There is certainly no call for
brackets
as we use them,
and the 1633 edition is more sparing of them in this poem than the
later editions.
and the 1633 edition is more sparing of them in this poem than the
later editions.
John Donne
Without 'Of these' it is difficult to give a precise
meaning to 'instinct'. It would be easy to change 'a such' to 'such
a' with most of the MSS. , but Donne seems to have affected this order.
Compare _Elegie X: The Dreame_, p. 95, l. 17:
After a such fruition I shall wake.
PAGE =341=, l. 86. _In Abel dye. _ Abel was to the early Church a type
of Christ, as being the first martyr.
PAGE =343=, ll. 122-4. One might omit the brackets in these lines and
substitute a semicolon after 'hearken too' and a comma after 'and
do', and make the sense clearer. The MSS. bear evidence to their
difficulty.
There is certainly no call for brackets as we use them,
and the 1633 edition is more sparing of them in this poem than the
later editions. What Donne says is: 'While this quire' (enumerated in
the previous stanzas) 'prays for us and thou hearkenest to them, let
not us whose duty is to pray, to endure patiently, and to do thy will,
trust in their prayers so far as to forget our duty of obedience and
service. '
PAGE =347=, l. 231. _Which well, if we starve, dine_: 'well' has the
support of all the MSS. and may be the adverb placed before its verb.
'If we starve they dine well. ' In this wire-drawn and tormented poem
it is hard to say what Donne may not have written. Most of the editors
read 'will', and this appears in some copies of _1633_.
l. 243. _Heare us, weake ecchoes, O thou eare, and cry. _ The 'cry' of
the editions is surely right. God is at once the source of our prayers
and their answerer. Our prayers are echoes of what His grace inspires
in our hearts. The 'eye' of _S_ and other MSS.
meaning to 'instinct'. It would be easy to change 'a such' to 'such
a' with most of the MSS. , but Donne seems to have affected this order.
Compare _Elegie X: The Dreame_, p. 95, l. 17:
After a such fruition I shall wake.
PAGE =341=, l. 86. _In Abel dye. _ Abel was to the early Church a type
of Christ, as being the first martyr.
PAGE =343=, ll. 122-4. One might omit the brackets in these lines and
substitute a semicolon after 'hearken too' and a comma after 'and
do', and make the sense clearer. The MSS. bear evidence to their
difficulty.
There is certainly no call for brackets as we use them,
and the 1633 edition is more sparing of them in this poem than the
later editions. What Donne says is: 'While this quire' (enumerated in
the previous stanzas) 'prays for us and thou hearkenest to them, let
not us whose duty is to pray, to endure patiently, and to do thy will,
trust in their prayers so far as to forget our duty of obedience and
service. '
PAGE =347=, l. 231. _Which well, if we starve, dine_: 'well' has the
support of all the MSS. and may be the adverb placed before its verb.
'If we starve they dine well. ' In this wire-drawn and tormented poem
it is hard to say what Donne may not have written. Most of the editors
read 'will', and this appears in some copies of _1633_.
l. 243. _Heare us, weake ecchoes, O thou eare, and cry. _ The 'cry' of
the editions is surely right. God is at once the source of our prayers
and their answerer. Our prayers are echoes of what His grace inspires
in our hearts. The 'eye' of _S_ and other MSS.
