6:
Why should man be only ty'd
To a foolish Female thing,
When all Creatures else beside,
Birds and Beasts, change every Spring?
Why should man be only ty'd
To a foolish Female thing,
When all Creatures else beside,
Birds and Beasts, change every Spring?
John Donne
E.
D.
Not used in a contemptuous sense.
'_John_ the
Minion of _Christ_ upon earth, and survivor of the Apostles, (whose
books rather seem fallen from Heaven, and writ with the hand which
ingraved the stone Tables, then a mans work)' &c. _Sermons_ 50. 33.
309.
ll. 29 f. Dryden borrows:
Great God of Love, why hast thou made
A Face that can all Hearts command,
That all Religions can invade,
And change the Laws of ev'ry Land?
_A Song to a fair Young Lady Going out of Town in
the Spring. _
PAGE =36=. CONFINED LOVE.
Compare with this the poem _Loves Freedome_ in Beaumont's _Poems_
(1652), sig. E.
6:
Why should man be only ty'd
To a foolish Female thing,
When all Creatures else beside,
Birds and Beasts, change every Spring?
Who would then to one be bound,
When so many may be found?
The third verse runs:
Would you think him wise that now
Still one sort of meat doth eat,
When both Sea and Land allow
Sundry sorts of other meat?
Who would then, &c.
Poems on such themes were doubtless exercises of wit at which more
than one author tried his hand in rivalry with his fellows.
l. 16. _And not to seeke new lands, or not to deale withall. _ I have,
after some consideration, adhered to the _1633_ reading. Chambers has
adopted that of the later editions, taking the line to mean that a man
builds ships in order to seek new lands and to deal or trade with all
lands. But ships cannot trade with inland countries. The form 'withal'
is the regular one for 'with' when it follows the noun it governs.
'We build ships not to let them lie in harbours but to seek new lands
with, and to trade with. ' The MS. evidence is not of much assistance,
because it is not clear in all cases what 'w^{th} all' stands for. The
words were sometimes separated even when the simple preposition
was intended.
Minion of _Christ_ upon earth, and survivor of the Apostles, (whose
books rather seem fallen from Heaven, and writ with the hand which
ingraved the stone Tables, then a mans work)' &c. _Sermons_ 50. 33.
309.
ll. 29 f. Dryden borrows:
Great God of Love, why hast thou made
A Face that can all Hearts command,
That all Religions can invade,
And change the Laws of ev'ry Land?
_A Song to a fair Young Lady Going out of Town in
the Spring. _
PAGE =36=. CONFINED LOVE.
Compare with this the poem _Loves Freedome_ in Beaumont's _Poems_
(1652), sig. E.
6:
Why should man be only ty'd
To a foolish Female thing,
When all Creatures else beside,
Birds and Beasts, change every Spring?
Who would then to one be bound,
When so many may be found?
The third verse runs:
Would you think him wise that now
Still one sort of meat doth eat,
When both Sea and Land allow
Sundry sorts of other meat?
Who would then, &c.
Poems on such themes were doubtless exercises of wit at which more
than one author tried his hand in rivalry with his fellows.
l. 16. _And not to seeke new lands, or not to deale withall. _ I have,
after some consideration, adhered to the _1633_ reading. Chambers has
adopted that of the later editions, taking the line to mean that a man
builds ships in order to seek new lands and to deal or trade with all
lands. But ships cannot trade with inland countries. The form 'withal'
is the regular one for 'with' when it follows the noun it governs.
'We build ships not to let them lie in harbours but to seek new lands
with, and to trade with. ' The MS. evidence is not of much assistance,
because it is not clear in all cases what 'w^{th} all' stands for. The
words were sometimes separated even when the simple preposition
was intended.
