • ..,..,... • , O, o o O . . . . . . ,M, O•
 . .. _..............

-·------r
····--· . .....t.•
-,·. ......... ....-.-..
: •. -! ' -

•.·.~:::.,··_r,•••"•·•o.·•'>··
. .......... "
. ..,
• ..,.. __ ,. ,,.,, ··•
....
,. .
·-' .... ·;··, ..,..,,.,..'""!'~·,.
·,. -~---·~-•···•
. ·'·.-·· ..
'\, .
-·· ......... ,,,...... ,, .... ~~>-'
77 ·- .. ~.-~ ··--· ~- .. ,,,. '

vanis h. Donne is making refer ence to the new stars , men-

tione d above in Chap ter!ll ,disoo vered by Brahe and Keple r;
he is also refer ring to the chang ing estim ates ot the total
number of stars . 3S Donne 1s descr ibing both the confu sion
I
1n the unive rse and the confu sion in the minds of astron omer s; :::

in the follow ing lines he focus es on the confu sed astro nome rs.
I
II

They have impal d withi n a Zodiake 8 .I

The free= borne Suni and keepe twelv e S1gnes awake

To watch his step_s; the Goat and Crab contr oule, 265 i I

And frigh t him backe» who else to eithe r Pole

(Did not these Tropi ques fette r him) might runne :
For his cours e is not round ; nor can the Sunne
Perfi t a Circl e, or main taine hia way
One inch direc t; but where he rose to=da y 270
He comes no morep but with a couze ning line,
Steal es by that point 9 and so is Serpe ntine :
And seemi ng weary with his reeli ng thus,
He mea.nes to sleep e 0 being now falne neare r us.
So, of the Starr es which boast that they doe runne 275
In Circl e stillv none ends where he beguno
All their propo rtion 8 s lame, it sinkeap it swels .
For of Merid ians» and Para llels 9
Man hath weav' d out a net 0 and this net tbrowne
Upon the Heavens» and now they are his owne. 280
Loth to goe up the hill, or labou r thus
TO goe to heaven» we make heave n come to ue.
We spur, we reine the starr es, and in their race
They 're diver sly conte nt t 1 obey our paceo
(llo 263-2 84)
The astron omers have imposed an a~tif icial order upon
•
the actio ns of the sun; this order 1s 1n the form of the
zodia c and its twelv e signs ; inclu ding the Goat and the
Crab. The zodia cal order is partl y succe ssful in that it
keeps the sun from runni ng wild: the "trop1 ques" (l. 267)
of Cance r (the Crab) and Capri corn (the Goat) mark the point s
at which the sun 1s farth est from the equat or and close st to

.-.
..;
the north and south poles , respe ctive ly. The sun's cours e
is appar ently not round ; the sun never rises in the same

"

.... -·~· ,_, .. __ .. . .. . ... ~ ....

- • ' . ' _. • :-.~... ~! • ,•.· 1, .. ; .:

 .... ~
I

'.. ·-:-~' -~~..........~····.·::· ... ,·..-·;:~,-~:-:~4'."··.... · ~ ....... ~:.~- ~ ... _.....~.... -·. ... .:~ . ..... -... ,-.- . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,·!·.•
.
..... ",.t• ...... ,..... !.'l~!l.''I!'>.'!",,..,.,._ ........ , .. ,,. •. ·-------·--
_·_·_.·• -·-·--···· 78-

\place for two days in succession . The sun practical ly

reels about the heavens, or seems to if one..., watches closely
,..
enough, and sleeps when he falls near the earth, or sets
(1. 274), weary from his celestial staggering . The stars
as well as the sun describe imperfect circles; Donne uses
the image of a cripple (lo 27?) to represent their motions.
The old systems describing the motions of the heavenly
bodies were fairly satisfacto ry until the middle of the
sixteenth century, when more precise methods of observa-
tion revealed that the old systems were inaccurate and
that the correction s required would make the systems
absurdly complex. The ne11 astronomi cal · systems .,_
the Cope~nica n, for example -- organized the heavens
with such devices as 11 mer1d1ans 11 and "parallels " (1. 278),
the terms for lines of longi t.ude and· latitude., and in
addition placed the heavens closer to the earth than the
old systems had: to Donne, 1t seemed that man, too lazy
to work to go to heaven, made heaven come to him (11. 1

280-282). However, the new systems were not alt1ays

successfu l: the stars 14ere "d1versly content t 'obey
our pace" (1. 284).
In the final part of the third med1tat1o n, Donne
considers dispropor tion in the earth itself and in society;
he is working from macrocosm to microcosm.
But keepea the earth her round proportion still? 285
Doth not a Tenarif, or higher Hill
Rise so high like a Rocke 0 that one might thinke
The floating Moone would shipwrack there 0 and sinke?
Seas are so deepe, that Whales being strooke to day,
Perchance to morro,,r, soarse at middle way 290

. ~ ~+. .• ,, ' •• '-- . .. . '' .. . ,~,. ~ ·"

 / 79
... ,.,,, •••·-' ····-'' ·------.. -····· .......... .,...., ...,,.,,,
o,..... ' •• • .. ......
~

..,-. ' - . - , ~ ; ' •f ., I

~
.
...................... ..
-........... ... -· ... ~-. ,, ..... _......, . •. . ... ,,. \ . .
.,,,,,. --.....11
'

~ ' _,., ................ . ..... .._,, -~-rwe ,. . ..:.:..~•·•- ·-~:'.'/~~.. . . ~," .. - .-. .. ·. ---~ _::;;_. ... - ........ ......,.. ···::":~

Ot their w1eh 1 d journ1es end, the bottome, die.

And men, to ·sound depths,_ so much line untie, .
' .
As one might justly thinke, that there would r1se
I
I At end thereof 8 one of thuAritipodies~
lI If under all 0 a Vault inferna.11 bee 1 · 295
l (Which sure is apacious 9 except that we
Invent another torment, that there must ~
Millions into a straight hot roome be thrust)
Then solidnesse» and roundnesse have no place.
Are these but warts» and pock=holea in the face_ 300
Of th 9 earth? Think.a so: but yet oonfesse, 1n this
The worlds proportion disfigured is;
That those t110 JGegges 1vhereon 1 t doth rely,
Reward and punishment are bent awri. . -
(11. 285-304)
The earth 1s not perfectly round, as men had once
believed. Mountains such as Teneriff are seemingly high
enough to hit the moon and cause it to leave its orbit.
The seas are so deep that mortally wounded whales take two
days to reach the bottom (11. 290-291). So much line 1s
needed to sound the depths of oceans that "one might justly
th1nk 11 the line reaches to one of the Antipodes. And the
earth ie not perfectly solid, if we believe that the vault
of Hell is in the center of the earth. (Hell must be
spacious, Donne says, or we will have invented a torment.
1n addition to those already practiced there, that of
being cramped into a small, hot room with millions of
other sinners.) In ,_11. 3oo·-3ol, Donne anticipates the
argwnent that the highest mountains and deepest oceans
are 11 but ttarts, and pock-holes II in the earth; he agrees,
but goes on to say that one must admit that the moral
frame of the wb;l-& is disordered -- reward and punishment,
the instruments of justice, are wrongly distributed.
i
i.
;:.:

.._~: ,·'
 ...,. _ _. . _ , . . . , _ F,J~
,,i '. ',; ~ U.'l--.'.'< ,-. ~ ,._.,,_.~ •

Bo ..
··--.. ·· ··-••"I> . ·--·.· ·.• , .... ;,...... ,·:: ...... -·-···-- ... -·---~W'.IDl6SI~---, -·---~ ••.

And, Oh, 1t can no more be questioned , 305

That beauties best, proportion , is dead,
Sines even griefe it selfe, which now alone
Is left us, is without proportion o
Shee by whose lines proportion shou.ld bee
Examin 8 d~ measure of all Symmetree, 310
Whom had that Ancient seen, -rrJho thought soules made
Of Harmony 9 he would at next have said
That Harmony was shee, and thence infer,
That sou.lee were but Resultance s from her,
And did from her into our bodies goe, 315
As to our eyesp the formes from objects flow:
Shee 9 who if those great Doctors truly said
That the Arke to mans proportion s was made,
Had been a type for that~ as that might be
A type of her in this 0 that contrary 320
Both Elements» and Passions liv 0d at peace
·1
I
In her, who caus 8 d all Civill war to oease.
Shee, after whom, what forme soe 8 r we see,
Is discord, and rude incongrui tie;
(11. 305-324)
The eulogy of the third eeot1on praises Elizabeth as
the standard of proportion . Lines 305-308: It oan no
longer be questioned that the best part of beauty, pro-,
portion, 1s dead, since grief, the only thing left to us,
1s without proportion in that it 1s measurele ss -- th1e 1s
partly a pun on the previous use of the word. The 11 Anc1ent 1
(1. 311) may be any one of a number of early philosoph ers:
Pythagora s, Plato, Aristoxenu s, Hippocrat es, and Galen are
all possible candidate s. Donne's reference is vague, and
a precise identifica tion is impossible . Harmony in the
soul 1s either an ordering and balance of the four elements
concord. 36 "At
or a musical harmony, a kind of spiritual

,,
next" (1. 312) means "then" or "next." The "Ancient" would
.~: ..) ..
i'

then have said that souls were but resultance s, 1ssuanoes ,

emanation s, from Elizabeth , who was the very essence ot

.,

;I

. ........ , ...,..,... ...........~·,, ... .

·- . ·~.
,

•· • • •• ~ . · '• • • , ·-·,, - ... · . \ ·... ' - • ;. f ~ • • ·~' ':, __ ; ... '··- __• :. ·- '.. .,:··~· ••• '.•,_• •• •.1 ."'••' •• - •• • _,· -·. '.".! ,· __ _:

-~· . -, --
'
 . - --~· ~ •. '
81 ,i
-- ,,
..... .... ..... :."'.' ~·..
_,, .... . . ...;·:··-··• ..
.. . ............. ., •. -·-·•<Ill • •l ........_-~·-·..-.-,1,. . •, .,...........- . . . .·---·---•1\·'· . .··:, ··h . :·'" . . . . ... ;• ....... . )

harmony: souls issued from Elizabeth as forms go forth

from objects and reach our eyes, 1n the Epicurean theory
of vision (1. 316).37 · flArke" (1. 318) is Noah's Ark, which
was thought to have been made after man's physical propor-
tions. Elizabeth was therefore a model, a 11 typen (lo 319)
of the Ark. In addition, the Ark may be thought of as a
"type" of Elizabeth in that "contrary / Both Elements, and
Passion liv 1 d at peace" and she therefore "caus 1 d all C1v111
war to cease" (11. 321-322), while the Ark held wild animals
in peace, al though they would have attaolted one another in
nature. 38 After one had seen Elizabeth, any other form seemed
disproportioned.
Shee, shee is dead, shee 1 s dead; when thou knowst this 325
Thou knowst how ugly a monster this world is:
And learn 1 st thus much by our Anatomie,
That here is nothing to enamour thee:
And that» not only faults in inward parts,
Corruptions in our- braines, or 1n our hearts, 330
Poysoning the fountaines, whence our actions spring,
Endanger us: but that if every thing
Be not done fitly 8 a11.d in proportion,
To satisfie wise, and good lookers on, ~
(Since most men be such as most thinke they bee) 335
They 8 re lotheome too, by this Deformitee.
For good, and well: must in our actions meete;
,Wicked is not much worse than 1nd1screeto
(llo 325-338)
The refrain and moral of the third section is some-
what more difficult than those of the first two sections,
and, in addition, it seems in part to be a non sequitur in
that Donne asks the reader to agree that disproportion in
actions and inward faults endangers man without having dis-
cussed the matter at all except by implication: the~reader
\

must make for himself the connection between·d1sproport1on

. - -· _,_,._ ;

•·-• '·'.I•;·.,·•,---, ,.• •, - - " :•._._- '-. ,1.-. '•-'•· - w. ··~· .... •-·L, -,,"7,.J,;tfh-.J':.; •. • . • , , "•'·••~··.,:...t....i. •••• ,
 82

in the physical universe and dispropor tion 1n human actions.

Donne was a much better preacher than this passage would lead
one to believe.
In 11. 329~338, Donne shifts his argument trom 1nner
I
J
proportion (the mind and heart of a good man) to the result
I
I ,.
I

i
of that proportion (in the actions of a good man). 39 Cox-
\
I
i
rupt1ons in brain or heart poison those organs, the sources
of our actions. However, the results of this poisoning are
no more loathsome than d1spropor t1onate actions resulting
from flawed judgment or another cause unrelated to inner
corruption (inner dispropor tion). Our actions must satisfy
our observers , who are generally correct 1n their estimates
of the value of our actions.
The last two lines of the passage sum up the moral:
our inner order and actions -- inner 11 good 11 exh.1b1 ted in
actions done "well" -- must match, for indiscreti on is
almost as bad as wickednes s.
I

But beauties other second Element, • I

Colour, and lustre now, 1s as neere spent. 34:0

And had 'the tso:rld his just proportion ,
Were it a ring stillj yet the stone is gone.
As a compassio nate Turcoyse which doth tell
By looking pale~ the wearer is not well,
As gold falls sicke being stung with Mercury, 345
All the worlds paJ:lts of such complexion bee.
When nature was most busiea the first weeke,
Swadling the new borne earthp God seem 8 d to -like
That she should sport her selfe sometimes, and play,
To minglep and vary colours every day: 350
And then~ as though shee could not make 1now,
Himselfe his various Rainbow did allow.
Bight is the noblest sense of any one,
Yet sight hath only colour to feed on,
And colour is decai 8d: summers robe growes 355 I
,~. Duskie, and like an oft dyed garment showes. .
Our blushing red, which usu d in cheekes to epred,;
Is inward sunke, and only our soules are red.
(11. 339-358)

. • • -. . ' • 11 < •• ,- ·~ • • • • • •' ,.. • \.

. '• .... ·- ; .· ··, . .- • , , • I -~- 1 • -, - , · ·' • _ ' , • ..·, > , , • ~ . , ~ I '. •, • ,,, , ·•~, , I,_.-.. · ' . , ..... • '· I
 . . ... ............ ..
• • ..... ....,...,.. '•• .... ~,v. ,, ff•• • . . . . . ., . . . . .

a3 ----·-
I'

Co lor, intr odu ced in the beg 1nn 1ng .,.o f the thi rd sec tio n
(1. 250) as one of the two ele me nts of bea uty -- pro por tion ,
of cou rse , is the oth er -- is the bas is of the ·fo u.r th med i-
tat ion . Col or and ·1u ste r (br igh tne ss of the col ore d obj ect , 11
ti
·1.
. II
'·i

ref lec tin g qua liti es of the obJ eot ) are as nea rly spe nt as
pro por tion . Even 1~ the wor ld sti ll had ~ts rin g-l ike pro - l
[i
'

7.

por tio n, Lt would be lik e a rin g wit hou t a sto ne bec aus e
col or and lus ter are gon e. All the wo rld 's par ts (qu ali tie s,
elem ent s) have los t the ir col or; the y are lik e tur quo ise ,
bel iev ed to tur n pal e when the we are r's hea lth fai ls, or
. t
gol d whi ch has los t 1 ts col or, and become wh1 ten ed thro ugh
iJ

con tac t wit h me rcu ry, wit h whi ch it rea dil y forms an amalgam. 40
During the Cre atio n, God allo wed nat ure a fre e han d wit h
col or (11 . 349-350) and the n made Hie rain bow , as if nat ure J

. 'l

cou ld not make eno ugh col or. Sig ht, the nob les t sen se, has
onl y col or to fee d on: thi s sta tem ent is in par t bas ed on D

Ar isto tle and Aq uin as. 41 Today, the bri ght summer has grown
.1.1
j

dus ky (11 . 355 -35 6) and app ear s lik e a gar men t tha t has bee n o,
I

I
• I

dyed rep eat edl y and has tak en on a dar k hue . Our che eks . '
I

..] ;r

used to be hea lthy and red ; now, the red has gone in to our
1
sou ls: the blu shi ng che eks sug ges t inn oce nce , wh ile the red
sou ls sug ges t shame and sin . 4 2

Per cha nce the wor ld mig ht hav e rec ove red ,
If she whom 'fr3e lam ent had not bee ne dea d: 360
But shee~ in whom all whi tep and red , and ble w
(Be aut ies ing red ien ts) vol unt ary gre w, .
As in an unv e.xt Par adi se; from ir.1hom
Did all thi ngs ver dur e 9 and the ir lus tre come,
Whose com pos itio n was mir acu lou s, 365
Being all col our , all Dia pha nou s,
(Fo r Ayr e, and Fir e but thi ck gro sse bod ies wer e,
And liv eli est sto nes but dro wsi e, and pal e to her ,)
( 11. 359 -36 8)

. . .~ . . ..... - . ... ~ •'-' . . . • • ::_;,: ..i, -~ .,..._... * ,•. .:i.,. _,. ,on& ,, • "'., • ... •• - ..... ' ' . . . . .- - . . . . . . - " " - , ......- .... _ll-.,p•.,. .......... ' .
., . ...... -~ ... ..... -"
_
',{'04•
_____............ ,.... .,. ....""""*i-..·• .:, ~··· .... ...
-,
, ,1_..,.. .,._..,.
·84 . . . · ·- .............

--
-.,

The eulo gy of the fou rth sec tion pra ises Eliz abe th's
per fec t mix ture of colo r, so per fec t tha t "the wor ld mig ht
hav e rec ove red ,/ If she whom we lam ent had not bee n dea d. • • • "
(11. 359 -360 ). The idea seems to be tha t her per fec t col or
would hav e exte nde d its infl uen ce ove r all the wor ld; The \
'
red , whi te, and blue of Eliz abe th wer e in her com plex ion
and eye s; they are the colo rs of the ide aliz ed bea utif ul.
woman. Sinc e Donne is car efu l not to say tha t they are
~·

phy sica l col ors , they may then fun ctio n as the colo rs of
the theo log ical virt ues (fai th, hop e, and cha rity ) as wel l
as phy sica l colo rs: as virt ues , they cou ld grow in an
"unv ext Par adis e" (1. 363 ). From Eliz abe th came all fres h,
gree n, grow ing thin gs ("ve rdu re," 1. 364) tog ethe r with the ir f•

lus ter. Eliz abe th's com pos itio n (of colo r) was 11 m1r acu lous 11
bec ause it was "al l colo r, all Diap hano us" at the- sam e tim e:
"on ly the whi te ligh t of ete rnit y was beli eve d to be all
diap han ous , not stai ned into col or by ear th's shad ows . 11 43

She was more eth ere al than air and fire , the ligh tes t of
the elem ents : the brig hte st, mos t glit teri ng pre ciou s ston es
seemed pal e and asle ep when compared to her .
Sha e, she e, is dea d; shee I s dea d: when thou know I st this ,
Thou knowst how wan a Gho st this our wor ld is: 370
And lea rn° st thus much by our Ana tom ie 9
Tha t it sho uld more affr igh t~ than 44 plea sure the e.
And tha t 9 sinc e all fair e colo ur then did eink e,
1 T1s
now but wic ked van itie , to th1n ke
To colo ur vici ous deed s with good pre tenc e, 375
Or with bou ght colo rs to illu de mens sen se.
(11. 369 -3?6 )
The fou rth refr ain and mor al, more car efu lly rela ted to
the res t of its sec tion than the thir d, makes the usu al
..

poi nt abo ut the des pera te con diti on of the wor ld as rev eale d
... - ~
, _.,.,, . . .

• •• ~ - ,._._. t · . , _-, ,-.- • . -- .• ' •• · •. ~ •

..... _ • • ' - - ,... u. ,•-.' .- .~ -· ....~ ' - ' •• - ,. :.- .........,__ ·.-~~--- .. ~--- . . ·..
~ .
~·-· '
 _.. .
... ,.
'
,
.
-· .. ,,...
, . . ........ ... .......- ..... ,~.,,. . ........ .,~ ...• 85
' '

~ ~by the anatomy. The mora l is that beoa use all colo r is
gone , 1 t is no,, "wic ked vani tie" to thin k of fool ing othe rs
by colo ring bad deed s with pret ense of good or to delu de by
'I

the use of "~ought colo rs": cosm etics , gay clot hing , or
..• anyt hing which cove rs over the basi c fact s with a misl eadi ng
vene er.
Nor lg ough t more this worl ds deoa y appe ares ,
Than that her influ ence the heav 1 n forb eare s,
Or that the Elem ents doe not feel e this ,
The fathe r~ or the mother barr en iso 380
The olou dea conc ei~e not rain e, or doe not powr e,
In the due birt; h time , dotin e the balm y show re;
Th 1 Ayre doth not moth erly sit on the eart h,
To hatc h her seas ons, and give all thin gs birt h;
Spri ng-t imes were common crad les» but are tombes; 385 .1

And false -con cept ions fill the gene rall wombes; (11. 3?7- 3Be
"Tha t her influ ence the heav 1 n forb eare s" (1. 378) is
the subj ect of the fift h med itati on. The "her 0 is ambiguous
in this cont ext; the femi nine pronow1 in this poem natu rally
lead s the read er to thin k of Eliz abet ho However, the rest of
the f1ft h sect ion makes 1t seem that the her 11 only hint s at 11

Eliz abet h whil e refe rrin g dire ctly to 8 heav 1 n.~ 46 The firs t
four line s are rath er obsc ure; they may be ·paT aphr ased as
follo ws: The deca y of the worl d is nowhere more obvi ous than
it is in the lack of heav en's influ ence upon the eart h: eith er
heav en is hold ing back her influ ence or the elem ents . ( the .sky
as fath er, the e~t h as moth er) are barr en and do not feel
heav en's influ ence . The influ enoe is the trad ition al effe cts
V

of the heav enly bodi es upon human even ts. There is furt her
com plex ity 1n that the elem ents abov e the eart h, subj ect

. 6.,

- ,.

