They took this to go with 'A monster and a beggar': 'I that ever was
a monster and a beggar in Natures and in Fortunes gifts.
a monster and a beggar in Natures and in Fortunes gifts.
John Donne
_But care not for me, &c.
_ These lines form a
crux in the textual criticism of Donne's poetry. I shall print them as
they stand in _W_:
But care not for mee: I y^t ever was
In natures & in fortunes guifts alas
Before thy grace got in the Muses schoole
A monster & a begger, am now a foole.
Some copies of the 1633 edition (including those used by myself and by
the Grolier Club editor) print these words, but obscure the meaning
by bracketing 'alas . . . schoole'. Other copies (e. g. that used by
Chambers) insert after 'Before' a 'by', which the Grolier Club editor
also does as a conjecture. The 1635 editor, probably following _O'F_,
resorted to another device to clear up the sense and changed 'Before'
to 'But for', which Grosart and Chambers follow. The majority of
the MSS. , however, agree with _W_, and the case illustrates well the
difficulties which beset an eclectic use of the editions.
If the bracket in _1633_ is dropt, or rearranged as in the text, the
reading is correct and intelligible. The printers and editors have
been misled by Donne's phrase, 'In Natures, and in Fortunes gifts'.
They took this to go with 'A monster and a beggar': 'I that ever was
a monster and a beggar in Natures and in Fortunes gifts. ' This is a
strange expression, taken, I suppose, to mean that Donne never enjoyed
the blessings either of Nature or of Fortune. But what Donne says
is somewhat different. The phrase 'I that ever was in Natures and
in Fortunes gifts' means 'I that ever was the Almsman of Nature and
Fortune'. Donne is using metaphorically a phrase of which the O. E. D.
quotes a single instance: 'I live in Henry the 7th's Gifts' (i. e.
his Almshouses). T. Barker, _The Art of Angling_ (1651). The whole
sentence might be paraphrased thus: 'I, who was ever the Almsman of
Nature and Fortune, am now a fool. ' Parenthetically he adds, 'Till
thy grace begot me, a monster and a beggar, in the Muses' school'.
Possibly 'and a beggar' should be left outside the brackets and taken
with 'In Natures and in Fortunes gifts': 'I, that _was_ an almsman
and beggar, was by you begotten a poet, though a monstrous one;'
('monster' goes properly with 'got') 'and am now a fool'--possibly the
last allusion is to his rash marriage. Donne's prose and verse of
the years following 1601 are full of this melancholy depreciation of
himself and his lot.
crux in the textual criticism of Donne's poetry. I shall print them as
they stand in _W_:
But care not for mee: I y^t ever was
In natures & in fortunes guifts alas
Before thy grace got in the Muses schoole
A monster & a begger, am now a foole.
Some copies of the 1633 edition (including those used by myself and by
the Grolier Club editor) print these words, but obscure the meaning
by bracketing 'alas . . . schoole'. Other copies (e. g. that used by
Chambers) insert after 'Before' a 'by', which the Grolier Club editor
also does as a conjecture. The 1635 editor, probably following _O'F_,
resorted to another device to clear up the sense and changed 'Before'
to 'But for', which Grosart and Chambers follow. The majority of
the MSS. , however, agree with _W_, and the case illustrates well the
difficulties which beset an eclectic use of the editions.
If the bracket in _1633_ is dropt, or rearranged as in the text, the
reading is correct and intelligible. The printers and editors have
been misled by Donne's phrase, 'In Natures, and in Fortunes gifts'.
They took this to go with 'A monster and a beggar': 'I that ever was
a monster and a beggar in Natures and in Fortunes gifts. ' This is a
strange expression, taken, I suppose, to mean that Donne never enjoyed
the blessings either of Nature or of Fortune. But what Donne says
is somewhat different. The phrase 'I that ever was in Natures and
in Fortunes gifts' means 'I that ever was the Almsman of Nature and
Fortune'. Donne is using metaphorically a phrase of which the O. E. D.
quotes a single instance: 'I live in Henry the 7th's Gifts' (i. e.
his Almshouses). T. Barker, _The Art of Angling_ (1651). The whole
sentence might be paraphrased thus: 'I, who was ever the Almsman of
Nature and Fortune, am now a fool. ' Parenthetically he adds, 'Till
thy grace begot me, a monster and a beggar, in the Muses' school'.
Possibly 'and a beggar' should be left outside the brackets and taken
with 'In Natures and in Fortunes gifts': 'I, that _was_ an almsman
and beggar, was by you begotten a poet, though a monstrous one;'
('monster' goes properly with 'got') 'and am now a fool'--possibly the
last allusion is to his rash marriage. Donne's prose and verse of
the years following 1601 are full of this melancholy depreciation of
himself and his lot.
