14) Donne's pledge of affection if
he lives, his testament if he dies.
he lives, his testament if he dies.
John Donne
30.
_thy zanee_, i.
e.
thy imitator, as the Merry-Andrew
imitates the Mountebank:
He's like the Zani to a tumbler
That tries tricks after him to make men laugh.
Jonson, _Every Man out of his Humour_, IV. i.
PAGE =205=. TO M^r T. W.
l. 1. _Haste thee, &c. _ By the lines 5-6, supplied from _W_, this poem
is restored to the compass of a sonnet, though a very irregular one in
form. The letter is evidently written from London, where the plague is
prevalent. The letter is to be (l.
14) Donne's pledge of affection if
he lives, his testament if he dies.
PAGE =206=. TO M^r T. W.
l. 5. _hand and eye_ is the reading of all the MSS. , including _W_.
It is written in the latter with a contraction which could easily be
mistaken for 'or'.
TO M^r T. W.
l. 3. _I to the Nurse, they to the child of Art. _ The 'Nurse of Art'
is probably Leisure, 'I to my soft still walks':
And add to these retired Leisure,
That in trim gardens takes his pleasure.
According to Aristotle, all the higher, more intellectual arts, as
distinct from those which supply necessities or add to the pleasures
of life, are the fruits of leisure: 'At first he who invented any art
that went beyond the common perceptions of man was naturally admired
by men, not only because there was something useful in the inventions,
but because he was thought wise and superior to the rest.
imitates the Mountebank:
He's like the Zani to a tumbler
That tries tricks after him to make men laugh.
Jonson, _Every Man out of his Humour_, IV. i.
PAGE =205=. TO M^r T. W.
l. 1. _Haste thee, &c. _ By the lines 5-6, supplied from _W_, this poem
is restored to the compass of a sonnet, though a very irregular one in
form. The letter is evidently written from London, where the plague is
prevalent. The letter is to be (l.
14) Donne's pledge of affection if
he lives, his testament if he dies.
PAGE =206=. TO M^r T. W.
l. 5. _hand and eye_ is the reading of all the MSS. , including _W_.
It is written in the latter with a contraction which could easily be
mistaken for 'or'.
TO M^r T. W.
l. 3. _I to the Nurse, they to the child of Art. _ The 'Nurse of Art'
is probably Leisure, 'I to my soft still walks':
And add to these retired Leisure,
That in trim gardens takes his pleasure.
According to Aristotle, all the higher, more intellectual arts, as
distinct from those which supply necessities or add to the pleasures
of life, are the fruits of leisure: 'At first he who invented any art
that went beyond the common perceptions of man was naturally admired
by men, not only because there was something useful in the inventions,
but because he was thought wise and superior to the rest.