. .... •·. - .

• --- - ......... '••l •••

... • -~. l ' •. :. ~ ..• . : • ;. ._ .• - • --- .
..... ·····- ...... - ... . . - ..... -·.. -' '
~--
..... . . .. ... -~•-
...
. . . ..· .. - ... '' · ...... ·. . . . ,-
 , •,!!_ "'· ~, .~.,,.. ~"<f,c'I• ··~~'<. ...... , """""" ,_ ..... , . """' . ' ·- ·-

1
'•,,. • •.. .. : .•.• : LV
.......... . ··- .
-. 86
l
l

themselves to celestial influence, in turn exert creative

47
influences upon the elements of the earth. Donne goes on
to show evidence of the lack of this influence: either the
clouds do not conceive rain or, having conceived it, do not
release it upon the earth. The air does not sit hen-like J
·1

I
upon the earth to create seasons and influence procreatio n: I
i
;

I
I

spring used to be a time of birth (a common idea; many crea- J

tures produce their offspring in spring), but now it 18 a

time of death. In addi t1on, 1 t is now common to hear of
misconcep tions (miscarria ges, freakish births) -- "the
generall wombes" (the wombs of the masses, animal or human)
are filled with "false-con cept1ons.P
Th 1 Ayre showes such Meteors, ·as none can see,
Not only what they meane 0 but what they bee;
Earth such new wormes, as would have troubled much
Th I AEgyptian l1ages to have ma.de more sucho 390
What Artist now dares boast that he can bring
Heaven hither, or constellat e any thing,
So as the influence of those starres may bee
Imprisonud in an Hearbe; or Charme, or Tree,
And doe by touch» all which those stars could doe? 395
The art is lost» and correspond ence tooo
For heaven gives little, and the earth takes lesse,
And man least knowes their trade and purposeso
(11. 38?-398) .I

The term 11 meteo·rn (1. 387) was applied to almost any

aerial phenomenon -- it might refer, 1n addition to the usua1

burning piece of metal, to lightning, rainbows, snow, rain,
and wind. Donne was not alone in begin alarmed about 11 meteors";
many in his time commented upon them. They were so strange,
he says in 11. 387-388, that nobody could tell what they were,
let alone what they signified {they were supposed to be omens). 48
 . .

/
- .~87. ........ --
-·..

The re has been an alar min g occ urre nce .of serp ents so unu sual
tha t the famous sor cer ers in the employ of Pha raoh would
hav e fou..'ld it dif ficu lt to dup lica te them . 49 Now, no "ar tist "
· (1. 391 ), or astr olo ger , "da res boa st" of hav ing pow er to
dire ct cel est ial infl uen ce or "co nste llat e" it; tha t 1s,
con cen trat e 1 t in a par ticu lar plac e such as 11 an Hea rbe, or
Cha rme, or Tre e" (1. 394 ). The art of astr olo gy is los t; so
is (as Donne has been sayi ng thro ugh out this pass age ) the
corr espo nde nce betw een cel est ial and eart hly eve nts. Alto -
-1:

geth er, "hea ven give s litt le, and .the eart h take s less e 11
(1. 397 ), and man knows. less th~n any crea ture abo ut the
inte rac tion s and purp oses of hea.ven and ear th. Donne views
the eart h-h eav en rela tion ship as an inte rac tion bec ause the
heav ens were supp osed to resp ond in par t to ear thly situ a-
tion s -- astr olo ger s, for exam ple, trie d to dire ct cele st1e 1
forc es (see 11. 391 -392 ).
If this commerce twi xt heav en and ear th wer e not
Embarr 1 d, and all this traf fiqu e qui te forg ot, 400
She , for whose loss e we hav e lam ente d thu s,
Would worke more full y~ and pow 0 rfu lly on us:
Sin ce herb es~ and roo ts, by dyin g lose not all,
But they i yea Ashes too, are med icin all 1
Dea th cou ld not auen oh her ver tue so, but tha t \405
It wou ld be (if not follo 1v 9 d) won dred at: '~-.·' .
And all the ~,or ld 1r1ould be one dyin g Swan,
To sing her fun era ll prai se» and van ish then .50
But as some Ser pen ts poy son hur teth not ,
Exc ept it be from the live Ser pen t sho t, 410
So doth her ver tue need her her e, to fit
Tha t unto us; shee 'trJorking rnore than it. (11. 399 -412 )
The fift h eulo gy stat es tha t we would be more sub ject
to Eliz abe th's infl uen ce if the hea ven -ear th inte rac tion
had not been 11 Emb arr 1 d" (1. 400 ), or emb argo ed. Donne seem s
 88
-.......
.. ·- ........
- . -.... -
.
........ _______ ......
··--·--·~-- .... ··
t'• ..... ~ - · - · · · - ....... _
.... .. .
... _ ...., ... - _ . . . . . ....... -···--~
., .......... -~---...- ·-. --··· ............ .

to base his statements on Christian astrology -- after all,

Elizabeth is in a Christian hee.ven. Death could not have
quenched the influence of her virtue ae it has done if the \
earth-heaven relationship had continued. Dead plants still
retain their medicinal virtues and certain ashes are medicinal:
like these, the dead girl has kept some of her healing influence.
The dying world would have sung as the dying swan singe: it
was believed that the swan, knowing when he is going to die,
sings his n swan song" and tl:len passes away. 51 W1 th the earth-
he& ven situation the way it is, El1zabeth 1 s virtue needs her
living physical presence to be effective in reforming man.
But shee, in l'Jhom to such maturity
Vertue was growne, past growth, that it must die;
She, from whose influence all Impressions came, 415
But, by Receivers impotencies, lame,
Who, though she coula not transubstantiate
All states to gold» yet guilded every state,
So that some Princes have some temperance;
Some Counsellers some purpose to advance 420
The coITL~on profit; and some people have
Some stay, no more than Kings should give, to crave;
Some women have some taciturnityi
Some nunneries some graines of chastitie.
She that did thus much, and much more could doe, 425
But that our age was Iron, and rustie too, (11. 413-426)
Elizabeth's virtue was completely matured -- there was
no room for further development; like a plant which has
completed its growth, she died. From Elizabeth came all
impressions of virtue; however, these impressions were
,, rendered ineffective by the receivers' (mank1nd 1 s) inability
f-
52
to use them (11. 415-416). Even though she was unable to
transubstantiate every human condition and position to
spiritual gold, or-virtue, ehe managed to gild each of them

. "
.... _... ·---·--·- .... ~ ·-. ----· -- .. ..,,.
; •.... .. ',\','"' ., .. ,. ........_ ............ ~ ' ' -
89 ......... , ..... -' . .. - --•·"'f . • '

with a layer of virtue : some prince s are somewhat temper ate,

some counse lors in governm ent seek to advance the common
..... l_ '

good, some people are relB.ti vely satisfi ed and want no more
53
than kings should give them , some women are occas1 ~nally
silent, in some nunner ies there ls a trace of chastit y. She I
I
I

made these change s, and could have done· much more if our age
had not been "Iron, and rustle too" (1. 426): Donne refers
to the divisio n of time in classic al mytholo gy: the first
and greate st age was the golden , followe d 1n order of chrono -
logy and decrea sing quality by the silver, the bronze , the
heroic, and finally the iron, s.n age of corrup tion.
~

: I

Shee, shee is dead; shee 1 s dead; when thou knowst this,

Thou lmowst how drie a Cinder this world is.
And learn 1 st thus much by our Anatomy,
That 8 tis in vaine to dew, or mollif ie 430
It with thy teares, or sweat, or blood: nothing .I
: I

Is worth our travail e, griefe, or perishi ng,

But those rich joyes, which did possess e her heart,
Of which she's now partak er, and a part. (11. 427-434 )
The refrain c1_nd moral of the fifth section is straigh t-
......

forward : the moral is that the 1r1orld is a 11 C1nc1er 11 (1. 428);

it is useless to attemp t to moisten its drynes s or mollify
]
it with our tears, sweat, or blood, and nothing is worth any !~

effort except the atte~inm ent of "those rich· joyes, which did
possess e her heart" (1. 433), those joys of religio us virtue
"Of ·which she 1 s no,1 partak er, a.nd a part 11 ( 1. 434) , perhaps
,

in the same manner as "She's now a part both of the Quire,

and Song 0 (l. 10).

But as in cutting up a man that's dead, 435

The body will not last out, to have read
On every part, and therefo re men direct
Their speech to parts, that are ot most effect;
-~.
. . . ....... .:.... ,: .-

. . . . . ·--- l ~ ' -- • .... ,._•-~ ~-, ... ,. ,·~·,•-,•~ ., .. ,. '"•' t •',• ... ·---~··•• ••· - ,._,., • •-· / ~..,., .... , ' ' " · " : ' ·>' ··-, ,,~.· ,c.-,. ,•. --. • •· ,, ~,·, .-; • •. ,., ..•' ,- . -,-.,-, •• • •.·.·. -r;· ,---,;,••· • ·•. - " .,, ·.c ~ ;. ,•.-_ .. _~, -,-,·r•f'•" ......, ,-..,_ ~--,-,' ' ..,,,-,~.., -Yn•.·••• .,.,~-,," • _,,,..,,,. .- -' - ..._., •,,...,,·,' -
- , ........ ,. • •· • _.. , - , -·,• . ·::.~• .- ,.,.~,. ~~-:1.··· ,...~r•·~ •.....---;,-;, T", .... .,.,.., •• , ,,,., -•' ,,.-.,,. _,_ ., ''"•- .. -., ' ,.--' -_, , • •- ,
 90
. •rr.. -

' ..... ' ..... ,, .

. ...... ~

.. -
,1 . • . . ..,...,.,_..,..-,.. •. • • '' -..--~ ...

So the world ca.rcasse would not la.st, 1:f I

Were punctuall 1n this Anatomy; 440
Nor smels it well to hearersp if one tell
Them their 'disee.se, v1ho faine would think they're well.
Here therefore be the end: And» blessed maid,
Of whom is meant what ever hath been said,
Or shall ·be spelt.en vJ'ell by any tongue, 445
Whose neme refines course 11nes 9 and makes prose song,
Accept this tribute, and his first yeares rent,
Who till his darke short tapers end be spent,
As oft as thy feast sees this widowed earth,
Will yearely eelebrate-' thy second birth,
That is, thy death; for though the soule of man *50
Be got when man is made, ntis borne but then
When man doth die; our body 1 s as the womb~
And, as a Mid-wife, death directs it home. (11. 435-453)
The conclusion , as might be expected, sums up the poem.
Donne makes the predictab le remarks about being able to do
more if circumstan ces permitted : The carcass of the world
would not last long enough to allow a complete and detailed
("puJ1ctua ll 11 ) post-morte m to be made, and Donne, like the
anatomist of human beings, has had to comment upon the most
important parts while they remained undecayed. 54 The
anatomized corpse has a bad smell, a.s does the lengthy

diagnosis of disease to the hearer who thought all along

that he was irvell. Donne continues ti11 th praise of Elizabeth:
anything said about something being good might be said of her..
Her name refi,nes "course" words and turns prose into poetry.
Donne identifies the poem as his first year's rent -- spiritual
duty -- to Eliza.beth, and he says that he will produce another

such payment each yee.r until his short and dim candle I s end
of life expires on this earth that has been widowed by
Elizabeth 's death. Actually, Elizabeth 's death, like any
death, was her soul's birth.

"":' .-. ·:··· ~--

.
<I• ·-··
·•·· '

- - . - ·, . -· •.•. ' -~ ....... ' ·--·-, •··· -..- :.- .• -·· ._, :. . . . . . . -· ..... -· .- ..... - . -, ••• -~- .. , • --··-··· ••. : ........... -_..:: - ·.:.... . ;· .• ; .... '. - .;.: . .,.:.: -· ·--·-· ,., - __ ,,_ .•. , ...•· - -·--- ···-. --- - - ··-· - .• -· t., . -- ·- ..... --· ·- ···----. -- • . ,. -- - ··- ~--- ,_ .... --'·· -·-·. ,,- -- ••.• ~- ·- .,,; . - - - • - . . ; • ,. -, .... , - ~ - . .. .. - ... ,._ . ·-
·. ' ·:'··.
 ... .. •""t-
91 ' r

...... ~·-·· .
...., . •40•···-........
.. . :ol•• .;. , .... ,· ......... .._,, •
..__ . ··~•·

And you her creatures, whom she workes upon, 455

And have your last, and best concoction
From her example, and her vertue, if you
In reverence to her, do thinke it due 1
That no one should her pra.ises thus rehearse,
As matter fit for C~onicle, not verse; 460
Vouchsafe to call to minde that God did make
A last, and lasting 8 st peace, a songo He spake
To ].foses to a.eJ_iver L1nto all, .
That song, because hee know they would let fall
The Law, the Prophets, and the History, 465
But keepe the song still in their memory:
Such an opinion (in due measure) made
Me this great Office boldly to invade: .
Nor could inoomprehensiblenes se deterre·
Mee, from thus trying to emprison her, 470
Which when I saw that a strict grave could doe,
I ·saw not why verse might not do so too.
,rerse ha.th a middle nature: heaven keepes Soules,
The Grave keepes bodies, Verse the Fame enroules. (11. 455-474)
In the last part of the concllw1on,· Donne addresses his
ree.ders and defends the trea.ting of so profound a subject as
Elizabeth in verse rather than chronicle. The passage is
relatively easy to·understand; there are only two points
which require exnlana.tion.
... "Concoction" (1. 456) means a ,·
}

I
• 1

,.I

bringing to a state of perfection, a. matur21.tion of crude I

1"
materials, or a medical brew, a potion. And it is recorded
in Deuteronomy 31-33 that the Lord asked Moses to write the I
I'

song Donne refers to in 11. 462-465.

[:
'"

\,

)
·· .

·---·.:.·
.. ,
..-~··· . . ' • - . . . ._ "!.,.. .,.·.·;--~''. - ·- ... .. __ .., ••. _·,, ___ --- -·--· ,..... :.•• _·:.~ .• ... ~···- ... .-..1, ...... -· ,_ -·~

,u
 . ..~ .:·.

' ""-'•""-'· ............. ' ... -.-.:... . ........ -·-· . ...... .... ·-- .. _,.. . ·-· ..... .. .
-;·,

..... - ..... ,. .. __ ..,..._,.., -~

..... ...........,
92
I

CHAPTER VII

'!he second of Donne's "Anniv ersarie s" is more effecti ve

than the first. The differe nce in effecti veness is in oart
due to a differe nce in structu re: the first is cast in a
rigid mold, while the second is formed in a more flexibl ·e

and organic nattern , a pattern which allows the ooem to

develop . "The Second Annive rsary" consis ts of' an intro-
duction , seven section s, and a conclu sion. The introdu ction
and conclu sion of the second poem are shorte r than those of /

the first, but the chief differe nce between the poems lies in
the section s: in "The First Annive rsary," they all follow
the same nattern ; in the second ooem, the section s are non-
identic al, for they are shaned to fit the require ments of
· the materi als. For instanc e, the morals in all but the first
of the seven section s are incorno rated into the eulogie s,
making the t~.ansi tions between the section s much smooth er

than they are in HThe First Annive rsary. ul . It is easy to

/
oversta te the differe nces between the poems; they are~f er-
ences in degree rather than absolu te differe nces, and there

is a natura l tendenc y to find the second poem vastly sunerio r

to the first when such is not really the cese, because the
second noem seems to adhere more closely to the orincin les of
organic ism so dear to literar y critics .
The explic etion of "The Second Annive rsary" will be
handled in the same manner as that of the first ryoem. The
self-ex olanato ry title needs no comment.

~ ·- ~--- • ,' • • ..- ~} • .:c •. -".•- ,,,.,.,. •.•.., .. ·-' ··'- • ·I.
. . .. ·- ' . , ....... ; ., .. ·., '
. . . . . . --~..;:·._...:...... ,.... . . . . . •!, ·- ·:-· ....... - " .......
 ....
,•, ~ ., • '4 r ... •• . • , ..-..,
-~·- _.......
.... .
,It .. ,· .
··-·~·-.1
.. ·-- --·-·"" .........,.,0 • ....... .. . .
~
-~...
...... .. . . ..
., '
...
( ..
............. ,JIC'l'O •.
-..
.
·• •..
. .... ,. ... ·•
',,.,,,
................ . ....... ·'· ,, .. ,.. 9 3

NOTHING could make me sooner to confesse

That this world had an everlastingnesse,
Than to consider, that a yeare is runne,
Since both this loiver 1rJorld 9 s 9 and t~1e Sunnes Sunne,
The lustre~ and the vigor of this All~ 5
Did set; 0 twere blasphemie to say 9 did fall.
But e.s a shin t<Jhich l!ath strooke sailesi doth runne ' ::
By force of that force which before~ it wonne: '

Or as sometimes in a beheaded manp

.rhough at those ttiuo Red seas.9 1rrhich freely ranne,
1
10,
One from the Trunke 9 another from the Head,
His soule be sail 9 d, to her eternaJ_l bed,
His eyes 1PJill twincl{le 9 and his tongue 1,,~111 roll, , I
II
I
I

: I.i ,
As though he beckned 9 and cal'd backe his soule, , I

He grasns his handsp and he nulls un his feet, 1 15 I

And seemes to reach 9 and to step forth to meet

His soule; when all these motions which we saw,
Are but es Ice, which crackles at a thaw:
Or as a Lute 9 i'lfhich in moist weat~1er, ·rings
Her knell alone 9 by cracking or her strings: 20
So struggles this dead world, now she is gone;
For there is motion in corruDtion. (11. 1-22)
Donne begins the introduction by saying that t~fect
the world has survived Elizabeth's dea~h is the best argument
he knows o.f to demonstrate that the world is eternal; however,

Donne is certainly not saying that the world will go on existing

forever. He is simply praising Elizabeth's imnortance by say-
ing that if the world can survive without her, then it seems
.,
that it can survive for eternity even though such survival is
impossible, according to the universal Renaissance opinion."
Elizabeth was the "Sunnett (1. 4l,·,,. both to the world and to

the sun, in that she bave life and color to both -- she was
"The Lustre, and the vigor o1"' this All" (1 . 5 ) '• " All "
refers to the earth, the sun, and nrobs.bly the rest of the

universe. It would be "blasnhemie to say" that Elizabeth

l

had fallen, for she had "setu as the sun sets, having gone
on to another region. The world is not really alive, Donne
-·.. .. ··-
. ...
-- - says; it is simnly showing signs of life even though its vital

.. , .. - • • .. • - ' -..i"'~- ·- - · . ~ ._ . . . -. -• ,. ... . - . .. . . ..... . . . .. . - -- . .... . .... ·~ .. . . ~ .......

 .. . .- - - 'J(
94 ........................
• • • ~ " ' ...... I
.. ... ......... __ ,,. - ' •~ -u-••• .... •• ... ..,.. .. ·· ..:'."".... ~·· . . .. ••
...
• • ,,._.,r,.,•• .. -
..... ... - .. . ,

I
i
·<

force has gone, like a behea ded man who grima ces and moves
•l
1
}

r • .
U;\.J_)~.)
his limbs ?r" a ship that has enoug h headw ay to coast after .
the wind dies. The appea rance s of life in the world , the
behea ded man, and the coast ing ship are in reali ty no more
the resul ts of true vital ity than the movements of thawi ng
ice or of a lute strin g wl11oh contr acts and break s in damp
weath er, causi ng a sound which Donne calls the lute' s death
knell . The world strug gles as do these other inanim ate objec ts,
"For there is motio n in corru ption " (1. 22): the image is of
3
maggo ts crawl ing in decay ing flesh .

