It seems to have puzzled
copyists
and editors,
who amend it in various ways.
who amend it in various ways.
John Donne
Donne's is a low allusion to a licentious
quibble used at that time by the enemies of the English Liturgy, who,
disliking the frequent invocations in the Litanie, called them the
_taking God's name in vain_, which is the Scripture periphrasis for
swearing. '
l. 36. _tenements. _ Drummond in _HN_ writes 'torments', probably a
conjectural emendation. Drummond was not so well versed in Scholastic
Philosophy as Donne.
l. 44. _But a scarce Poet. _ This is the reading of the best MSS. , and
I have adopted it in preference to 'But scarce a Poet', which is an
awkward phrase and does not express what the writer means. Donne does
not say that he is barely a poet, but that he is a bad poet. Donne
uses 'scarce' thus as an adjective again in _Satyre IV_, l. 4 (where
see note) and l. 240.
It seems to have puzzled copyists and editors,
who amend it in various ways. By 'jollier of this state' he means
'prouder of this state', using the word as in 'jolly statesmen', I. 7.
l. 48. '_language of the Pleas and Bench. _' See Introductory Note for
legal diction in love-sonnets.
PAGE =152=, ll. 62-3. _but men which chuse
Law practise for meere gaine, bold soule, repute. _
The unpunctuated 'for meere gaine bold soule repute' of _1633-69_ and
most MSS. has caused considerable trouble to the editors and copyists.
One way out of the difficulty, 'bold souls repute,' appears in
Chambers' edition as an emendation, and before that in Tonson's
edition (1719), whence it was copied by all the editions to Chalmers'
(1810). Lowell's conjecture, 'hold soules repute,' had been anticipated
in some MSS. There is no real difficulty. I had comma'd the words
'bold soule' before I examined _Q_, which places them in brackets,
a common means in old books of indicating an apostrophe.
quibble used at that time by the enemies of the English Liturgy, who,
disliking the frequent invocations in the Litanie, called them the
_taking God's name in vain_, which is the Scripture periphrasis for
swearing. '
l. 36. _tenements. _ Drummond in _HN_ writes 'torments', probably a
conjectural emendation. Drummond was not so well versed in Scholastic
Philosophy as Donne.
l. 44. _But a scarce Poet. _ This is the reading of the best MSS. , and
I have adopted it in preference to 'But scarce a Poet', which is an
awkward phrase and does not express what the writer means. Donne does
not say that he is barely a poet, but that he is a bad poet. Donne
uses 'scarce' thus as an adjective again in _Satyre IV_, l. 4 (where
see note) and l. 240.
It seems to have puzzled copyists and editors,
who amend it in various ways. By 'jollier of this state' he means
'prouder of this state', using the word as in 'jolly statesmen', I. 7.
l. 48. '_language of the Pleas and Bench. _' See Introductory Note for
legal diction in love-sonnets.
PAGE =152=, ll. 62-3. _but men which chuse
Law practise for meere gaine, bold soule, repute. _
The unpunctuated 'for meere gaine bold soule repute' of _1633-69_ and
most MSS. has caused considerable trouble to the editors and copyists.
One way out of the difficulty, 'bold souls repute,' appears in
Chambers' edition as an emendation, and before that in Tonson's
edition (1719), whence it was copied by all the editions to Chalmers'
(1810). Lowell's conjecture, 'hold soules repute,' had been anticipated
in some MSS. There is no real difficulty. I had comma'd the words
'bold soule' before I examined _Q_, which places them in brackets,
a common means in old books of indicating an apostrophe.
