In _1635-69_ the
somewhat
redundant 'rash' has been
altered to 'harsh'.
altered to 'harsh'.
John Donne
Clearly the line has
undergone some remodelling. My own view is that the earliest form is
suggested by _B_, _S_, _S96_,
With Cares rash sudden storms o'rpressed,
where 'o'erpress' means 'conquer, overwhelm'. Compare Shakespeare's
but in my sight
Deare heart forbear to glance thine eye aside.
What need'st thou wound with cunning when thy might
Is more than my o'erprest defence can bide.
_Sonnets_, 139. 8.
He bestrid an o'erpressed Roman.
_Coriolanus_, II. ii. 97.
To begin with, Donne described his grey hairs by a bold synecdoche,
leaving the greyness to be inferred: 'My head o'erwhelmed,
o'ermastered by Cares storms. ' But 'o'erpressed' was harshly used and
was easily changed to 'o'erspread', which was made more appropriate by
substituting the effect, 'hoariness,' for the cause, 'Cares storms. '
This is what we find in _JC_ and such a good MS. as _W_:
With cares rash sudden horiness o'erspread.
In _B_ and _P_ 'cruel' has been inserted to complete the verse
when 'o'erpressed' was contracted to 'o'erprest' or changed to
'o'erspread'.
In _1635-69_ the somewhat redundant 'rash' has been
altered to 'harsh'.
With cares harsh, sodaine horinesse o'rspread.
The image is more easily apprehended, and this may be Donne's final
version, but the original (if my view is correct) was bolder, and more
in the style of Shakespeare's
That time of yeeare thou maist in me behold,
When yellow leaues, or none, or few doe hange
Vpon those boughes which shake against the could,
Bare ruin'd quiers, where late the sweet birds sang.
_Sonnets_, 72. 1-4.
l. 16. _Should now love lesse, what hee did love to see. _ Here again
there has been some recasting of the original by Donne or an editor.
Most MSS. read:
Should like and love less what hee did love to see.
To 'like and love' was an Elizabethan combination:
And yet we both make shew we like and love.
Farmer, _Chetham MS. _ (ed. Grosart), i. 90.
undergone some remodelling. My own view is that the earliest form is
suggested by _B_, _S_, _S96_,
With Cares rash sudden storms o'rpressed,
where 'o'erpress' means 'conquer, overwhelm'. Compare Shakespeare's
but in my sight
Deare heart forbear to glance thine eye aside.
What need'st thou wound with cunning when thy might
Is more than my o'erprest defence can bide.
_Sonnets_, 139. 8.
He bestrid an o'erpressed Roman.
_Coriolanus_, II. ii. 97.
To begin with, Donne described his grey hairs by a bold synecdoche,
leaving the greyness to be inferred: 'My head o'erwhelmed,
o'ermastered by Cares storms. ' But 'o'erpressed' was harshly used and
was easily changed to 'o'erspread', which was made more appropriate by
substituting the effect, 'hoariness,' for the cause, 'Cares storms. '
This is what we find in _JC_ and such a good MS. as _W_:
With cares rash sudden horiness o'erspread.
In _B_ and _P_ 'cruel' has been inserted to complete the verse
when 'o'erpressed' was contracted to 'o'erprest' or changed to
'o'erspread'.
In _1635-69_ the somewhat redundant 'rash' has been
altered to 'harsh'.
With cares harsh, sodaine horinesse o'rspread.
The image is more easily apprehended, and this may be Donne's final
version, but the original (if my view is correct) was bolder, and more
in the style of Shakespeare's
That time of yeeare thou maist in me behold,
When yellow leaues, or none, or few doe hange
Vpon those boughes which shake against the could,
Bare ruin'd quiers, where late the sweet birds sang.
_Sonnets_, 72. 1-4.
l. 16. _Should now love lesse, what hee did love to see. _ Here again
there has been some recasting of the original by Donne or an editor.
Most MSS. read:
Should like and love less what hee did love to see.
To 'like and love' was an Elizabethan combination:
And yet we both make shew we like and love.
Farmer, _Chetham MS. _ (ed. Grosart), i. 90.