As some da1ee are at the Creat ion nam 1 d,

Befor e the Sunne , the which fram 1 d daies , was fram 1 d,
So after this Sunne 1 s set, some shew appea res, 25
And order ly vicis situd e of yeare so '
Yet a new Delug e, and of Lethe flood ,
Ha.th a.ro'trJnud us all, All have forgo t all good,
Forge tting her, the maine reser ve of all.
Yet in this delug e, gross e and gene rall, 30
Thou seest me striv e for life; my life shall bee,
To be herea fter prais 9 d, for prays ing thee;
Immo rtall Maid, who thoug h thou wou.ld 9 st refus e
The name of 1'«1other, be u11to my rv!u.se
A Fathe r, since her chast Ambi tion is, 35
Yeare ly ""co bring forth such a child as this.
These Hymnes may worke on futur e wits, and so
May great Grand child ren of thy prays es grow.
And so, thoug h not reviv e, eml)alma and spice
The worldJ) 1rJhich else 't'vould putri fie ,11th vice. 40
Fo.r thus i Man may exten d thy proge ny 9
Unti ll man doe but ·vanis h, and not die.
These Hymnes thy issue , may encre ase so long 1
As till Gods grea.t Venit e chang e the song. {11. 22-44 )

The remai nder of the intro ducti on conti nues to expla in

the appea rance of norm ality. It is recor ded in Gene sis that
the sun and stars were not creat ed until the fourt h day, and
there has been much discu ssion of those first three sunle ss
days; ho\tev er, the fact remai ns that the Bible calls these
·..,;..

-·\· ' , ••• ·-- -· •• I •

~.-:-:_'!~r:---~.-. ---- -:..== ...... -·: _:,.---:.~·.-.- ·-·.- •• -- -~ ="-- -- -,-- ___ ... '~"' •• ~ . ~ - ; -.- -. ,,. . . '_, .. - • ·-- --~..,.. -·---···----~ - - - - - _, ...
•
 1- .,_ ·-·· ;i;

,
·-·-- .... ,,. .. -··· .
. -·

···--··
,,.
. , .. '"·····
. _....... ~------···- -
....
,. ·- .. -·····. -·-· .. . ,,.. .. . -. .
.._ ... . .. ••
. ...
' ''
9.5

period s or tim~ 1 days", sun or no sun. Donne compar es

these sunless days with the period followi ng Elizab eth's
-~death : we still have days "And orderly vicissi tude of
yeares 11 (1.26) even thougr1 Elizab eth, our Sun (cf. 1. 4),
is gone. We have been drowned in a new Flood, a deluge or
r)

water from Lethe, the river of forgetf ulness , and we have

forgott en "all good" in that we have forgott en Elizab eth,
our main "reserv e," or refuge . Even in this overwh elming
Lethean flood, Donne strives for life (11. 30-31) : he will
live only to make himsel f worthy of praise for praisin g
Elizab eth. Elizab eth would refuse the name of mother on the
obviou s grounds of her virgin ity. However, Donne asks her
to be a father to his muse. William Marsha ll has sugges ted
that Donne intende d to indicat e that tne poems were "legiti mate"
offspri ng and had been approve d by Sir Robert Drury, but it '

seems to me that Donne is simply saying that Elhzab eth is

closely related to his poems about her. 4 "These Hymnes"
(1. 37), the 11 Ann1ve rsar1es ," both written and planne d, will
be mascul ine in the same manner as Elizab eth is mascul ine and
will impreg nate the minds of future poets, produc ing offspri ng
similar to themee lves. 5 In this manner, Elizab eth's "off-
spring" may reprod uce,un til Judgment Day,·w hen the people on
earth will be transfo rmed withou t dying (1. 42) and God 1 s
great 0
Venite" will take the place of the poems in honor ot
Elizab eth.

..: :..;;,.,,.

----~--- ---·- ... ' ---·-·· --· ·-------------·-~-~---- - --

--~-- - ---·---------------- ·-'·--- -- _,.._,. __________ ,, ---··
··~ ... ..... ,, .
.. ... ..-....-~ ... ~-~
p••
-~
.. . .
-•
.. ..( .
- - · -----···--"'

Thirst for that time, O my 1nsat1ate soule, 45

And serve thy thirst, with Gods safe-sealing Bowle,
Be thiretie still, and drinke still till t~ou goe;
1 Tis th 8 only Heal th, to be Hydroptique so.
Forget this rotten 1/Jorld; a.nd unto thee
Let thine owne times as an old storie bee. 50
Be not concern 8 d~ studie not whyD nor when;
Doe not so much as not beleeve a man o
For though to erre, be worst~ to·try truths forth,
Is far more businesse, than this world is worth.
The world is but a carkasse; thou ·art fed 55
By it, but as a worme, that carkasse bred;
And why should 9 st thou~ poore worme 9 consider more,
When this world will grow better than before,
Than those tbY · fellatrJ wormea doe thinks upon
That carkasses last resurrectiono 60
Forget this world 9 and scarce thinke of it so,
As of old clothes, cast off a yeare agoe.
To be thus stupid is Alacritie;
Men thus Lethargique have best Memory. {11. 45-64)
This passage, the meditation of the first section, is
aarefully linked wit-h the introduction. Donne tells his
soul to long for "that time," Judgment Day, and forget the
decaying world. 11 Hydropt1que" (1. 48) means "insatiably

thirsty like a person with dropsy." Donne compares the

soul's longing with insatiable thirst which should be
"served" with 11 Gods safe-sealing Bowle," the communion cup.
'

Donne often spoke of sacraments as "seals. n? Donne advisee

his soule (and implicitly, the reader) to ignore the world,
to believe in the present time as one believes in "an old
stor1e 11 (1. 50). The world is simply not worth attention:
it is "worst" to err, but to bother to search for worldly
truth 1s far more trouble than it is worth (1. 53). The
world is a carcass (1. 55), and man is fed·by it as a worm
is fed by- a dead animal: Donne asks why man should ponder
over the problem of determining when the world will improve

•• I

' .,
 J,

' . ...
.,. •'·"' ,~ .. . . ,. - .•,•.I• • ~ •\ • • ~' 'I-"'•' .· I
. ...... .•
~ .
~....
.. . ,. •
. -··· ..
.. ~- ..v.-,,, '" -- .... ··•·••·

.. . -.._. ..... ,
~r.
97
•,•,,.• , 4 , , , , ... , .
·-·-..-fl..
· .,.,.,.• ••"''
Oo, ... H . _ O o• - •••

more than real worms ponder over the "last resurrect1onn

of the corpse upon which they feed. It is true qu1ok-
w1ttedness to be stupid about the world; men who are
"Letharg1que 11 about the ways of the world have the best
memories for important spiritual matters.
Look upward; that's towards her, whose happy state 65
We now lament not, but congratulate.
Shee, to whom all this world was but a stage, ;I
I

Where all sat harkning how her youthful! age :1

n
Should be emploi 8 d, because in all shee did, r
u
Some Figure of the Golden times was hido ?O n
1'

Who could not lacke~ what e 8 r this world could give, u

Because shee was the forme 9 that made it live;
Nor could complaine, that this world was unfit
To be staid in 9 then when shee was in it;
Shee that first tried indifferent desires 75
By vertue, and vertue by religious fires, l
J
I

Bhee to whose person Paradise adher 9d~ I

As Courts to Princesi shee t±hose eyes ensphear 1 d I 1

Star-light enough, tvhave made the South controule, 11

(Had shee beene there) the Star-full Northerne Pole, 80.

(11. 65-80)
,I

The eulogy of the first section 1~ much like the

:JI

eulogies of the first poem. Donne is still addressing his

soul (and 1mpl1c1tly, the reader); he says to look up
toward Elizabeth in heaven; because she is happy, we need
not mourn for her. 11 Congratul2te" (1. 66) means "to joy
with." "Should" (1. 69) has the· force of "would": the
world was Elizabeth's stage, and all men sat watching in

I•
what way her youthful maturity would be employed because
they saw in everything she did a trace of the nobility of
the Golden Age. 8 Elizabeth could lack nothing the world
could give, for she was the vital form supplying the world
\
with life (11. 71-72). She first "tried," or purified by
fire, her 11 1nd1fferent," or· neutrel, desires with the a.ction
of virtue.; then she purified her virtue w.1 th the flames of
-
........... ....
~ ~_- ... .-...;._~-~~·· . --·· -
 , ~" "/~' ..,~.,.,,,._.., ';t>TS1." l ! ~·· , , 1.,., • .-..,....__ ._ •

0
•

...... ~ ---~-~-·--···· '""'""'

.
............. -........... _ --· ... ··~·.--·""':;·~~-
" .
":. --~-........... .... -...... ...............
-.
. ... .
....• ,,.
~ '• .
. . . _9~ -
........., ....... .
a· ., • ·:~~_, •• ." T _. ~.:::

religious passion. "The metaphor is of a two-stage process

-.

removing the dross from metale. 11 The rest of the passage

t .
is clear except for the last two lines: · 11 controule 18 means
1 dominate"; the idea is that the northern sky contained
~ore stars than the southern and that Elizabeth's star-
filled eyes would have added enough light to the southern
sky to make it outshine the northern. 9
Shee, ·shee is gone.; she is gone; when thou knowest this,
What fragmentary rubbidge t~is world is
Thou knowest, and that it is not worth a thought; ,',,)

He honors it too much that thinkes it nought.

(11. 81-84)
The refrain and moral of the first section is short and
to the point: when you know that Elizabeth is gone, you know
that the world is "fragmenta.ry rubbidge" and that he who
bothers even to think it worthless is expending more effort
than the world is worth.
Thinke then, my soule, that death is but a Groome, 85
Which brings a Taper to the outward roome,
Whence thou spiest first a little glimmering light,
And a_fter -brings it nea.rer to thy sight:
For such approaches doth heaven make in death.
Thinke thy selfe labouring now with broken breath, 90
And thinke those broken and soft I~otes to bee
Di vision, and thy happyest Ha.rmoniec
Thinke thee laid on thy death~bed, loose and slacke
And thinke thatp but unbinding of a packe,
To take one precious thing~ thy soule from the.nee. 95
Thinke thy selfe PB~rch ud 1\Yi th fevers violence, ,
Anger thine ague more» by calling it
Thy Physicke; chide the sla.clrnesse of the fit.
Thinke that thou hear 8 st thy knell.9 and think no more,
But that, as Bels calid thee to Church before, 100
Bo this, to the Triumphant Church,. calls thee.
. {11. 85-101)
The meditation of the second section deals with a
certain kind of attitude toward death, an attitude often
found in meditation: the idea is that death is not to be
·"........ ,, ., ~·-· ~............. - . . ·~~ • .. • ..............,......... ~" ... ··- ............ .
, ........ ~·~, '' . . ...... -
feared but welcomed, for·it takes man from the decaying

•••• •• • .... • _ . •• • ' • ' . , . . . . .M ' • • • · - · - · - . .- - - - ~ 0 - ~ · •• b

•'.!.,,,;.,-·, ·-1~; • .:-.. -.,·-· ·.:,,· ••. ··,-·.···- ........ -', ·.~.;;.,;..· .~ .-.··~ - .~-
 -· . . . 99.

earth and brings him to heaven. Donne first compares death

to a servant who bears a candle; the candle is the light
of heaven and death brings it gradually into man's sight.

,, •..
Still addressing his soul, Donne says to regard his hard
breathing at the point of death as music: "Division"
~,.,..
(1. 92), a term from musio, refers to either a rwi or a
fast melodic passage, considered as a few long notes divided
into many short ones. "Division" also carries the idea of
11
the division of body and soul. Donne suggests that his
..,., soul consider his dying body to be a pack which 1s being
unbound to allow the removal of one precious thing, his . I

•
soul. Donne then tells his soul to imagine that he is
racked with ague; personifing the ague (1. 97), he says to
11 Anger thine a.gue" and "chide the sla.oknesse of the f1t. 0

The death knell is like a church bell summoning the soul to

the "Triumphant Church," the church in heaven. 12
Thinke Satans Sergeants round about thee bee,
And thinke that but for Legacies they thrust;
Give one thy Pride, to 8 another give thy Lust: ,I

Give them those sinnes which they gave thee before, 105
And trust th 0 immaculate blood to wash thy score.
Th1nke thy friends weeping round 0 and thinke that they
Weepe but because they goe not yet thy wayo i
Thinke that tllieyclose thine ~yes» 2nd think.a in this, '
''l

That they confesse much in the world 0 amisse, 110

Who dare not trust a dead mans eye with that,
Which they from God~ and Angels cover not,
Thinke that they shroud thee up 9 and think from thence
They reinvest thee in white innocenceo
Thinke that thy body rots 1 and (i~ so low, 115
Thy sou.le exalted so, thy thoughts can goe,)
Think thee a Prince» who of -themselves create ' I

Wormes rr~ioh insensible.devours their Stateo

Thinke that they bury thee, and thinke that rite 10
Laies thee to sleepe but a Saint Lucies night. 120
( 11. 10 2-120)

--·- --- ~.'. -·--- ·~~ .. ··- -:_ ____. . ._.__ ~ - -:. -- ...:.._,_ -- ~----...:.-. -·· .. · · - --..!.--.~-- - -- ·------ ·----·--- ........- . - ---·--- · - - - - --- -- . ---· --- ----- ,-- --- . ----.-- ·.-- ..... . !'-'. ·.-.-·~. ·- ..... --- - - -·

..... .. .- .....-~,. •. ......... ...;. ... ' .. .·

:l·u:.
~r
;\
!. . ,·;:·:·' :.; ·; .·- ·: ;~· ;\. .·. -;.-; ~.: ;-. : : :. .-;- ;- : ;- ;._";·.;-,-~-;-~. - ;.:. · -~-~-'. -.. . . :.·: .; ~·. - . - :. ~ ·, -:. .-:.;-..:'.,; .·~-·.:;:, "': .~
;~
j";;'f.;. :.·.:;., :; -.~ ... .:, :+, .• ·•. .:,-:; .. ~ ,·.: '- : • - '; ·-~: ~- ·• --. -_--;.:•___ •;·:. -·.·; - ..:; •.•. ·•.: "i. _. .-•.. .- ..- ·. . . • - . ·.- :· •. . .-··-·;-;:·; :-,-:;-·.. • • ' :: . :· ....·.~. -
 •l
100 .........
..........: ~ . · . ··:··.~ .... • ·• • .......... ,, ••, , . ,......•• : ........-~.;,,. 'f,-...

The remainder .j the second medi ta.tion oonttnues ·_1n the

same vein. Donne asks his soul, already imagining that he is
dying, to th1nke that "Sa.tans Sergeants," or demons, are •,

crowding around his bed. The soul 1s to think that the demons
are asking for "Legacies" and is to will them his pride, lust,
iind other sins which they gave him during his life, trusting
in "th 1 1mmaculate blood" of Christ to redeem him -- the image
of 11 to wash thy score" is from the tavern blackboards on
whioh were chalked the debts or customers; when the debts
were paid, the "score" was washed off. The image is well
suited to a discussion of sin. Donne suggests that his soul
consider that his friends mourn not for him but for themselves
because they are not about to enter heaven. The friends
cover the eyes of the corpse; in this action they confess that
much in the world 1s amiss, for they seek to conceal from a
dead man what "they from God, and Angels cover not" (1. 112).
The friends wrap the corpse in white; Donne tells his soul to
think the shroud a symbol of innocence. Think that your body
rots, Donne says to his soul, end if you in your exaltation
can lower your thoughts so far, imagine that your body is a
prince lying in the grave, creating worms which consume his
"State" -- his body, with a pun on that which a prince rules.
"Saint Lucias night" (1. 120), December 13, is in the Julim
calendar the longest·n1ght of the year.
Thinke these things oheerefully: and if thou bee
Drowsie or slacke, remember then that shee,
Shee whose Complexion w~s so even made,
That which of her Ingredients should invade

I
ir
r

'
'
,
. .
•••·fin.··--#,--.-..-~-·'•"''··~,·~•·•••· "A....,,.-,,-.-,,...,._. ..... , •• , ,"' ~ ,J,. I, ~ • ,':"r. ~ - •''"I ~ "' '\'>.i, • J >. J ' • I

,.,
. . ......\ ...~~, .. ... . ......._... . __ ,.____ .. .
.,.,......
.
.. • .
- -~-.... ··-·- .
a:;:;i ,.-., ,.,.. • .,.,_..,,..___ ,~_ .

.. ",. ' .
"tU1f,T ' •o'-",~ '
-··-···--······- ...........
,\

The other three, no Feare, no Art could guesse: 125.

So far were all remov 1 d from more or lease.
But as in Mithridate, or just perfumes,
Where all good things being met 9 no one presumes
To governe, or to triumph on the rest~
Only because all were» no part wae best. 130
And as, though all doe knoi,,3 0 that quantities
Are made of lines 0 and lines from Points arise,
None can these lines or quantities unjoynt,
And say this is a linej or this a point,
So though the Elements-and Humors were 135
In her 1 one could not say~ this governes there.
Whose even constitution might have wonne
Any disease to venter on the Sunne,
Rather than her: and make a spirit feare,
That hee to disuniting subject wereo 140
To whos:e pro port ions if we ,10 uld compa..re
Cubes» th 8 e.re unstable; Circles, Angular;
She who was such a chaine as Fate employee
To bring mankinde all Fortunes it enjoyes;
So fast~ so even wrought, as one would think.a, 145
I~o Accident could threaten any linlte; (11. 121-146)
The second"' eulogy presents the miraculous death of\
•,
__., _.,_-":· \

Elizabeth in contrast to the more normal death described in ~

the meditation. The first line of the eulogy suggests that

7
the soul think of Elizabeth 1:t he is 11 Drowsie or slacke 11

in his meditation. Her complexion, the combination of

-·
humours in her person, was so perfectly balanced that
neither her family 1 who looked w1·th fear at her on her
deathbed, nor the physician, who with art (menical skill) t

observed her, could tell which humour would begin to dominate

imbalance cause her death. 13
the others an~ thus through gross
_9

All her humours were perfect (1. 130); they were 11 best 0
individually and collectively: the humours were as balanced
as the ingredients of "Mithridate," the famous antidote
11 just, 11 or
against poison, and the component essences of a
complete, balanced, and even perfwne. · · The idea of balance
is continued: we know that Elizabeth was made up of humours,

r , .

~-
 - r----. • "' •· < ' •' ;., ' ' ' '· ' ' ' ., ' . ' ', • •• •

'!'······t···,c,·,,,.,c<,«:>--1!11, i.-,!,>J:ltlt.Wl'~-.m.~-,,'l!llc,1 "9~ti"'l-,~±r.lJ!,L'ti"\'i"i',li1'\t{ ~:$tit'~,~\'!>lo/(t•'f:l,~l{~~1\~ !l

I

. .. . . 102
... . - -·- _,...
".. . ·--···-----.-- _..._.. - - · ·-· ·- ··-···-·-·· ..... - .......
.........._................... \ , .... . .·,,,;,••
..
. ...,, ...... ... ~,~-. .. ,. ' .. . •. ····-- - · - - .........
'•·
""'t• ...• " - ·... •·---1:".;·. IJ. • -~\U}f.J.,l)t.,,1,.:.. .... _ ....... ._...,,,.,.... .c- .. ,1 ·--~ faj
t_;

..

but one could not dist1ngu1 sh them individua lly; the I

mingling of humours was like the mingling of geometric al
points in a line or the comb1nat1o n of lines 1n "quantitie s,"
or geometric al figures. Donne introduces "Elements" in
1. 135; they were thought to be present 1n the hum.an body
and in the humours -- indeed, they were supposed to be the
basic component s of all matter. Her constituti on (1. 137)
was so balanced that a disease, depending for its effect
11 or
upon an imbalance of humours, would have been °wonne,
,persuaded , to attack the sun instead of Elizabeth ; the sun
was thought to be made-up of "celestia l matter not subject • • • )

to disease • . . Oor] dissolutio n. 1114 And her being was so

perfectly united that it would make a spirit feel that hi~

'

ethereal substance, supposedly indivisib le, was ~ubject to

division. The 11 chaine 11 that "Fate employes 11 (1. 143) was in

the Renaissan ce thought of "as the inexorable concatena tion

15 ~
of natural cause and effect."
Bhee, shee embrac 1 d a sicknesse, gave it meat,
The purest blood, and breath, the.t e'r it eate;
. ;· And hath taught us, that though a good man hath
Title to heaven, and plead it by his Faith, 150
And though he may pretend a conquest, since
Heaven was content to suffer violence 0
Yea tho~gh hee plead a long possession too,
(For the~ 0 re in heaven on earth who heavens workes do)
Though he,e, had right and powe1-o end place, before,
i' \
155
Yet Death\-mus t usher, and unlocke the doore.
(11. 14?-156)
There 1s no distinct refrain in the second section; what
might have been the refrain has been altered and blended with
the moral. The point of this passage 1s that Elizabeth has

• • :.. .M -.·c ••• ..:,, ••• O _ _ .:.. •• _. ;~ •• · ; . •

 .... . ,.
•
..........
,._,.., • • ,~ I ' ,..._ . . . . . .
.......... . .103 .·. ·~····· .......
......... ~... ,.. •11'1" .•, •••• ---~-·-"··--·•-•••••·• _,1....._... .. .._._M__,...,, • • •·•• · • ~ . • ..-, ··--..... , . ""...,,-~. .... , ·"-" -,--~ .- _ ___.," --- ___,.,..-a, ..~IAl,,...,~
.... ............J. ~L-•D•J:.a._.·.~•,W'J) -...;.;.,,~1.;:_ ·•
. ' -· ··L-.. ......... .
~
,-·-,,~-., • .

demonstra ted that even the purest and best of humans was
vulnerable to disease and that as good as she was, she
had to suffer death before she could enter heaven. No
· matter how many valid claims a man may have for "Title to
heaven 11 (1. 150), "Yet Death must usher, and unlocke the
doore" (1. 156). Heaven has suffered "violence" (1. 152)
in that a spritually violent man, one who is earnest and
zealous, ff
may take hold of it. ti 16
Thinke further on thy selfe, my Soule, and thinke
How thou at first wast made but in a sinke;
Thinke that it argued some infirmitie ,
That those two soules, which then thou foundst in me, 160
Thou fedst upon» and drewst into thee, both
My second sou.le of sense, and first of growth.
Thinke but ho-v, poore· thou 1.vast, how obnoxious ;
~Thom a . small lumpe of flesh could. poyson thus.
This curded milkej this poore unlittered whelpe~,16 5
My body, could, beyond escape of helpe, _.j '
Infect tl1.ee with Originall sinne, and thou
Couldst neitl1er then refuses, nor lea.ve it now.
Thinke that no stubborne sullen Anchorit,
vlhich fixt to a pillar, or a grave, doth sit 170
Bedded, and bath 0d in all his ordures, dwels
So fol1ly as o u.r Soules in their first==> bull t Cele.
Thinke in ho~J' poore a prison thou did~t lie
After, enabled but to suckj and crief7
Thinke, whenutwas growne to most~ utwas a poore Inne, 175
A Province pa ck nd up in two yards of skinne,
And that usurp 8 d or threatned with the rage
Of sicknesses , or their true mother, Ageo (11. 157-178)
J

The third meditation , longer than the first or second,

in concerned with the meanness of the human condition and the
glory of the soul's journey after death. Donne continues to

a4drees his soul throughou t the meditation , sometimes using

a f•.minine pronoun in speaking of his soul: the reader must
be careful to avoid confusing these pronouns with those referring
to Elizabeth.

••~ . - • ~. ' ": -· i - ~ '.ft ... -- .... .. ~=·

..
 .........
·- ·-~' ...
, _,___ . l.Q.4- .. ·•.,•,
' ~ •, I

The meditation traces the progress of the soul from

conception to the gates of heaven. Donne asks his soul to
conside~ how "thou at first wast made but in a sinke"
i'
(1. 108), thus comparing the human body to a sinke, a
18
sewer or cesspoole At this point, Donne seems to main-
tain that the soul is created~ traduce, as an inheritance
from the parents. But in 11. 158-168, he seems to assume
i
i

that the soul is created ex nihilo, out of nothing. ii

·1
I
I

Perhaps ''the ambiguity is the result of Donne's own uncer-

tainty about the creation of the soul. He was certain about
the matter in 1697; after his ordination, he favored the
19
ex n1h1lo position. That the soul fed on the souls of J •.
,I
I

sense and growth (11. 160-162) argues 11

some 1nfirmitie 0
(1. 159) in tha.t 1 t demonstrates the soul I s dependence.
The theory of the threefold soul is at least as old as
Aristotle: the soul of vegetation and growth, and the .,

soul of motion and sense were supposed to be present in

the fetus before the "' arrival of the immortal soul, which
,(.
absorbed them into itself. Donne takes the process of
20
·Erosorption literally. Lines 163-164 refer to the infec-
tion with original sin of the soul by the body, described
explicitly in 11. 165-168. "Obnoxious 11 (1. 163) means
frail, weak, an unusual use of the word. The "small
lumpe of flesh 11 (1. 164) is the fetus. "Cura.ad milke"
(1. 165) reminds Ma.nley of Job 10: 10, "Hast thou not

poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 1121

The rest of this passage needs no e~lication.

.. .
. ·-· ''• . . -·

.i
i'
 . ; . , ....
..
.,,,,·.,.
• . j\. ,, ..
105
·l•• ' .......
.. ·..... -.
. ... ..
............ ..,...........
. .
.., .. ..•......-1. c.•r·
... • •• ' • l ·
-· ......... ~. . ..... .. ··~
................. , . ...
~ '
.. ...::...,-., ~ 1180·.. · ~~.... •, ,at, ..... ., ... • • • • _ . . _ . . ....
. . .
4,,{-..f

··-·· ' .... ,.jlJ/9

But th1nke that Death hath now enfranchis 1 d thee,·

Thou ha.st thy·1·expans1on noi1, and 11bert1e; 180
Th1nke that a rustie Peece, discharg 1 d, is flowne
In peeces, and the bullet is his owne,
And freely flies: This to thy Soule allow 0
Th1nke thy shell broke, thinke thy Soule hatch 1 d but now.
And think this elow~pacud soule 3 which late did cleave 185
To'a body, and went but by the bodies leave,
Twenty, perchance, or thirty mile a day,
Dispatches in a minute all the way
Twixt heaven, and earth; she stayes not in the ayre,
To looke what Meteors there thems~lves prepare; 190
She carries no desire to know, nor)sense,
Whether thuayres middle. region be intense;
For th 0 Element of fire, she doth not khow,
Whether she past by such a place or no;
She baits not at the Moone, nor cares to trie 195
Whether in that new world, men live, and die.
·.,,
Venus retards her not 9 to 8 enquire, hoiv shee
Can, (being one starre) Hesper~ and Vesper bee;
Hee that charm 8 d Argus eyes~ sweet Mercury,
Workes not on her 0 who now is growne all eye; 200
Who, if she meet the body of the Sunne 1
Goes through, not staying till his course be runne;
Who findes in l\1ars his Campe no corps of Guard; I\

Nor is by Jove, nor by his father barr 8 d;

But ere she can consider how she 1·Jent, 205
At once is at, and through the Firmament. (ll. 1?9-206)
Donne now asks his soul to ·imagine that he has died
and that his soul is as free and independent as a bullet shot
from a rusty weapon that flew into pieces when it was fired.
Donne temporarily shifts his object of address in 1. 183
to the reader; he returns to addressing his soul in 1. 219,
the beginning of the third~eulogy. No real problems are
created by this shift, for Donne is seeking to inform his
reader even when he addresses hUI own soul. This passage
is clear; with the exception of a few specific points, 1t
requires no explanation. The soul, moving from earth to
heaven, does not linger in the earth's atmosphere to observe
meteors (1. 190) or to determine whether or not the a1r 1 s
"middle region be intense," perhaps bright, dense, or
,:e:

hot. 22 The soul- . . doe-s not bother with the much~dlsputed

I / .. •
-- - -·-·-- .··-........
' . .
.
- •. f" ,,:...

.... .
• • 11.'• . . . . . .... --- -· _- -· · ·.....:· :~. l 06 · · · ---.· .. .. ·-~
_, ... _.......... •. . '~ .... , .......,..~·· ' .. ..,.,. .. ..., ,, . ···:':'t'.,...,;.i:,,
...... • ...• r' •__ ,. .
.... \ -•..- · · - - - " ._...._..,..)_"' 1,, ........ _... ... • •. ......... .. ........... -··· ..........-1> ~ . •JO) ~
····~ • ... ··--'··-~! .•. • .... ' .

sphere of fire which was supposed to be between the earth

23
and the moon. And the soul a.oes not "bait~.1 ·( 11 bate,"
· halt, slow down) at the moo~; it does not stop to investi-
gate how Venus, being one star, can be both the morning
24 ·-.
and evening stars. Mercury, who charmed many-eyed Argus,
cannot charm her even though she "is growne all eye"
(1. 200) in that she, like all souls without bodies,
perceives directly through herself in every direction. 25
The soul 1s not retarded in her Journey by Jove (Jupiter),
!'_,,...

or Saturn, his father -- Donne 1s speaking of the planets

as if they were the gods who gave them their names.
I. A. Shapiro has noted that Donne is following the
Tyohonian system of astronomy in this passage; the system
26
has been discussed above in Chapterm.
I
And as these starres were but so many beads
Strung on one string, speed und1stinguish 1 d leads :[
. 1,

Her through those Spheares, e.s through tl").e beads, a str~ng, ,j

'1
I

Whose quick succession makes it still one thing: 210 I

I
As doth the pith, which 1 lest our bodies slacke, ;

Strings fast the little bones of necke, and backe;

So by the Soule doth death .s,tring Heaven and Earth;
For when our Soule enjoyes this her third birth,
- I
(Creation gave her one, a second, grace,) 215 y

J
Heaven is as nea.re, and present to her face,
As colours are, and objects, in a roome
Where darknesse was before, when Tapers come.
This must, my Soule, thy long-short Progresse bee;
.
I
{11. 20?-219)
The image of the spinal cord and the spine 1s clear.
At the end of the meditation, Donne has almost reversed I
his position concerning the condition of the soul immediately
after death: at first,, 1 t seems a.s if the soul goes to ; I

heaven; but in 11. 214-218, Donne seem-s to be saying that

• -,.Ufll,... • ,·..,fl("""'"'-.,•r-~• . ., ' , .-'1,'f}41•19;,,-.•• , '(.... ' •·•A,·.,. • ,,,_..,,

f,,.
 • .,.. fl,. ~ ..,.. --- .. . .

~·
••¥P

- .. ..... .
..,.,r-,,...~ __.......,4...
.
N· ., ... , . . . , . . . . , .

.
... ..•.. '

. ......
,..,.1,.... .
\
.-..-·· .'.'QJ\."' - - - - - - -.. -..~········· .--· ......... -- .. 11JlillltM, --·=--~-~. . . . .... -· ,_

the soul is imm edia tely in heaven afte r the body dies :
the same is true of 11. 85-8 9, the begi nnin g of the seco nd
med itati on. Unli ke many Prot esta nts of his time , Donne
seems to beli eve that the soul expe rienc es the Bea tific
Visi on imm edia tely follo wing deat h inst ead of only afte r
the gene ral Resu rrec tion . The prog ress (1. 219) is long
in spac e but shor t in time . 27
To 1 adva nce thes e thou ghts ,
remember then , that she, 220
She, tthos e faire body :/no such pris on v1as,
But that a Soul e migh t well be plea s 8 d to pass e
An age in her; she whose rich beo.u ty lent
Mint age to othe r beau ties, for they want
But for so much as they were like to her; 225
Shee , in whos e body (if we dare pref erre ·
This low worl d, to so high a mark e as shee ,)
The Wes terne trea sure , East erne spic erie ,
Euro pe, B.nd Afri que, clnd the unknowne rest
Were easi ly foun d, or what in them was best ; 230
And when w1 hsve made this larg e disc over ie
Of all, in her son1e one part there 27 tJill bee
T-v1enty such part s, ivhose plen ty and rich es is
Enough to make twen ty such worl ds as this ;
(11. 220- 234)
'The thir d eulo gy cons ists of Don ne's advi ce to hie
soul to cons ider that Eliz abet h is in heav en and chid es
thos e who rema in on eart h, for this thou ght will aid medi -
tatio n. Eliz abet h's body was rich and beau tiful in cont rast
to the norm al body desc ribe d in the third med itati on. Othe r
beau ties were valu ed acco rding to how clos ely they resem bled
Eliz abet h. "Pre ferre " (1. 226) means "to prom ote, to
elev ate" : if we dare to elev ate the eart h to comp are it with
Eliz abet h, we woul d find all the trea sure s of the eart h in
her body (11. 226- 230} .

......... ----' •·: ...... ,... ..~ ....····-. ·::· ;· ·- ;• • ...,.'"":__ ;'. ~- .
11;·•,_; __ • ~ .••' - .. , .... ,..............
. . . ., _ ..... ,.
- ..,
·-··· - · - · ·'1'
-· ,-..•
:···
, -·-···.,...
· · · .. - -~ ·_,_. ..-.- ... ".·"!"-~·-·· ·""': ····,.-I"'-:";-.'" ·.• '· .•...• _._,... !:··.· • . . , .•

:t,,

. ~ .. . .. -· ···-
i.
 \
.., , -• .., ,;I .. ..
..
,. _. - ..... . • (i .•.•.
. ,_ •. '-r'. . • • --
. . ' , ....... ~Jlfl'Cl..._._..._ ... _ ...... _.'? ..\.Jt':!-.••· ····--·-.- . , ... - ,· ( - - · · · · · ........- ,.•••••.••• ......,,.......... .. . . , ........... ~.- .... - ,, ...... ........ . . .• ·. "" : __ __.,.__, ............. ,...,...._,. _ _ _ - - · -

,.......... "~~·'"'"""''' . ·iot••••• . ---- .-••.1,..,.,. ... ,; .... ..-. . -· ... _.......... '.......... ....,......... ...· '.,., ......,...... ..! .....
. . .........
_ ...................-.

Shee , whom had they knowne who did firs t betr oth 235
The Tute lar _Angels, end assi gn'd one, both
To Nati ons, Citi es, and to Com panie s,
To Func tion s, Offi ces, and Dign ities ,
And to each seve rall man, to him, a.nd him,
They would have give n her one for ever y li~b e; 240
She, of t1hos e soul e, if 1r1e·.ma.y say, 1t1ivas Gold-,..
Her body was th 0 Elec trum , arid did hold
Many degr ees of that ; wee unde rstoo d
Her by her sigh t; her pure , and eloq uent bloo d
-~ Spok e in her chee lres, a.nd so dist inct ly wrou ght, · 245
That one migh t almo st say, her body thou ght;
Shee , shee , thus i-·ich ly and la.rg ely hous 0 d, is gone :
And chid es us slow ~pac ud snai les who craw le upon
Our priso ns pris on, eart h, nor thin ke us well ,
Long er, then whil I st wee bear e our ·br1 ttle shel l. 250
( 11. 235- 250)
The rema inde r of the thir d eulo gy cont inue s in the
same mann er: thos e theo logi ans who assig ned the titu lar
ange ls to such impo rtan t orga niza tion s as nati ons and citi es
woul d have assig ned an ange l to each of Eliz abet h's limb s if
they had known her. Eliz abet h's soul is said to be gold ,
the perf ect meta l; ~ oody, less perf ect than her soul ,
'\../
was 11
Elec trum ," an allo y of gold and s11 ver. The allo y in
Eliz abet h I s case was rich in gold , for it held 11 Mc11y degr ees
of-t hat" (1. 243) . 29 , Eliz abet h's body was so perf ect, so
soul -like , that her bloo d "wro ught " (le 245) , or worked, so
dist inct ly in her chee ks that "one migh t almo st say, her
body thou ght. 11 The last four line s of the eulo gy are the
1
vest igia l rema ins of the refr ain and mora l: Eliz abet h
chid es the human snai ls who cont inue in thei r shel ls, or
bodi es and pris ons, on eart h, the pris on of thei r pris ons.
But •twe re but litt le to have chan g 1 d our roome,
If, as we were in this our livin g Tambe
Oppress 1 d with igno ranc e, wee stil l were so.
Poor e soul e, in this thy fles h what dost thou know?

.. 1

.,._
 , I
. ..........
........... , . . ~- .... "' ,, .... ·. ,l, . .... ,. . ,,
;,, '

··109 ......

Thou know 1 et thy selfe so little, .a.s thou know's t not, 255
How thou didst die, nor how thou wast begot.
Thou neithe r knowus t, how thou at first cam'st in,
Nor how thou· took 8 st the poyson of mans sinne.
Nor dost thou» (though thou know 1 st 9 that thou art so)
By what way thou art made immort all, knowo 260
Thou e.rt too na_rro~1, vJretch , to compreh end t,.

Even thy selfe: yea though thou woulds t but bend

To kno~J thy body Ha.ve not all soules though t
o

For many ages, that our body 1 1s wrough t

Of Ayre 0 and Fire, and other Elemen ts? 265
And now they thinke of new ingred ients,
And one Boule think.es one, and anothe r way
. "--~·,. Anothe r thinkes ~ and 8 tis an even layQ
Knowst thou but how the stone doth enter in
The bladde rs cave, and never breake the skinne? 270
Know 8 st thou hoiv blood, iiJhi(}h to the heart., doth flow,
Doth from one ventric le ~b th 9 other gee?
And for the putrid stuffe, which thou dost spit,
Know 8 st thou how thy lungs hav~ attra.ct ed 1 t?
There are no passage s, so that there is 275
(For ought thou 1rnoiiT 9 st) piercin g of substan ces.
And of those many opinion s which men raise
Of Nailes and Haires, dost tho.u knottr ii1hioh to praise?
What hope have wee to know our selves, when wee
Know not the least things, which for ou.r use be? 280
{llo 255-280 )
The fourth medita tion begins with a referen ce to the
third section : it would not be a worth- while accomp lishmen t
"to have chang 1 d our roome," to have died and gone to
"
\,
· heaven, if we were as ignoran t in heaven as we are on-'ear th.
This section is a discou rse on the shallow ness and insign ifi-
cance of earthly knowled ge. To l)egin with, Donne tells his
soul that it knows almost nothing about itself: concep tion,
birth, the taint of origina l sin, death, and the immor tality
of the soul are myster ies to the soul, even though it would
have but to turn (1. 262) to know its body. Donne proceed s
to list a series of example s of man's uncerta in knowle dge.
The first involve s the theory of the four elemen ts: for
many centur ies, man had though t that the human body (and

,!.
·--·---·-· -·

( .

1
\1~'
 11 0
_ ..... ~,,' ~.
." ~:. (' • ...... ,,, : ...·'!'· j.
•: __':_:···~~· ___ .- ·'--· ... _,·. -- . ·, ···-·· ·-~.-...... .,:..• ;::.:.:..:~···"'
··'<.'.·.·:. • ... • ·- - - #, • • '~ ......, •• - . ........ ,,
.. ..... ............,.,,.,_........ .
~ ,,

ly m at te r) wa s co mp os ed of ea rth , ai r, fi re ,
al l ot he r ea rth
pa ra te ly or in an y co m bi na tio n. Ho we ve r,
an d wa te r, ei th er se
d hi s di sc ip le s be lie ve d th at th e ba si c ele m en ts
Pa ra ce lsu s an
huma n bo dy we re me rc ur y, su lp hu r, an d sa lt; an d th e
in th e
m at te r was much di sc us se d in th e si xt ee nt h and se ve nt ee nt h
30 ga lls to ne s, ve nt ric le s, an d
··c en tu rie s. Th e re fe re nc es to

us ar e se lf- ex pl an at or y; ho "'r ev er, 1 t is in te re st in g to

!nuoo
at muco us an d sto ne s we re ex pl ai ne d by se ve nt ee nt h-
no te th
ys ic ia ns , al th ou gh pe rh ap s no t to Do nn e's sa tis -
ce nt ur y ph
31
"P ie rc in g of su bs ta nc es " (1 . 27 6) re fe rs to th e
fa ct io n. .,,

in te rp en et ra tio n of m at te r. The di sc us sio n of na ils and

lv ed ; ph ys ic ia ns we re try in g to de te rm in e
ha ir was ra th er in vo
e bo dy . 32
th ei r re la tio ns hi p to th e re st of th
Wee se e 1n Au th or s, to o st if fe to re ca nt ,
A hu nd re d co nt ro ve rs ie s of an An t; s, and sw ea ts,
And ye t one wa tch es , st ar ve s, fr ee se
To knoTrJ bu t Ca teo his me s an d Al ph ab et s 5
Of un co nc er ni ng th in gs , m at te rs of fa ctd; Ac28
How ot he rs on ou r sta ge th ei r pa rt s di sa id .t;
What Ca es ar di d, yea, an d wh at Ci ce ro is re d,
Why gr as se is greene~ or why ou r bl oodd un to .
Are m ys te rie s wh ich none ha ve re ac hv ilt th ou do e? 290
In th is low forme a po or e so ul e, wh at w
When lJ ilt tho m sh ak e of f th e Pe a.a nt er y,
Of be in g ta ug ht by se ns e, an d Fa nt as iel ? th in gs seeme gr ea t
Thou lo ok 8 st th ro ug h sp ec ta cl es ; sm al
Below; But up un to th e wa tch ~t ow re ge t,_
se e al l th in gs de sp oy l 8 d of fa lla ci es : 29 6
And es ,
Thou sh al t no t pe ep e th ro ug h la tti ce ss, ofnoey r le ar ne
l'~or he ar e th ro ug h La by rin th s of ea re
By ci rc ui t, or co lle ct io ns to di sc er neco o
,-
~
In he av en th ou st ra ig ht kn ow ist al l, htncfo er ni ng it ,
,.,.
.r;

d wh at co no er ns it no t, sh al t st ra ig rg et . 300
}..,;

An (1 1. 28 1- 30 0)

sc us si on of fa lla ci es of se ns e co nt in ue s in th e
The di
e fo ur th m ed ita tio n. M os t of th is pa ss ag e is
re m ai nd er of th
n. "T hi s low fo rm "
cl ea r; on ly a few po 1m ts re qu ire ex pl an at io
to th e so ul 's in fe ri or po si tio n on ea rth , bu t
(1 . 290) re fe rs
. ti. ... ...... , ,. . .,. ··~....... "' ..,,__
 1 "' ' • • ~...- "'I', ;,m lr'tc •
·' .... '· '

- ·111
f ,c. .. , • •• 'II

.
- ..... -· -·------ -····· ............. ..
I
..;f1fJIW:~: ._.,,_..,.._,-0 . ·~\"\(IJ"IT'l"i..,.,,.-· .. _ . . . . , . ~ ,~,..f • ,'-,,f ''
,.. • • l"" .. ,. - · - - · - - - - -...

it 1s also a pun on the class es of the Engl1 sh scho l

system . 33 °Fant as1e 11 (1. 292) is, accor ding to ~oho last1c
psych ology , 0 the part of the mind that recei ves the impre ssion s
from- the vario us sense s and synth esize s them, prese nting ~-

• 34
to . the . intel lect an image of the thing perce ived.
11 Colle ct1on s 11 (1. 298) are infer ences .

The fourt h medi tation 1s as good an illus tratio n as any

of Donn e's w1de learn ing. He seems to have been fasci nated

by ideas ; but he was able to under stand how littl e he knew,

even thoug h his store of knowl edge would have led a lesse r
man to intel lectu al pride .
There thou (but in no other schoo le) maiet bee
Perch ance, as learn ed, and as full, as shee,
Shee who all libra ries had throu ghly read
At home in her 0'1-1ne thoug hts, and pract ised
So much good as 't\Tould make as many more: 305
Shee 1r1hose examp le they must all implo re,
Who "vtrould or doe, or think e vvell, and confe sse
That all the vertu ous Actio ns they expre sse,
Are but a new, and worse editio n ·
Of her some one th~ug ht, or one actio n: 310
She who in th 1 art of knolii ng Heave n, was grown e
Here upon earth , to such per?e ction ,
That she hath, ever since to Heave n she came,
( Inafa r faire r print ,) but read the same:
Shee, shee not satis fied w1 th all this waigh t, 315
(For so much knO't'IYledge, as iioald over- fraig ht
Anoth er, did but balla s ~c her) is gone ,
As well t 8 enjoy , as get perfe ction o
And cals us after her, in that shee tooke ,
(Taki ng her selfe ) our best, and worth iest booke. 38)
I
./ . ~~ ( 11. 301-3 20)

The fourt h eulog y is forme d after the tradi tiona l

metap hor of the book of the mind. Eliza beth was the only

morta l capab le of knowi ng 19 un1v ersals in their essen tial

~·
' forms 11 ; the rest of manki nd 11 perce ived them best in her•

----
"-....

...:~, . . . ·~
 • <I

.. ''.... '"""1!""' .,,,..,. ..

.~, 112
......... :':,:''
- ~... 0; 'r

""'-·
• - '

·····-··.......,·
•' ..:.-~ . t•,•• "''\ .-~ ,
.
..,.......,,
. ...,.. . .·•~
l\·'""''_,...,u,t._ .... ',.,. 1f,D•,l,,·_ ,,.....,.
.,,.. .
.J.'A'la~..-...•lllt• ...,a .. •,Jiwto
..........:,)• . ....
•-• "'"'•'' ., ........... ' ' ' .
_____ ...,.,.... ,,.,.,,, ..............
• •
1
.,.... .- ,,•. ,.·,,,•
1
..
' , . .,,
..•.
........ ~i,..
... ···"·-·

because they were "capable ot understanding them only as

35
they exist in particulars." Donne tells his soul that
only in heaven (1. 301) is it possible to become as learned
as Elizabeth.. She knew 1ntu1 t1vely ( 11. 303-304); she read
all libraries 11 1n her owne thoughts. 11 Anyone who does good
must admit that all of his virtuous actions are short of I

l'i
1·1

equal to one of Elizabeth's good works. Her knowledge of

I

:i~
heaven ,-1as so complete that she has not added to 1 t in'
1

- I
!
•'•

heaven: it is still the same, but it is."In a far fairer i

, 1

. :

pr1nt 11 (1. 314), clearer and perhaps more precise. She was
· not satisfied with her va.st "waight 11 of di vine knowledge, 0

even though 1 t ,1as enough to 11 over-fra1ght," or sink by

overloading, anyone else, and went to heaven to enjoy and I I

I
. ,

polish her perfection. The fourth eulogy, like the third,

ends with the statement that Elizabeth calls mankind to follow '

I
I

her to heaven. Cu
I

J
Returne not, my Soule, from this extas1e,-
And meditation of what thou shalt bee,
~
To earthly thoughts, till it to thee appeare, .
D
J
I

With whom they conversation must be there. l

[j
With whom 1r1il t thou converse? what station 325
• I
' ·1

Canst thou choose out, free from infection,

That will not give thee theirs» nor drinke in thine?
Shalt thou not finde a spungie slacke Di vine
Drinke and sucke in th 0 instructions of/Great men,
And for the wor~ of Godi vent them agen? 330
Are there not some Courts (and then, no things bee
Bo .,- ik v 0 0 Q
c...,,_ r..,
Co,,~+Vu0 ) ,:~vh1." VRb j
~ 1111 A .!.
ll 't'"\
do.A.I. +'h.!l 4R
V LA.&. tg> 1,....'v +V i,s see \A ,
. :-.
That wits and tongues of Libellers are weak.a, ; •.'. \.

Because they do more ill, than these can speak.a?

The poyson 9 s gone through all~ poysons affect 335
Chiefly the chiefest parts~ but some effect
In na11 3~, and haires, yea excrements, will show;
So will the poyson of sinne in the most low.
(11. 321-338)
..

... . ·..·.... :··:

,., .
 ;

........... .'.... .......... --...,~........ . -=..·.-_··.:·.,.;;. . .a-·,,.-~ ........, . . . . - - - - - ~ .. -'. :::_-r··---:---:·:·'.:-7::-:--~--- ····--.. :-:.,;;.
_. •.. ~
..
~13 ._,. · .· .
c;
~~?:.:--:..: • ,.. • .•-• U, -
. ....,--·-·
I,.,.,.,)... ,~.:.,.... ,,;~
.
'.:·'!"' . . ... • .::• ,"' ·,

.
,,- •:.• .....

.,
,I

__ ;,.
"'

·---~ ~_,........
-•• , _ . ~ - ~ • ... , • . ·' . '(,I • ' ' ' • .•,,,.....)' • . , , " .•• u .......:...
'

i
In the fifth medi tation , Donne speak s to hie soul o.f
the company in heave n, begin ning by settin g forth what
\.
one might expec t if heave n were like earth . He asks if
his ·soul expec ts to find a 0 spung 1e, slack Di vine"
(l. 328), a mini ster who is weak and porou s like a spong e,
ready to soak up what he comes in conta ct w 1th, and 11 slaok 1

in that he is inatt entiv e to his dutie s and empty of virtu e.

This parti cular kind of divin e 1s ready to take in the

selfi sh instr uctio ns of ruler s and then pass them out to

his congr egatio n as the word of God. Donne goes on to
sugge st that there must be court s in heave n -- nothi ng i_s_
a bette r example for this purpo se, more "like ," than
court s -- ·which will demo nstrat e that 0
wits and tongu es of
Libe llers are weake 11 (1. 333) becau se 1 t is impo ssible to
say enough evil of them. The effec ts of poiso n are most
appar ent 1n the impo rtant parts of the body, but trace s of
1 t may be found in nonvi tal parts , such as the hair or nails ,
and in excre ment. Likew ise, the poiso n of sin is most
appar ent in the highe st level s of socie ty -- the clerg y and
the nobil ity, for examp le -- but the effec t of sin is also
obser vable in the lowes t socia l level s, just as poiso n
shows in hair, nails , and excre ment.
Up, up, my drows ie Soule , where thy new care
Shall in the Angel s songs no disco rd heare ; 340
Where thou shalt see the bless ed Moth er-ma id
Joy in not being that~ which men have said.
Where she is exalt ed more for being good,
Than for her inter est of Ivioth er-hoo do
Up to those Patri archs , which did longe r sit 345
Expec ting Chris t, than they 1 have enjoy 1 d him yet.

- - ·-... •• --- '4 ···- ....... ,_ • • .., ...

. . . ~ .......... 111• ·.• ;,•.- ,.,· .

 1"#,"" , - .

...... . ..... •,- .

.... ··'"·'· . _____ ,;~- .. ...... -_... . .........
. W\''
- - ----- .
' . ..
•. , •.,••,!"~ ' ' , ~ . • _ _ .,. • •~ua-1

. ..... ····-·
... ..
.
·. ' , ~ , ~ I ~ • • •

··-···
~ ..
·:
-~·- .,........
...
. .. ··..-:~~, ,, ' ··-···--
'

.....
(illQJII,-·

_......
' ~., ;. :. ____: _ ___ . . . :., .~·-~- . ----··-· ·-·,..-.;t}
·-.~'.:a::...... ,... . .: ..... ,, • .. , ·";
· · -·-· ,1. '4
' .. .••
·"··'1,---,· ___ .,._.... _____ , , . . . .-
....... ,·\,~,.,··~ ··- ~:~~,--..... ' . . . . . ?.!
• -···-·~· f
.L

Up to tho se Pr op he ts, wh ich now gla dly see

Th eir Pr op he sie s growne to be H1 sto r1e .
Up to thB Ap ost les , who did bra ve ly run ne
Al l the Suns co urs e; wi th more lig ht tha n the Sunne. 35 0
Up to tho se Ma rty rs, who did cal ml y ble ed
Oy le to th 8 Ap os tle s Lamps, dew to th eir see d.
Up to tho se Vi rgi ns , vJho tho ug ht, th at alim ost
They made joy nte na nts wi th the Ho ly Gh ost , _
If the y to any sho uld hi s Temple giv e. 335
(11 . 33 9-3 55 )
In the rem ain ing lin es of the ·:r1 fth me dit ati on , Donne I

lis ts fo r his so ul the ac tua l pe rso na ge s on e would en co

un ter
in he av en . The ord er in wh ich Donne pr es en ts the res ide
nts
of he av en co rre spo nd s rou gh ly to "th e ma jor he ad ing s 1n
the
fir st pa rt of the Li tan y of the Sa int s"; he lis ts the
.
he av en ly thr on g in ord er of dim ini sh ing im po rta nc e. 3?
The
so ul may ex pe ct to see Mary in he av en , rej oic ing in be ing
good wi tho ut be ing fre e from or igi na l sin . 38 The pa ssa
ge
,
.,,.,,-.-~·',
is cle ar in al l bu t two pla ce s: 1. 350 co nta ins th~ t old
fav or1 te, the 11 so11-sun" pu n, wh ioh may be sli gh tly co nfu sin g;
and "jo yn ten an ts 11 ( 1. 35 4) me ans "jo int ten an ts" ; the ide a
is tha t the vir gin s tho ug ht the y would be com pro mi sin g
a
sac red agr eem ent if the y yie lde d th eir bo die s, the tem ple
s of
the Holy Gh ost .
Up, up, fo r in th at squ ad ron the re do th liv e
She, who ha th ca rri ed th ith er new de gre es
'"(As to th eir num ber ) to th eir di gn iti es o
Shee 9 who be ing to he r se lfe a Sta tep inj oy 1 d
Al l roy al tie s 1iv"hich any St ate em plo y 8 d; 360
Fo rsh ee made wa rre s, and tri um ph 8 d; rea so n st ill
Did no t ou rth row p bu t re ct ifi e he r wi ~l:
.And she made pe ac e, for no pe ace is lik e th is,
....... :.. Th at ·beau.!cy, and ch as tit y tog eth er kis se :
She did hig h ju sti ce , fo r she cru cif ied 36 5
Every fir st mo tio n of reb ell iou s pr ide :
And she ga ve pa rdo ns , and was lib er al l,
For, on ely he r se lfe ex ce pt, she pa rdo n'd al l:
(11 . 35 6-3 63 )

. .;.-..,,.,.,.,,
 . i'

- - - - ••n , - ~ .. L ....
-- .... . - .. ... ' . -- ·- - .,. -.. 11.$ ..
.,.,.. •l+.,:.I. , ,
·---·· .... I ... .. ·-
~ ...... .
...··- ...···-·-··-.... ·- ··--· ......... -· -·----- ··- -·· --···-~.. ·.-.... ....... """"-...
,.:, : ~ ·-- . ...
.'""".~, .,.... .. ·········-··"'•"
.. ____.,.,, ........_. ··"··. ···.: -... ,, ..................... ,. ··•······ -~ '.•,. ........... , ••.• -,..,.-. ~ • ·-· ·.-. .,.....

........ . . . . _ . . . . . . .. . . . . , . _ . . .,. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ J _ • . •

~
- - - - - - - ~ · - · ....

-·•·~,

I.

Eliza beth has broug ht a number of new "degr ees•

(l. 357), or incre ments of rank, to the 11 d1gn1 t1es," or

offic ial posit ions, of the 1nhab 1 tants of heave n. · She,

a state in herse lf, enjoy ed all the right s ( "roya l t1ee n)
of a head of state : Donne lists these right s in 11. 361-
3?4. She has made war; her will was not overth rown by
reaso n. She made peace , for in her, chas tity and beaut y ._-,.;.

lived harmo nious ly. She gave pardo ns, admin istere d high

justi ce, and was gener ous •

.
.·

Bhee coy 1 nd, in this, that her impre ssion s gave

To all our e.c t ions all the ~1orth they have: 370
She gave prote ction s; the thoug hts of her brest
Satan s rude Offic ers cbuld ne 9 r arres t.
~s these prero gatiy es being met in one,
Made her a sover aigne State ; relig ion
11ade her et Churc h; and these ttivo made her all. 375
She ,,.,ho ·was all this All, and could not fall
To worse , by company, (for she was still
More Antid ote, than all the world was ill,)
Shee, shee doth leave it 9 and by Deathp survi ve
All this, in Heaven; whith er who doth not striv e 380
The more, becau se shees there , he doth not know
That accid ental l joyes in Heaven doe grow. (11. 369-3 82}
She coine d curre ncy 1n tha.t her "impr essio ns 11 (1. 369)

gave worth to our actio ns; she gave prote ction to "the
thoug hts of her brest . 11 The comb inatio n of 11 prero gat1v es•
made her a "sove ra1gn e State "; the addit ion of relig ion,
which 11 1~Iade her a Churc h," "made her all." She -could not
·,

.'•·-
be corru pted by her compa nions, 'for she 1.-1as an antid ote
more than poten t enough to coun terac t all the evil in the
world . She left her uniqu e posit ion of power on earth ,
yet her power survi ves 1n heare n; death helpe d rathe r than
hinde red her. ae who does not striv e the more for heave n

' .

,~.
.•·
::·...···

IJ,:
.-.~ ":'' ... ·:. !' ·.~

~
"'f.1 . . . -.
r_.___. • . ..u.,...--...... • ..... . ,:........ -- I ,-, ,,. , 1 • .,..,._,_.,.,., ...,._... •
...
" -.. . - ........ -. ,·-~··· .'. . .. .
,
I
''
 r -..,._~. r• :r:'.:r ,.:, .... ""····-- - v•. ..---··~ - '

•,::.=-

. -c......... .............. .._ . '·-i.

···~'.~fl·
...._____ .,.... ...J . . . . . . . ....... .

............ , ............ .,,., ...... .

. ..... -··,. •.·· ......
\· -·· ........
··-
.. --···
'
......... .
- ...... .. _,.,.,""...,..,."".
.. ..
.. ~.·........
.. .......
,.--. . ·-·
...... .. . ......, ··-.-;; . . .. . . # -
116
-...~..---~~ ..._........... --.,,.,.- ......·--::.· ... ---·- ... -. ., ..•. __ ... _
...

because she is there does not know that accidental ...

joys are produced in heaven: the.se joys Etre 11:onessential
' ~,,

1n that they a~e not the essential joy of "the everlasting

possession of the Beatific Vision," 39 but they are joys all
the same, and one would naturally seek them.
But pause, my soule; And study, ere thou fall
On acc1dentall joyes, th 1 essent1all.
Still before Accessories doe abide. 385
A triall, must the principall be tride.
And what essentiall joy can 9 st thou eAl)ect
Here upon earth? what permanent effect
Of transitory causes? Dost thou love
Beauty? (And beauty worthynst is to move) 390
Poore cousened counsenor, that she, and that thou,
Which did begin to love, are neither now;
You are both fluid, chang 1 d since yest·erday;
Next day repaires, (but 111) last dayes decay.
I~or e~:re, (although the river keepe the name) 395
Yesterdaies iva~ters, and to da.ies the sameo
So flowes her face, and thine eyes~ neither now
That Saint, nor Pilgrime~ which your loving vow
Concern 1 d, remaines; but whil 1 st you thinke you bee
Constant, you I are hourely in inconstancie·. 400
. (11; 383-400)

The sixth section is a discussion of the transitory

accident al joys man has on earth and the permanent essent1·a1

joys he will have in heaven. Donne~begins the section by

asking his soul to study the situation, to learn about
the differences between the two joys and choose between
them. After all, before the "accessories" may be tried 1n
a court of law, the ~Jyrincipall II must be tried: you must
learn about ahd judge essential joy before you give attention i

to accidental joy. Donne proceeds to dismiss the earthly

joys as impermanent; he begins by describing the transitory
nature of human love, an excellent example because it is
usually marked by vows of eternal fidelity and because it
 invol ves beaut y, which is 11 worth y 1 st to move" (1. 390),
to stir up the affec tions . Donne notes that lover s canno t
be const ant; he impli es that their very natur es make
const ancy impo ssible . A lover may vot,1 that he will alway s
be a "pilg rime 11 (1. 398) who worsh ips a 11 Sa1nt , 0
his
mistr ess, but he is vowing the impo ssible .
Honou r may have pret.e nce unto our love,
Becau se that God did live so long above
Witho ut this Honourp and then lov 8 d it so,
That he a.t lEtst· maa_e Crea_ tures to besto w
Honour on him; not that he neede d itp 405
But that, to his hands , man might grow more fit.
But since all Honours from infer iours flow,
(For they a4oe give it; Princ es doe but shell
Whom they would have so honor 8d) and that this
On such opini ons, and capa cities 410
Is built , as rise and fall, to more and lease :
Alas, 1 tis but a casua ll happi nesse . (11. 401-4 12)
Honor , like human love, _seems to be worth y of o~
effor ts; but Donne argue s that it is "but a casua ll
happi nesse " (1. 412), a none ssent ial or incid ental happi -
ness. It is true that God made man to honor Him, inten d-
ing that ma~ ld 11 becom e more worth y of his creat or throu gh
spiri tual progr ess, 1140 but God did not need honor (1. 405).

Honor is trans itory : princ es show whom they would have

honor ed and infer iors give honor as the princ es direc t,
but the wishe s of princ es are supje ct to chang e; there fore,
. honor canno t be depen ded upon to last.
Hath ever Slly man to 1 himse lfe ass1g n 1 d
This or that happi nesse to 1 arres t his minde ,
But that anoth er man which takes a worse , 415
Think s him a fools for havin g tane that cours e?
They i,,1ho a_id labou r Babel s to1'7er to 8 erect ,
Migh t l1ave consi dered ll that for that effec t,
All this whole solid Earth could not allow
Nor furni sh forth mate rialls enow; 420
And the.t this· Cente r, to ra.ise such a place ,
Was farre too littl e, to have beene the Base;
No more affor ds this. world , found ation
To erect true joy, were all the mecnes in one.
(11. 413-4 24)
 - '- "I• ._. - - " ' -~•..._ ....... ~_..__.._.-.-..,,....._,,...,L .•.

. .I

,_,. ·-· ••. ,111..,.._ ..... ·.· ........... ···-

~ ....... ,~· .,. .
....... ·- .. "·-- ••.
·-""~·~ .. ·- • .. ..
... · ··.· .
..
,.., ·,)....,
. ~· ..
. .
. .. " ...... _., ................ . -. . -,.;,...........
. :.:·,'; ', . ·'. ."'--' _·- ___ . . . , ·""· .............._.............--.. -..-.~.......,.._-.. - •·#--··--··-
. . ..
. . - ............................ - ......... ,..
.~.,.·---··· .......... ·-....-r.1 ..,,,. .
. .. .. . 118

No particu lar kind of accide ntal happin ess 1s univer sal:

as soon as one man allows himsel f a partic ular happin ess to
salve his ca¥res, a.nothe r man will call him a fool for· .doing
.r so even though he himsel f has taken an inferio r course of
action. Donne' s ideas about the Tower of Babel may be
\ ... ,

origin al with him; howeve r, la.ter in the sevente enth century

simila r conclu sions. were publish ed, a.nd their author and . 1

· 41
Donne may have worked from a common source .
But as the Heathen made them severa ll gods, 425
Of all Gods Benefi ts, and all his Rods,
( For as the Wine, ctnd Corne, a.nd Onions are
· Gode unto them, so Agues bee, a.nd vlarre)
And as by changin g that whole preciou s Gold
To such small Copper coynes , they lost the old, 430
And lost their ohly God, who ever must
Be sought alone, and not in such a thrust:
So much mankind .a true happin esse mistak es;
No Joy enjoye s that man, that many makeso
Then, Soule, to thy first pitch worke up againe; 435
Know that all lines which circles doe contain e,
For once that they the Center touch, doe touch
Twice the circum ference ; end be thou such;
Double on heaven thy though ts on earth emploid ;
All will not serve; Only who have enjoy 8 d 440
The sight of Godj in fulness e, can thinke it;
For it is both the object, and the wit.
Thia is essent iall joy, where neithe r hee
/.~.c--· -~

· --...'°.,"," Can~ suffer diminu tion, nor vJee;

' . 11

"~ 1 Tis such a full, and such a filling good; 445

Had th Angels once look 1 d on him, they had stood.
1

: (11. 425-446 )
In this passag e Donne compar es the differe nce between
accide ntal and essent ial joy with the differe nce between
I .

polythe ism and monoth eism. The pagans have assigne d a

dei ty to each of "Gods Benef1 ts • • • and • • • Rods"

(1. 426), thus losing God, who must 8 Be sought alone,

and not in such a thrust" (1. 432), such a rush of number s.
Donne, assumin g that souls come to earthif rom heaven , tells

'-'·
-- .... --~ .. .... ,_ ... ___..._........
~: , ··~·-····· ··-~······ ................ ,,,,.. ... ... . ·~ ............,•:·--... , -·-- .. "";!" •••• : ....."'

,. .. ' ~ ...... . -,..,_.

 119
·-·~·-··~·- .. ..... ..
... ..·- . ----
" '" ---·-·••J'· ...·,:, . ~ ... ........
., '

his soul to work back to the "first pitch, 0 or highest

point. The line called the diameter of a circle touches
the center of the circle once and the perimeter twice:
Donne uses the circle's perimeter as a symbol of God, the
diameter as a symbol of his soul's thoughts, and the center
as· a symbol of the earth. He tells his soul to think twice
of heaven for every time he thinks of earthly things; like
the circle's diameter, the thoughts are to touch once in the
center, or the earth, and twice in the perimeter, or heaven.
Lines 440-442 may be paraphrased in the following manner:
l "all our thoughts, even doubled, would not be enough since the
\
actual perception of God is dependent on God to reveal it
( 'both the object, and the wit'). 1142 In modern usage, "hee"
(1. 443) would be capitalized, ,,for it refers to God. The
last line of the passage refers to the Augustinian tradition
.t.hat the newly-crea.ted angels, examining themselves in
amazement, fell into two groups: those who looked up to God
to find their source followed Him always, but those who
continued to look into themselves beceme Narcissists and
eventually fell from heaven; the latter group never saw
God's fe.ce. 43
To fill the place of one of them-, or more,
Shee whom ,vee celebrcite, is gone before.
She, who had Here so much essentiall joy,
As no chance could distract, much lesse destroy; 450
Who with Gods presence was acquainted so,
.~:a...~-··· .....
(Hearing,and speaking to him) as to know
{
His face in any naturall Stone, or Tree,
t;·
Better than when in Images they bee:
t
~;{
.~:·.
Who kept by diligent devotion, 455
·~,
~:J/
,:;?·
God Ime.ge» in sucl1 repa.ra:t;ionv
i{
·/l"
'"
~;':.
Within her heart 2 that what decay was growne,
,,
a,:
~t.
Was her first Parents fault, and not her owne:
f"{
~Tho ·being solicited to a.ny act,
;s.t_+".J.l . .h~.~Q....~Pd . Pl~gdtpg~,-4fifl.l~ -~:t. ~,, .P.t;.~~q--~_~_ra_~t,; .. :.~?.'?.-~... ,.....
.___ _,.__
~f.·
{,
:~---.. . •· . .;:;_ ··~·· ..-. ' ..• ~,·~ ........... y.,
~;

"'
 -'~~/ ...
·· ·~'!~·~:\~~ ~~~!~•·:t"r -'9·--·'... ~:.-,r,.·~-~,,..,,..,,,", ,~;·, --~--··· _·- _

'

. ' ..... . .
J •• •• ~ •••..

.....-. . ........ ..... .....,. ..... , .......

'

Who by a fa1 thf ull con fid enc e, was her e

Bet rot h 1 d to God, and now is ma rrie d t~4 re;
Whose t"t1 ilig hts i"Jere more cle a.re , tha n our mid -da y;
Who dre amt dev out lier p tha n most use to pra y;
Who ·bei ng her e fil 8 d·t111ith gra .ce 0 yet stro ve to bee , 465
Bot h where more gra ce, and more cap aci tie
At once ie giv en: she to Heaven is gon e,
Who made thi s wo rld in some pro por tion
A hea ven , a.nd her e 1 became unt o us all ,
Joy , (as our joy es adm it) ess ent iall o 470
Much of thi s pas sag e., the six th eul ogy , is cle ar . ~ The i
I
0119· 11 in the fir st lin e is one Of the fal len a.Jigels) men
I
tion ed I
r I

at the end of the six th me dit atio n. Eli zab eth , acc ord ing to
11. 451 -45 4, cou ld see God in nat ure bet ter tha n she cou ld
in ima ges des ign ed to rep res ent God. She kep t God 's image
1n her hea rt in suc h goo d rep air tha t any dec ay in her was
d11e to ori gin al sin (11 . 455 -45 8). 45 1 Coi nc1 den ce 11
(1. 461)
means "co rres pon den ce in nat ure ." The rem ain der of the pas sag e
nee ds no exp lan atio n.
But cou ld thi s low wo rld joy es ess ent ial l tou ch,
Heavens acc ide nta ll joy es would pas se them much.
HO'tv' poo r and lam e, mus t the n our cas ual l bee ?
If thy Pri nce wil l his sub jec ts to cal l the e
My Lordj and thi s doe swe ll the ej tho u art the n, 475
By bei ng gre ate r~ growne to bee les se Man.
When no Phy siti an of red res se can. spe ake ,
A joy ful l cas ual l vio len ce may bre ake
A dan ger ous Apostem in thy bre ast ;
And wh ilua t tho u joy est in this ~ the dan ger ous res t, 480
The bag may ris e up, and so stra ngl e the e. (11 . 471 -48 1)
The dis cus sio n of acc ide nta l and ess ent ial joy s is
resu med in the sev ent h me dit atio n. The ide a exp res sed in
11. 474 -4? 6 js rep eat ed ~rom 11. 407 -41 2; hoi,rever,·, it is
tre ate d in a dif fer ent manner her e: one who res pon ds to a
.__,; pri nce -gi ven tit le by swe llin g wit h pri de becomes les s man ly
tha n he was in l1is unt itle d sta te. 11 Red ress 11 (l. 478 ) means

... H<•• '~" . .··- .....-.... -- ... ,.-.,t

·-
- . . .... -- - .......... --- - . -·
, ..• , ................ . _..., .. ~ .. , ...... ,.,I

..... .. ·,•
,

"'
 -• ~,;.t-..-,,---r,~-;•R'!,,.1 - ,,,. ,.__. ,,.,,,_.. ., --~·- •

•
- - - _ _ _,_ ,
'

';~"' --.·1'~~..
' ~ - - -' ......
·• •
- .. .,. .. .

1•.•.•,•.#J~"--..,-....
'• -

~
.

• I•
-' .- ., .
" ··- .. ~ ~ .. __ -- -~

: • . ~ , , . . . . . . . . ..
~~~ 121 . ...... ,........ . .~·· ...:....... l
·-• ·•••• • - "'C-..... _• . :. . ,.-~,-···-•·••_,.,,.,..,, -
_,._,.,,.,.__. ----·-••.....,.,.,., ..... :..::·~~. .-.;,;.:........--
I•, ..11 .fil •· _.., • .•• •• .....-...
,•"r,C..•
•, • :,,r,
•••···-•••,"'''t"lll.
..
-- . . .• ~- -· .... ,.,_.'9'.... _...,:!'f..,. .._..... . . ,._..
..... ,...-;J .....
._... -... . .... ~ ''.#.' ~ . . . . . . . ,. •• 1, .... ·-· .... · · - - ~ • !~ .. ,~f~~-;.~ ,.'~...... t, ...~.,, • ·~·.:~.,.. ......... ~ , .o. . _ . '•.o:.tti1))

,·

"remedy." An "Apostem" is an abscess: Donne says that an

abscess 1n the chest may drain of its own accord even when
the physician has given up hope, but the fortunate draining may
be followed by the unfortunate rising of the tissue surround-
ing the abscess into the air pa~sage in the chest, which
will result in strangulation.
What e 1 r was casuall, may ever bee.
What should the nature change? Or make the same I

; ii

Certaine, which was but casuall, when it came? II

. "
•
1·
I

•I

All casuall joy doth loud and plainly say, 485 ; IJ

Only by comming 3 that it can awayo ; .l

!

Only in Heaven joyes strength is never spent; . . .I

·'
And accidentall things are permanento ! I

Joy of a soules arrivall ne 9 r decaies; \ I

: I
For that soule ever joyes and ever staies. 490 ; I
Joy that their last great Consummation : I
.. ,
Approaches in the resurrection; • I
• ,1

When earthly bodies more celestiall

Shall be» than .Angels were 3 for they could fall; I

This kinde of joy doth every day admit 495 : '1

j i

Degrees of growth, but none of losing ite

' I
I

We need not expect that earthly incidental joys will

change and become essential; nature will not change. In
this passage, the remainder of the seventh meditation, Donne
/
emphasizes the contrasts between the kinds of joy. '

I
: I

'
In this fresh joy, 1 t1s no small part, that shee,
Shee, in whose gooanesse, he that names degree,
Doth injure her; ( 9Tis losse to be cal 2 d best, ( I
There where the stuffe is not such as the rest) 500 '
Shee, w~left such a bodie~ as even shee
·,

Only in heaven could learn®» how it can bee

Made better; for shee rather was two soules, l
Or like to full on both sides written Rola; )
Where eyes might reade upon the outward skin, 505
As strong Records for God, as mindes within;
Shae, who by making full perfection growi
Peeces a Circle, and still keepes it so,
Long 1 d for, and longing for it, to heaven is gone,
Where shee receives, and gives addition. 510
(11. 497-510)
(

•. . ... . ...
: .-

-~,-

• --G'
 - .. - - ·- • ' • __ ,. - - .A •

. . -. _..... ·---- ...,...,... ,I' •

........ ___ .....~ - .
. ---------..··-4)"... --,·~
,t9" t •
.........
,-..II'••
..
,,.... - •••
...~ .·····.·,··~~~~;_.,
•• , .... , , ' • •
·-.\.:· .. -.....
•
.•
,,,....,,,. ....... 1\:4.,.., • ---•...O . . . .
•.... P'/lf........
~
•·
••• -~· •
.. ····~ .. :·--, .... ~.,
,"I . . . . . . . . . ,,,,,' '·'-•
·l.22
..... h •....,.,, ..-.. ••. ,, • .,,-•1.o•·,1,ii!r_.1. -•< ,-·J ~~~\.u., " ... ~

The seyenth 1eulog y praises Elizab eth for adding to

the ever-in creasin g joy the soul experie nces in heaven . It
is meanin gless to praise her. by compar ison with earthly
beings, for she is not in the same class as the beings we
know on earth; she is not better than the average hwnan;

i
there is no way in which the two can be compared. When she
. I
i

was on earth, she was like two souls in that her body was
soul-li ke in its beauty and perfec tion -- the record of her
good works was as plainly seen in her body as in her mind
(11. 503-50 6). In heaven she makes 11 full perfec tion grow";
she "Peace s," or pieces out, adds to, the circle of perfec tion,
., yet parado xically 1 t remains a circle . ~- .

Here in a place, where mis-de votion frames

A thousan d Prayers to Saints , whose very names
i, The ancien t Church knew not, Heaven knows not yet:
And where, what lawes of Poetry admit,
Lawes of Religio n have at least the same, 515
Immort all Maides I might invoke thy name.
Could any Saint provoke that appeti te,
Thou here should 8 st make me . a French conver t! te.
But thou would 8 st not; nor would 8 st thou be ·conten t,
To--· talce this» for my second ye ares true Rent, 520
Did this Coine beare any other stampe» than his,
That gave thee power to doe, me 0 to say this.
Since his will is» that to poster itie 1
Thou shot.Jud 8 st for life 3 • and death, a pattern e bee,
And that the world should notice have of this, 525
The purpos e, and th 8 author itie is his;
Thou art the Proclam ation; and I am
The Trumpet, at whose voyce the people crune. (11. 511-528) (

The conclu sion, like that of "The First Annive rsary,"

justifi es the writing of the poem. Donne says that Elizab eth
·could be a saint in a Roman Cathol ic country like France and
that she, more than any other saint, could make him change
--
his religio n. Lines 514-515: laws of poetry permit the

.. ' .... '. ···--··.----·-- .... ,., ·---- ··- ·---.. .. ' ,..... . ·:
.
,,.
. -~. '

' J!,: • ,,~ ••.

r·.._ .... - . - - ........ - ... # , - ............... .
 .-~··
123
-·- .. ' .............., .-..:•· - .. . . ..
'
... , - - -...--.-.--.-:--··. "\J\ •.,--. ... .. ,'-:-:;;':,~.,.-.-..{'····-··· .....-.·
. ...., ... , sq . . ., .....

invocation of muses and deities; Oathol1c1sm permits the

invocation of saints. The remainder of the passage is
clear.
·.I

·'·

.. ,

-~

··~-

·- ..._.............. . .. . . .
., ..._,, '
.~·::-·:~ M-...-...,,;••'1.•, .•; .:. ;••·.. 0 :, ' -.· ·:";""·-· __.,.. ;_.,_..:,.;...~ . ·; .. ~ ... .;
 ;'. ··)I .
. I.

124
··~· .·,.""(.·~
~
..... -~ ' . ... -~. .~
,,a,,·..._~
--- .........
I lrf, ' -

''"
-~-.~... ·.~.~ .:.. 1,1,., ..........,....• .,......_. . .
...
~ •''"'""" .. -·
•··
.
oar,t_., ..
: -- . . ; ,""9i • .. '
I• .......... ·"'"'•
• --···
- ... - ........ -.
• . • • • .,..
.. _ ...... , • ·",---..11:r,
• · · - •• · - • io.,.( •• -.. • .. ·-··-··--· ·-1~....................
....... _.. , ...._.,..,,,,, .. \_ ....... -.,
......,.. . . ,~ ....."·'·
... , \ · - · ·
:.~-
....~ . · . , ~ : . • : ....... ""'1#ff

-•
• 9\.J·· •·
·-·· - . . :'i;

'1
APPENDIX I

%!le. First Ann!Yet§arY 'L

n
~
Intro duoti on, 1-90. The world is sick, "yea 1 dead, yea ';;.
,i"
/,
~

~utri fied, 11 since she, its 11 intr1n s1que ba1mf and l

•pres ervat ive," 1ta prime example of Virtu e, is dead;
8 how ·poore a trifli ng thing man 1s. n r
Secti on I, 91-19 0: I
I

1. Medi tation , 91-17 0. Becau se of Origi nal Sin man

has decay ed in lengt h of life, in physi cal si~e,
in menta l capac ity.
2. Eulog y, 171-8 2. The girl was perfe ct virtu e; she
purif ied herse lf 'Md had a purif ying power over
all. -.,,,, . . . . .
·--~
3. Refra in and Moral , 183-9 0. Our only hope 1s in
relig ion.
Secti on II, 191-2 46: 11 how lame a cripp le this world is~ 11

· 1. Medit ation. , 191-2 18. The 11 unive rsall frame 11 has

recei ved injur y from the sin of the Ange ls, and
now in unive rse, in state , in famil y, 11 1 Tis all
in peece s, all cohae rence gone. 11
2. Eulog y, 219-3 6. Only this girl posse ssed the
power which might have unifi ed the world .
3. Refra in and Moral , 237-4 6. Contemn and avoid
this sick world .

Secti on III, 247-3 38: 11 how ugly a mons ter this world is. n

1. Medi tation , 24?-3 04. Propo rtion , the prime ingre -

dient of beaut y, no longe r exist s in the unive rse.
2. Eulog y, 305-2 4. The girl was the nmeas ure of all
Bymmetrie 1 and harmony.
'}'
i'?.
~·
:~
~
3. Re~ra1n and Moral , 325-3 8. Human acts must be
11 done f 1 tly and in propo rtion ."

Secti on IV, 339-? 6: 11 how wan a Ghost this our world 1s. 1
1. Medi tation , 339-5 8. "Beau ties other secon d11 Eleme nt,
Colou r, and lustr e now, is as neere spent .
2. Eulog y, 359-6 8. The girl had the perfe ction of
col.or and gave color to the world .

'" .. :• ~-·' . ··-- . . . . -· "'--~-. -- ..... ·.. -·.

- - ---·· ,. ........ .,e.,.;,~,-•• .-,.',.•: ...·:.. ~ ; ;._.. ..

•• - (t>',
 125
t.,...:.'-6-..--- · .......... , . ~.. ·:·-··-~~~--..,:;: ·. ,. _'.·. . ·. ~:....-.··:· - ~ . .;,.~.,·,-!.- ., .............. ·.,\,,·.·.'.t.. .•·•• .....'-'~,·-.
....,.,ii.'" ' .....: ...,-.,...--..,.-- . . . . . ,.•,.,.·.,. -.,-.,.·.. ,I. • - t, ~~ •., . 1,.,.,.; .,r ' ,/,I
I•' ' ' .' .,.,.Y':i;·,,•'~-~-.-.:.".:..~
I
...,, ... -~ ··--,-~ ··--·-,·.~, 1,"7(,.::·•1'f" • •I "'-~---··-.-,•,.-,-,\I •
'
I', _________ .... ___ _
______.. ,...'
.., . , ,_.
,,~"'ff''•: 'J .:

3, Refrain and Moral, 369-76. There is no pleasure

1n an ugly world; it ie wicked to use false colors.
Section V, 37?-434: "how drie a Cinder this world ts. 0
1. Meditation, 377-98. Physical "influence" of the
heavens upon the earth has been weakened.
2. Eulogy, 399~426. The girl 1 s virtue has little effect
on us no'tiiJ because of this weakened 11 correspondence 0
betl1een heavens and earth; :tn· fact the world I s
corruption weakened her effect while she lived.
··t·

3. Refrain and Moral, 42?-34. Nothing 11 Is worth our

travaile, griefe, or perishing," except the joys
of religious virtue.
Conclusion, 434-74.

The Second Anni vers.ary

Introduction, 1-44.
Section I, 45-84.
1. Meditation, 45-64.
2. Eulogy, 65-80.
3. Refrain and !-!oral, 81-4.

Section II, 85-156.

, '
r/
1. Meditation, 85-120.
.
2. Eulogy, 121-46.
.

3. Moral, 147-56.

Section III, 157-250.

1. Meditation, 157-219.
2. Eulogy, 220-50.
Section V, 321-82.
1. Meditation; 321-55.
2. Eulogy, 356-82. \,
:~ . ·:-,:~ ..... ·: .

........

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1 cl
\
..

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'- ·- - . ---····. ·- ,_ -··· -- _, - aa &&&a-a :z;asa..x_ans ass, L

. ~·

,,.,,,_, ~·11"'1,' ' : . ::::..: ··:·:~: . ..:.. .,;,,,·-::·· . _: ..... ·::... . -- ·-. . --· ;_,-.. ·- ........ ... ··- , . . ...... ,...,..___ _
...~: .. ··-·',;. ..' ..........
126 ·-·-. -- -·· ..,. --·· ~
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.....

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__.
~· . . . . . • I ••••• .,._. • °'''_..•• -,_# ... '•• .,,. . '
.),lllf ·•···· •. -

Sect ion VI, 383- 470.

1. l~edi tat ion, 383- 446.
2. Eulo gy, 447- ?0.
Sect ion VII, 4?1- 510.
1. Med itati on, 471- 96.
2. Eulo gy, 497- 510.
Con clus ion, 511- 28.

(The se outl ines were take n from Mart z, pp. 222- 223,
236- 237. )
,,. ..· :~
~
. ,.

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0
1 • '
• . . . ,, ... If/.,,
.. _._......,. .
•• _......
__.... ·

APPENDlX II

'lhe auth or, Wil liam Alb· e·rt Dig el, wes born on July

13t h, 1936, in Kan e, Pen nsy lvan ia, the son of Seth Alb ert
and Mary Gal luo Dig el. Aft er grad uati ng from the oub lic
scho ol syst em in Sme thno rt, Pen nsy lvan ia, he ente red Lehighw
Uni ver sity in 1954. He rece ived the deg ree of Bac helo r
of Arts in Eng lish from Leh igh in 1959 and wen t on acti ve
..,-..-.

duty as a member or the Pen nsy lvan ia Army Nat iona l Gua rd.
In 1960 he mar ried Car ol Beth Jen kins end beg an wor k as
a Gra dua te Ass ista nt in Eng lish at Leh igh, a ~os i tion he

sti ll hold s. He is the fath er of a dau ghte r, Mary Car ol,

who was born in Seo tem ber of 1962.

. ·,. .i .. "'-·-: . :· ·-: --· _..., -·,-·· . ~.. '

.. .
,,. .... ~-...-...... -.a,:.;

~-

. . _,. .. . ...... .,. .. ., .

... .... • , , , 1,. ,,.·

 '
-
128
~~ ~._:;.:::-;;.···· .~·!~ .-~~·-·~-=:;;;•~....... :•·~:~--~--~-~;-~· ,: ·-,.~ -~;• :~.:~~.;.·:.:::-.~---·~.~' .~-'-''•~~,:I•~ ...~~..,._.~,:~--- ~ .---:-::•:_~-~;:., :~• -~,,._., .• ~,.-- •• .-~~~:~

·'·

FOOT NO~S .-i

...... : ' i -~.

Chap ter I

1 R. C. Bald,
Donne and the Drury s (Cam bridge , 1959) ,
op. 87-93. Bald' s work, based on nrevi ously unstu died doc-
umen ts and lette rs 9 is esnec ially useru l in study ing the
"Ann ivers aries ." Bald has indic ated that he has in orogr ess
a biogr auhy of Donne ; it will renla ce the out-o f-dat e and
specu lative Lire and Lette rs of John Donne , 2 vols. (Lond on,
1899 ), by Edmund Gosse . All studi es of Donn e's life are
based to some exten t on Walto n's life" of Donne , which is
eulog istic and somet imes unrel iable : Izaak 'v''1alton., The Lives
or Dro John Donne; Sir Henry wotto n; Mr. Richa rd Hooke r; Mr.
Geo"rge Herb ert; an.9;_ Dro Robe rt Sande rson (Lond on, 1886), pn.
1-740 The best uoc:,t o-date b.iogr anhy is in Mrs. Simns on' s
Study of the Prose Works of John Donne ,2nd ed. (Oxfo rd., 1948) ,
no. 12~3 ; howev er, this biogr aohy is brief· and or limit ed
use in a detai led study ~of any one perio d in Donn e's life.
2 E. M. Simps on, A
Study of the Prose Works of John Donne ,
2nd ed. (Oxfo rd, 1948T, PD. 17-20 .
3s1mo son, oo. 20-21 .
4Simns on, p. 21. 1 " _J

5simo son, o 22.

1
6
Simps on, np. 22-23 .
I
7simn son, o. 23; Walto n, pp. 17-20 . ::!

8Edmund Gosse , '.Ihe Life and Lette rs of John Donne , I, 161-1 62.
9simo son, no. 23-24.
10 s1mos on, pp. 26-27 . ~-

llsim pson, p. 27. Donn e's inter est in Virgi nia tis treate d
at lengt h in "Donn e and Virgi nia," by Rober t L. Hicke y, which
aopea red in f.9:, XXVI (1947), 181-1 92 and in Stanl ey Johns on's
"John Donne and the Virgi nia Comn any," nrint ed in ELH,· XIV
(1947 ), 127-1 38.
12 Simos on, p. 27.
. __
--:;.

. -· .....: .•.. -' :.- .-••-.;,;i'-·

·:":"'!
--...... _,: .,.:..:. ·.,__.;..:.; ..... .: . .. .,~ '.... .•

.-......... ' ... ....

 ---
,.
•• --- -
.. 4,,'
• ••4

........ ..... --· ,. ...... -·. ·- ·----·-···· .. .'" . -129 -··---1

. _.,_,.. ....,,... ..,., ............. . ..... .. • .. . ,..,.,, ,'YMIIII) . . ............. : ...... :·. . ;4 ..... ...: .... ··:·~ .. .
-·· , ___!l'il'lli' - - - . . . . · · - - ~ _ _........_ . -----·--:::::~~- ·-··· .• - - ·--·--~ ~.... --- -~ '''"•J_,. ............ ...,,,,,......,.,,. ~
. •• H' ,· :..· ', ··•·•"" ..
~.::.-:-··:·: -~', ..
... .
":"'Ito.·;
·····••:J.!".:t:,t

l3Wal ton, p. 8.
1
~ald, on. 69-70. "A Funeral Elegie" was later orinted
at the end of The- First Anniversary.
---
1 5Bald, op. 38, 53, 58, 60, 67. Bald does not suggest
that Sir Robert was merely flattered by Donne's elegy, nor
does he suggest that Sir Robert's character was such that he
might justly be accused of such a resnonse; but Bald has
nothing to say about Sir Robert that would make this charge
imDossible to suDport.
16Bald, pp~ 61-62.

17Bal~, pp. ~9-84.

18 H. J •.c. Grierson, ed.
The Poems of John Donne, by
JoJm Donne (Oxford, 1912), II, 209.
19 Grierson,
•
II, p~
C

206.
20
G. Keynes,! Bibliogranhy of Dr. John Don~e, 3rd ed.
(Cambridge, 19.58), p. 134. Keynes believes the.t the elegy
was composed "in the hope of securing the ~atronage of • • •
Sir Rober~ Drury."
,
/

21 Bald, pp. 85-86. Al so see R. h. Bennett, "Donne's

Letters from the Continent in 1611-12," PQ, XIX (1940), 66-78.
22Bald, pp. 86-87; and Walton,
no. 24-25.
2 3 Bald, pp. 87-88.

24
_ Bald, np. 87-88.
2 5 T.
Eliot, "Tradition and the Individue.1 ~Talent," in s.
'!he Great Critics 9 edso James Harry Smith and ~dd Winfield 1

ParkS9 3rd edo fNew Yorkv 1951)D Po 7200 Jo Bo Leishman says

in The =Monarch
= ~ = =of fafitv
. 5th edo(London 9 1962)
-===,,,,,,= ·. 9 Po
. 237 9 that
Donne~s motive tias not "disinterestedo 18 Gosse (Is, 277=>258)
feels that Donne trJrote to please his oatron 9 perhaps hoping
to overeome the natural insincerity of poetry written under
suchcondi tions by 11 a strenuous exercise of intellect and fancy.· 11
26 It must be remembered that in ~ngland before 1752 the
year officially began on AnnunciationDq, March 25th. Thus
there 1t1ere more tr1an four monthsl[eft in 1611 when the Drury
party left for France if we acceut Bald's estimate of the
departure as being in mid-November.

. ,. -· - ····~: . -.. .- ... · .~. . -.·.· - .... .. -

. . •.... ---:-·-.. .. ~--- -·--··.

.. . . . . . . ..·--·
. '. ·":"'"'· ~.---~-:-:' .. -·. :·' --·.--.·-::,-····:-·:':"·
--·
_· '.•

-.,a'·.··-·· .... , . .. . ·---··-.·.'.···.·:·-·.-.,.·.·~.--·.....a:·· ..... -.. -----.-., .,.___ ,,, .. -··::--:-·

~--. ,• .. ~ ~ -·- - _i;.'··:,o.; . . ...... , "fl., .... ,.._, .

~···· ... '"-"~'

·-·- • 4 - ' 4'1111: . . ' ' " a..'lf'A (' L J
 .....
130 .......
,~~·- .,
....... ---·.
-

~~~-·--- ••-,_-,--,-- .. I.,.~,~~.,,·

•.,.. ~--··."'o.-
,•·'

· - 27Key nes, pp. 134- 135.

28 . ,
Keyn es, p. 135, stat es flat ly that Hall
Bald , po 88.
is the auth or of "To the nrai se . . • • II
29Be ld 9 p. 88; Keyn es, p. 135. Bald stat es that the
quot ation abou t Hall is from Full er, but he does not iden tify
the exac t sour ce.
JOBa ld, pp. -90- 91.
·.i·

)lBa ld, p. 92.

3~'lhe Seco nd Ann iver sarv t 11. 3-6.
All quot ation s from
the noet ry are 1·rom John Hayw ard's edit ion of the ooet ry and
pros e: John Donn e, Dean of §lo Paul 's: Comp ;iete .Poet r:I and_
Sele cted Pros e (Blo omsb ury, Engl and, 1929 ). Hayw ard's edit ion
ls disc usse d on pn. 55 ~d- lJ7.

3.3oo sse, I, 211 •

.34Bald , po. 92-9 3.
35Ba ld, pp. 96-1 02.
36Ba ld, op. 102- 104.
/'
'-.

37ao sse, II, 3.4.

3 8Bald , pp. 102- 103.

pp. 13.5-136.
40 Simp son, n. 30.

' ""
i .... -··-···....... ---·- .._....._.~\; ••._., ~ ...-.~.;;......~~- .........,., ......
. ~--··· ;... ..·.. ...,;.. . . ~' .. . ~ ,~_. ..;... .: ..;; .·,, ....:..,. __ _..,.
___....,.,. ~ ..
.~·-·.J ..._ <-.... ~ .......... ; ... , .; '.. . ,
 131
. ·....:1 .. ... .. .. _.,_ ~~. ' . -- ' ·- - ...-

.;s..

Chapter II

1Griersqn, II, 178;. Keynes, pp. 134-144.

2 1 have used the text of the letter as it appears in the
Modern Library edition: Charles M. Coffin, ed. The Complete
Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donnep by John Donne (New
York 9 1·952) ~ Po 382 o This text appe srs to be more carefully
reproduced than Gosse'sg GosseD IS> PPo 302~J04o Coffin
assumes that the letter is addressed to George Garra.rd, and
Bald (po 92) agrees. Simpson (po 295) prints this passage
and notes that it appears on pages 238-239 of the 1651 edition
of Donne vs letters o T.he nassage actuE.lly occurs in two letters
in the 1651 edition; Gosse (I, p. 304) attributes this dupli-
cation to a cooyist's error. ,
)Gosse, I, 305-306; Coffin does not reoroduce this
letter in his editione
4s1muson, pp. 294-295.
5Gosse, I, 317-318;. Grierson, II, 187.
6
R. F. Patterson, ed. Ben Jonson's Conversations with
William Drurnmond of Hawthornden, by William Drummond (London,
1923}, Po 5a AlsOsee Gosse, I, Oe 277.
7Gosse, I, 278. The "thr~at" is found in "'!he Second
Anniversary," 11. 30-36, and in.~ll. 45.5-474 of 11 The First
Anniversary" there are statem~nt(s which gloss the former
~ass age. . , .
8
Gosse, II, 3$0. John Dryden, 'lhe Works of Dryden,
ed. Walter Scott, rev. George Saintsbury (Edinburgh, 1885),
XI, 124. ·'

-~-~. ~ .
.. ,,
. ,:

...
 ~

. .,, 'r. , ,.,i.. ,,,.,,, • - -,.. •

·,

. •. ·~ .. .... . ' . - _............. .. ~-·-

_
. ~

............. ~, . ....
_
....... , .... . )
·.,.132·
.. ......
······ , ... _ _,.

• -- ,:, 1

Chaoter III

1
Charles M. Coffin, John Donne end tne New Philosophy
(New York, 1937), p. 264.
2coffin, New Philosonhy , p. 265.

3oeorge Williamson , Seventeent h Centur;r Contexts (London,

1961), p. 10.

4s1moson, n. 159. ·.i..·'

5simpson, n. 192.
6victor Harris, All Coherence Gone (Chicago,
1949),
pp. 124-125. Marjorie Ho Nicolson, in "The New Astronomy and
English Litersture 9 " SP XXXII, (1935), 4.58, also comments on
c:::ac=:,

Donne's concern with new starso

7Steohen Toulmin 9 "Seventeen th Century Science and the
Arts," in Seven teen th Gen tury Science and the Arts, cd. Hedley
H. Rhys (Prince tons, l9bl), p; 4.
8 This oaragranh and the five paragra.nh
s that follow,
unless otherwise noted 9 are derived from Douglas Bush,
"Science and Literature , 11 in Seventeen th Century Science and
the Arts 9 ede Hedley H. Rhys (Princeton , 1961), no. 29-$8.
9Hayward, p. 281.
lOToulmin , pn. 5-6; Nicolson, ~- 440.
11Michael F. Moloney, "John Donne: His Flight from
Mediaeval ism, 11 Illinois Studies in Language and Literature ,
XXXIX, nts. 2 and 3 (1942}, 620
12 For
the purnoses of this discussion , "nwew philosonhy "
will be defined as the Cooernican cosmology . 0rierson so
defines it (Grierson 9 Poems II~ poo 189~190) 9 but other critics
have e)rpandad its meaning so much that "the Cooernican revolu-
tion has long stood as a convenien t symbol of a 9 dilemma ••••
between faith and knowledge 9 oassion and reason"g Jo C.
Man1ell 9 in "John Donne and the l\fe1r1 Philosonhy u Durham 5)

University Journal~ noSo XII (195l)D 62; quoting Margaret

I,. '1'\liley,,. in' 11 John Donne and the poetry of Scenticism , ti
Hibbert Journal 9 XLVIII (1950)~ 1650 Hiram Haydn~ for
examnleD has broadened the meaning to include nthe larger,
!. looser sense of> tr1e thol1ght or men like fJJ:ontaigne and Bruno."
l He believes the verses Sllggeat that Donne had in mjnd "Bruno's
l
I

Ii totally decentrali zed end relativize d world": The Counter-

I Renaissanc e (New Yor~, 1950), n. · 163.
I
f f ....... ' .... .... '· .. _ .... , ......

I
I
I
..... .,.-.~~, .. -· -· .~--- ......
 .
·-----·-·· ~ - - ~ ·-·· . -- ····r:~:· '. ~.. ..

13w. J. Cou. rthoo e, ! Hist ory ~ l!:ng lish ?oet r;y, III
, (Lon don, 1911 ), 162.
14cou rtho pe,
pp. 147- 148.
15Gri erso n, II, 188- 189.
16 simp son, u. 119.
The firs t edit ion was oubl ishe d in
1924 .
,/

l 7Loui s I. ·Bre dvol d, 11 The Reli gio~ s Thou ght of Donne in

Rela tion to Med ieval and Late r Trad ition s, 11 in 11 Stud ie s in
Sh eke soe are, iviil ton 51 and Donn e,}' Uni ve rsi ty of Mich igan
Pub licat ions 9 Language and Lite ratu re, I (192 5), 195-203.
18
Ma.rio Praz 9 "Don ne's Rela tion to the Poet ry of His Time ,"
in A Garl and for John Donn e, ed. Theo dore Spen cer (Cam.bridge,
Mas s., 1931~, p. 61.
19w1111amson, P. 35. ' f

20co ffin, New Phil osop hy, o. 105.

2Lwe bste r's New
Inte rnat iona l Dict iona ry, 2nd ed. (Sor ing-
field Mas s., 196o T; p. 1643. ., .
22Mar gare t L. Wile
y, The Subt le Knot : Crea tive Sceo ticis m
-
in Seve ntee nth Cent ury Engl and (Lon don, 1952 ), np. 77, 122.
23Le1 shman, po.
- - - - - -------·- - - - · -· -· ·--·---------- °13:riiiio " - --Tts, --June-- 269238-~
240; . J. J',,1nc3,s~y, "Dooo~ JUJd Gio_rdano
-19-36, P. 523. - ··---· ···-· ... .... :.· .-· ···-·· ...· -~ .. ··-~---·····---··------------····-·

· 24Ra lnh B. Crum, Scie ntif ic ThoUght .!!! Poet ry (New York,
1931 ), p. 42. -
25M. M. Maho od, Poe, try and Huma nism (Lon don, 1950 ), po. C

115- 117.
26 The quot ation
is from Coff in's edit ion of the ooet ry and
pros e, P. 379-~
27Mo loney , pn. 58-59. Molo
ney's disc ussi on of the
Cour thop e scho ol is on pp. 48-50.
2~o lone y, p. 5A.
2 9Mo loney , n. 59.
JOHowever, the epic ycle s and ecce ntVi cs, or some thing like
them , woul d be nece ssar y in Kep ler's comp romi se betw een the
old and new syste ms :r:,f,, astro nom y.· If Donn e, as Bush supp oses ,
favo red Keo ler•s theo ry, this pass age is base d on a soec ies of
"new Philo soph y" and Molo ney is wrong •
.' - ...
:-- ~~.... ~ .'!.~;;'.f':' ·,i.. -:~··~·"''. .:;-.:. ·t

.... •.. ...

I
 ,. •.. ~.. ""' .. - . ,., ·~ . .. ., . . . ... ~. \. .. . '•; ' '. .. l~ ~~· ·~· ,
,, ........ " . , • t, Jo
\ ;.
' • ' • • - ' . '• • • .. , , • -~·- ' ' ~'.,,. - ,> • f , ' , ', : L'' • .,\ ',• ,,;( .
-·'- 1.\f• I •
•., ._.._IJI
~
•. ., ............. , .,....,i..,., .,.~ . . . . . . . . ._._.,• ...,,._ ' .l:>l;••.1•~ ~ , .. ..,.... ....... ' • •r-.. .. ......_ ,, ......
•'U.i4,;\1Jr.•_~,. . . , _ . ....._
• '
,...,
,Q.17'
•
·-. ·~•••.. · .......::. .... .,. · - ·••.. ··.~.~ ••:: ~~ ..... _.""'""'· ...~..,,.__.,..••• · ,, ... -.,oc.,1, .. __ ~. . . ':')','"'·:"" ·--~-~.:.." ~ ... - - · - - - . , . , .... ·-·---··-"<I;> •. -.•. -~ ... iu·, ... ,· ..,~.-.:"1 ·'I•· .._ ...... , t

31Moloney, p. 59. i

32Molone y, po. 59-60. -... ·---:-

33w1111amson, p. 33.
34Molo ney, p. 60.
35Molo ney, pp. 60-61.
3~olon e·y, pp. 62-63.
37Molo ney, po. 50-51.
38Mary Paton Ramsay, Les Doctrin es Mediev ales Chez Donne,
Le Poete Metanh ysiclen De L'Angl eterre, 2nd ed. (London, 1922)
p. 261. F
- .

39Louis I. Bredvo ld, rev of Mary Paton Ramsay, Des Doctrin es

Mediev ales Chez Donne, Le Poete Metaph ysicien ~ L'A.ng leterre,
.. 2nd ed. (London, 1922), JJ!;GP, XXI (1922), 347 •
.,,. 40Ramsay, pp. 97-98 •
41Harris , p. 94.
42 Joan Bennet t, Four Metanh 1si~al Poets, 2nd ed. (London ,
1953), pp. 38-39.
----- --------~ _____ · _ 43Fran~ !(e :rrtiode, John_ Donne J ]:,_()ll~O:[)., 1957), o-p. 13-14.

~axw ell, P. 64.

\:

j,·

.\.

.I

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.: .:., .. ·;_. :.

L -~

·-· ................ .-... . . ..... _ .. ,.

 . .. .......... . .. - . ~. ...
13.S
-·..:. -·--· _.,_
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. ... ·- .. ····-· . ••, . , . 1,/ .

...... , ' '. ,.,,,,~·M. •;',';'

~;:..
":,~":1-~-,Wt1'
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...... .. . .. .,.. ··•·• ,.. ,... ,. ... alt t .....

,·

Chapter IV
Q

1 Quoted above on p. 22 of Chapter II (Patterson,

Drum...mond' s Conversations, p. 5). Drummond quotes Jonson as
sneaking of one "Anniversary," but it is accurate to extend
the criticism to both poems because the word 19 anniversary was 1
not used in the titles until ~hey were published together
(see po 20, Chapter II) 9 and Jonson was therefore fmniliar
with both ooems,., Also, Drummond 9 s cop.versations 1.iith·Jonson
took place.late in 1618 and early in 1619 (Pattersonp Po xx.)~
Jonson's criticism may not have been heart~felt 9 for af~er
attacking the "Anniversaries 9 11 he proceede<ll·-"'tor,bea:! ;ify·'Liady
Digby 9 11 as is noted by ~Jesley Trimoi, Ben Jonson'! Poems:
! Study EI. the Plain Style (Stanford, 1962·), p. 279. · --
2 &

Grierson, II, o. xxx.

3willial1'1 1!.'mpson, .isnglish Pastoral Poetr;r -(New York, 1938),
i
p. 84.
j 4coffin, New Philosoohy, p. 258.
j

i
t
1
.i
5Leishman, p. 238.
6Patterson, Drummond's Conversations, p. 5.
1
i
---- - -------
7For example, see Leishman, pp. 237-238; and Kermode, p.26.
~;
~

8
Louis L. Martz~, ~1e Poe try of Medi ta.tion (New Haven,
1954), op. 221, 229-230.
9willial1'1 H. Marshall, "Elizabeth Drury and the Heathens, 11
! ~ g, n. s. V (1958), p. 533. Also see Grierson, II, 187.
10Marshall, np. 533-.534. f
1 1 Mar jorie H. Nicolson, The Breaking of the Circle, 2nd ed.
(New York, 1962), pp. 86-8R, 106. --
12Nicolson, Circle, pp. 90-106.
1 3H. J.C. Grierson, rev. of Marjorie H.. Nicolson, The
Breaking of the Circle (Evanston, Ill., 1950),· MLR, XLVII
(19.52), 320-322.
14Joan Bennett, rev. of Marjorie H. Nicolson, The Breaking
of the Circle (Evanston, Ill., 1950), RES, n. s. III (1952),
!78-ltiO. ,,

15Martz, o. 335.
16Nicolson, Circle, p. vii.

•,••' H; . .-'•

i:'
·~

'
 ,/

136
....,
,;,-'
·•,l"
.
.. _...........,,,_::~:~:.!~~~~.:..·~. ~·,~ . . ,•.,~ ,Ja,
.... ' .
•-; ...... ,.... ,"I_ .... ~'--'' .,. • •
f• •·••• •.• '

• <.,'IQ, •• ,.,,.,, ..

. ..... - . . . . . . . . Ill,
.·. ·,. ··,, ,.., .. '·,,

~- . -~-
..........
,J•L.•.• , ... • ·,
~ I •
.~ ·.~. . ... ,... ... ·~·.:~·......... .

17 Marius Bewley, "Religious Cynicism in Donne's Poetry,"

-
KR, XIV (1952), 626-627.
18 Bewley, pp. 619-646.
19Martz, pp. 355-356.
)

!
'.

i,i'

L
i'

,1

I
II
r:
II
II

III
II
"',1I

•
'I

'!
I

t
·'

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.........

... .,

..... -na.. . '·~ ,....

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·_·•1'··- ..;,~·".. ~.~~.
~

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··- ,.,,,.,, .....

·,
Cha nte r V :~

1Gri ers on, II, 188.

~a rtz , p. 2.
3sim nso n, pp. 13-
14.
4Ma rtz, pp. 14-15.
SM artz , P. 16.
6Sim pso
n, p. 7.
7M artz , pn. 219 -22 0.
8Fr ank Ma nle y's edi tio n, Joh n Don ne: The An niv ers arie s,
by Joh n Don ne (Ba ltim ore , 196 3) was nub lish ed on 1-iay 30, 196 3,
aft er all of the . res ear ch ror and much of the wri tin g of thi s
the sis had bee n com ulet edo How eve r 9 Cha nte rs VI and VII wer e
not com ple ted whe n Ma nley 9 s boo k app ear ed, and I v-Ja_s abl e to
use his exn lan ato ry not es in exn lica tin g the noemso I bel iev e
tha t the use of his tho rou gh int rod uct ion wou ld not hav e cha nge d
my con clu sio ns in the ear lie r cha nte rs. Fur the rmo re, I had
the adv ant age of lea rni ng of tex tua l var ian ts from sec ond ary
sou rce s ear lie r tha n Ma nle y's edi tio n.

9Ha ywa rd, pp. xxi-XX:111; Key nes , p. 134.

10Hay war d's mo der niz
Rti on is sen sib ly con ser vat ive : "Th en
(in dic atin g com par ison ) has bee n cha nge d to tha n thro ugh out ;
and tha n to the n whe re the ori gin al tex t uri nts tha n for
the
sak e of the rhymea • • • The lon g J has become S whe re nec -
ess ary ! has bee n Cha nge d tO ~p ! 19
9
X. to !.D 8Ild all ab-
bre vie tiOn S (us ual ly the se occ ur onl y in MSo) hav e bee n
to
exp and ed to the ir f,.ul l val ue thro ugh out a Hay war d mak es oth er 18
cha nge s from tim e to tim e, but the y are usu ally min oro As I
ind ica ted abo ve, I wil l not e all var ian t rea din gs of any con -
~: seq uen ce. (Ha ywa rd, PPe x.x ic,x xiii ~ xvi i 9 773=7750) I hav e
suo plie d lin eat ion , whi ch is not inc lud ed in Hay war dvs edi tio n,
and hav e om itte d the m~r gi-n al glo sse s bec aus e the sis for ma t
mak es the ir inc lus ion awk war d and bec aus e the y are unn e_c essa ry.

~ . .:.·. ,,~---
 ,
. ••,• ,'\·,··
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.
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·;

Cha pter VI -

1Mart z, op. 221- 224.

2 Manley, pp. 123-
124.
3The sour ce or this info rmat ion has esca ned me. I made a
note of it two year s ago and have lost the refe renc e.
~an ley, pp. 125- 126.

511n e 25 in Grie rson 's edit ion of the Poems (I, p. 232) :
" • • • than • • . than ."
,._ 6Man ley, p.
128.

7Gri erso ,n, Poem s,l. 54 (I, 233) : 11

'l'he n, • •
If

8non I
ii
I

Came ren Alle n, "Joh n Donn e I s Know ledge of Rena issan ce

Med icine ," .J~GP, XLIDI (194 3), 325- 326.

9Ma nley, o. 132.

10
Mart z, pn. 229- 2)1.
11 Ralo h N. Maud , "Don I
ne s Firs t Ann ivers ary, 11
BUSE, II
(195 7), 218- 220.
12 Alle n, "Me dicin e, 11
up. 327- 328; J. A. Mazz eo, "Not es
on John Don ne's Alch emic al Imag ery," Isis , XLV III (195 7), p.11 0.
13M anley , n. 135. - The idea that 111'e was shor tene d by
each insta nce of inte rcou rse was comm onpla ce. in the sixte enth
and seve ntee nth cent urie s.
~
1'

·,, 14J. Spar row, "Don ne's Ann iver sarie

s," TLS, June 25, 1946 , I'

p. 312: Spar row disc over ed an erra ta slip in a copy of the

1612 edi tl·on of the noem so Among othe r emen datio ns, the slt>--
·,
con ta.in s the read ing "ne1rJ made cloc k" as a corr ectio n of the
usua l II tmue made cloc ko ru H. J. Co Grie rson 9 in n John l)onn e, 11
TLS, July 20, 1946 , Do 343, defe nds "tru e made "; howe ver, it
seem s that "new made " is a suoe rior read ingo
1 5T. H. Whit e, tran s
and ed. 'l'he Best iar;y : A Book of B.eAsts
(New YorkD 1954 ), on. 37-38, offe rs this and othe r info rmat ion
abou t the stegG Man ley, ~. 136, give s inro rmat ion abou t both
the stag . and re.venQ

l6co ffin , New Phil osop hy, p. 131.

 ., ______ .

139
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..... : :-.-~..-., H ~.-:.,./"' :-_;'..'
0

' " , :• • ~ . " . • .

.. ,·,·····
- - ~• • • ;t-ot:-, ..................,. .. V't.:...,• . . ~ j _.., •', ....... ~ · - · ,•, 0 :~ ......... .... ,._ ........,..... ..... • ..

17Manley, o. 1)6.
18coff1n, pp. 130-131. Perhaos this is what Coffin
believes; he is usually concerned with details and he seems
I to be un~erturbed by the 11 slow-pac'd star. 11 -

19Manley, o. 137.
20 Manley, p. 138.
21 Don Cameran Allen, "Donne Among the Giants," MLN, LXI t
(1946), 257. Allen uses the references to giants to sunnort
his thesis that Donne preferred the beliefs of the ancients
to those of Augustine.
22Manley, o. 139.
23~. H.· Duncan, "Donne's Alchemical Figures," ELH, IX
(1942), 268; Mazzeo, n. 111, identi~ies the instrument in
11. 149-150 as a limbeck, the alc~1emist's still.
24Manley, p. 139.
2.SMa.rtz, p. 222.
26Man]ey, p. 140.
27
Duncan, pp. 275-276; Mazzeo, n. 118.
28Manley, n. 142.
2 9Grierson, Poems, 1. 190 {I, 237): 11
'I1hen."
30Manley, pp. 142-143.
\.
31coff1n, New Philosophz, pp. 84-87.
32 sparrow, n. 312. The emendation nrov ided by the errata
0

slip, "Tovmes" instead of the usual "Towres, 11 improves the

reading of the nassage. ~

· 33coff1n, New Philosonhz, p. 270; Manley, P. 147.

34.coffin, New PhilosoEhY, n. 135.
35coff1n, New PhilosoEhI, pp. 131-137, gives much more
detailed information.
36Manley, p. 154.

·,
: . ·-·· .. .. .. ·: . ,.
··-

i
It
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l
1
'
\

37Ma nle y, p. 155,

,1
·I

\.
l'
'
{
:
38Ma nle y, np . 155-156; Don Ca me ron Al len , "T he Le gen d
;.

i
of No ah: Re na. iss anc e Ra tio na lis m in Ar t, Sc ien ce ,
and
Le tte rs 9 " Ill in oi s Stu die s in La ng uag e and I,i ~e rat
ur e,
XXIII (19 49 ), 47. -
39Manley, p. 15 6.
4°M.
A. Ru go ff in Donne I s Im ag ery : ! Stu dy in Cr ea tiv
e
So urc es (New Yo rk, 19 39 ), p. 52, de scr ibe s the no we
tur qu o1 se 9 as doe s Man1eryj r,e 15 7. The "'J rop ert ies rs or the
of
me rcu ry are dis cu sse d by Ma nle y, pn . 15 7-1 .58 , and Du go ld and
~ nca n, o.2 69 .
41 Ma nle y, p~ . 158-159.
4 2Ma zze o, p. 11 8, su gg est s tha _t red sym bo liz es the so ul 's
im mo rta lit y, fo r in he rm eti c nh ilo so~ hy red is sym bo
the res ur rec tio n. But Ma nle y fin ds a more sa tis fa ctolic of
ex nla .na tio n (pn . l_,59-bO), and I hav e use d hi s ide as ry
. i
!

43 Ma nle y, p. 16 0; Ma zze o, n. 10 5. I
j
i
II
1·

44 ori ers on , Po em s,l , 372 (I, 24 2) : 11

the n. " i!
:1
. ·1

II
45 Gr ier so n, Po em s, 1. 378 (I, 24 2): "th en ."
'

4 6Ma nle y ( '), 16 1) thi nk s 11 he r 11 re1 'er s to .b; liz ab eth .

47 Ma nle y, u. 16 1.
48Ma nle y,
- 49 Ma nle y, o. 16 3;
n. 16 1.

er. Ex odu s 7 :10 -12 .

r
l
I

'I
.50 Gr ier son :, Po em s, 1. 40 8 (I, 243 ) : "Th an:•. :n i

51 Ma nle y, nn. 16 4-1 65 .

5 2Mazzeo, nn. 11 5-1 16 ; Du nca n, p. 273.
53 Ma nle y, o. 165·.

54 Al len , Me dic ine , p. 32 9.

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)

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1
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. 141 ~~.;.
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•.
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,,,,,,.,..,. ·- • - . . . . . . ..• .J... tt ..,

Chapter VII

1Martz, pp. 236-237. Martz, I believe, overstates the

relative virtues of The Second Anniversary, partly because of
his theory about the first poem (discussed above on p.62 ).
2Manley, o. 175.

3Manley, p. 175.
4william H.- Marshall, "A Possible Interpretation of
Donne's The Second Anniversary (Lines33-36, ') " N & g,
n. s. V TI958), PPo 540-541. .
5Manley, p. 176.
6sparrow, p. 312. 'lhe errata slip places a semicolon at
the end of 1. 47 and substitutes 111 Tis" for "To" at the
beginning or l. 48. Also see Grierson, "John Donne," p. 343,
for further discussion.
7Menley, p. 177.
8see p.65 above for a discussion of The Golden Age.
"

9Manley,· p. 178.
10 Sparrow, o. 31 2·. The errata slip substitutes 11 r1 te"
for "right" in 1. 119. Grierson (~'John Donne", p. 343) argues
that either suelling is acceptable.
llM anley, ~. 179.

12n. R. Roberts, in "The Death Wish of John Donne," PMLA,

LXII ( 19i7), 975, considers this passage to be evidence of
Donne's 'death wish." He takes the poetry out of context.
1 3Manley, op. 179-180.
1 4Manley, pp. 180-181.
1 5Manley, f.• 181; h. L. Wiggins, "Logic in the Poetry
of John Donne, 1 SP, XLII ( 1945), 51.
16
-
Manley, n. 182, cites Matthew 11:12 as the source of
11. 15lc:al52.
1 7 The comma after II suckll ' ( 1. 174) anpears in other
editions and should be allowed to remain in the text •

. .
,. .. ·- ...
 . ·-~· ........ ..
~ ,,' ~ ....... ~--- ..
... ,,,.,~ ..... (,, ,,-, .. , ',J..:,..:.r..£.,, ....... , .. •• , ,, .•. ....,,....--·---~---_:.:.~!:._:____ _ ,
,

..
4""*• .... ~ ............ _ ...... _ ...
--~ .... .... ". "·-·····- ~-----··· --- '

·• .,.,__ .... . . ..., "'r'r::•,nN. • .·

·-- •......•·-· -·-
.... .....
·-·
..... ,.'VIW!llllil,) ...., . . .

l8 11 S1nke 11 (1. 158) may also refer to the human womb.

19Manley, n. 183.
20Manley, p. 183.
21 Manley, p. 184.

22The o. E. D. lists nf.very satisfactory meaning for

"intense" (1. 192) in this context.
23corfin,1n New Philesoph1, pp. 166-174, presents a long
discussion or the soui•s nassage through the universe.
------ ..
24Line 198 should be compared with Problem IX, "Why is !

Venus-Star Mul tinominous, Celled Both Hesperus and Vesper?"

i
. r

(Heyward, pp. 351-352.)

25Manley, p. 186.
26see the discussion of Tycho Brahe's system on p. 29
above, and I. A. Shaoiro's article, "John Donne, the Astronomer:
the De_te of the ~ighth Problem," TLS, July 3, 1937, o. 492.

27Manley, op. 186-187. )I I

I
2 8sparrow, n. 312. The errata slip substitutes "there" I
I

I
for "tnen" in 1. 232, thus imnroving the reading of the

\ passageo The conservative Grierson, in "John Donne," o. 343, ; I

<#

disagrees and argues that "then" should be retained. ,,

I

29Dunca.n, pp. 265-266; Mazzeo, np. 107-108; Rugoff, o. 166.

3oRugoff, no. 49-50; Manley, p. 18.9.

31Allen, "Medicine," p. 33a

~
I

( \ I

3·2 Allen, "Medicine," p~ 333. .

"'

33Manley, p. 189.

~anley, p. 190. .,
I

3.5Manley, t). 191.

36sparrow, p. 312. The errata slip replaces the "wise" ·
or the early editions with "will" ( 1 o 338) o Grierson., Poems
(I, p. 26l)f) emended "wise" to "lyes, 11 but he agrees that
nwill" oroyides for a suoerior reading ("John Donne," p. 343).
37Manley, p. 193.
i .
I
I
I
.. '·~·. . . ··<· ... , ........ '· ,.... .....

- ' . •1,·•·•·•l····
···~. "··-· .... _.

.•,,~.,
•

~
•. 1111,......

,...,;,
·~

.... , .. , ·.... ~ •. ······· ,.. -.!·. ," - · - ......,,.,.i_,Jo· . . . , .. ,...

· · · ... , 143 .
- - - - ~ • • ..~ . , . . . . . . - \ ~....... , . , . . .I)"•"--· ... .~----·.. •·-------~-· .... •· •t'),r

38 see the
discu ssion on on. 46-48, above , and Mars hall,
"Eliz ebeth Drury and the Heath ens," po. 533-.534.
39Ma nley, p. 194.
40Ma nley, p. 19-5.
41non Cameron Allen , "John Donne and the Tower of Babe l,"
MLN, LXIV (1949 ), 483; Manle y, pp. 195-1 96.
4·2Manle y, p. 197.
43Manley, p. 198. See no. 71-72 , for furth er discu ssion .
44ori erson , Poems , 1. 463 (I, 264): "then ."
45For furth er discu ssion see up. 46-48.

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·"

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alle n, Don Cam eron . "Do nne Among the Gia nts, " MLN, LXI
(194 6), 257 -260 .
Ai1 en, Don Cam eron . "Joh n Don ne and the 'row er of Bab el,"
-MLN, LXIV (194 9), 481-483.
Alle n, Don Cam eron . "Joh n Don ne's Kno wled ge or Ren aiss anc e
Med i cine , n JEG P, XLI I ( 194 3), 322 -342 .
Alle n., Don Cara eron . "'lhe Leg end of Noa h: Ren aiss anc e
Rat iona lism in Art , Scie nce , and Let ters ," Illi noi s
.>
Stu dies in Language and Lit era ture , XX.XIII {1949).
Bal d, R. C. Donne and the Dru ryso Cam brid ge, ~ng land , 1959.
Ben nett , Joan . rev . of Mar jori e H. Nic olso n, The Bre akin g
of the Cir cle {~v anst on, Ill. , 195 0), RES, n. s. III
TI9 ~, 178 -180 .
~ Ben nett , Joan . Fou r Met anh ysic al foe ts. 2nd ed. Lon don , 195 3.
Ben nett , R. ~. "Do nne 's Let ters from the Con tine nt in
161 1-12 ," f.Q, XLX (194 0}, 66-7 8.

Bew ley, Mar ius. "Re ligi ous Cyn icis m in Don ne's Poe try, "
-
KR, XIV (195 2), 619 -646 .
Bre dvo ld, Lou is I. rev. of Mary Pato n Ramsay, Les Doc trin es
Med ieva les Chez Don ne, Le Poe te Met aph ;sic ien De L'A ngle terr e,
2nd ed. {London, 192 2),J EGP , XXI {192 ), 347 -E3 .
Bre dvo ld, Lou is I. "The Rel igio us Tho ugh t of Don ne in Rel atio n
to ~1ed ieva l and Lat er irra. di tion s, 11 in Stu dies in Sha kesp eare ,
Mil ton 9 a.nd Don ne, Uni ver sity o.f Mic higa n Pub lica tion s,
Languag~~ and Lite ratu re 9 I (192 5), 191 -232 .
Bual 1, Dou glas o "Sc ienc e and Lite ratu re," in Sev ente enth
Cen tury pcie nce and the Art s, ed_. Hedle\y H. Rhy s.
Prin ceto n, 1961. pn. 29-5 8.
Cof fin, Cha rles M., ed. The Com nlet e Poe trI and Sel ecte d
Pro se of John Don ne., by John Don ne. New Yor k, ·19.52;
-- -- -- -- -
Cof fins , Cha rles }1. John Don ne and the New Phi leao phy .
New York, 193 7.
Cou rttlo ne, w. J. !IH isto ry of ~ng lisp foe try. 6 vol s.
Lon don , 191 1.

... . .......... . . ....... ····--··

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I

f:; · -~• ".--·

~f
:""'
'.
I •
.._.,.,..
~
~---"·
... ,
..,,.,,
,,_, _ _ ..,... ....... -,.,.,.,,
-~c ;·,-, • .•••• • ••• '
, ' •
t " ' \ . ' ·--·,., • • • ' ... _ , , ,. .,(.,, ...
.
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.,.
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. . , . , .. .) '."14' · r • , .--,~~'1" 11jia••- _,..,., ,, *'j. , ' '

~,
11.'

l
Cr um , Ra lph B. Sc ie nt if ic Thou,gh t !E: !'o et ry . New Yo rk , 1931.
Dr yd en , Jo hn . The ~io rks of Dr yd en , ed.e W
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