_So to
entergraft
our hands.
John Donne
18-20), the new insight (ll.
29-33), the contact and union
of the souls (l. 35). Donne had probably read Ficino's translation of
Plotinus (1492), but the doctrine of ecstasy passed into Christian
thought, connecting itself especially with the experience of St. Paul
(2 Cor. xii. 2). St. Paul's word is [Greek: harpagenta], and Aquinas
distinguishes between 'raptus' and 'ecstasis': 'Extasis importat
simpliciter excessum a seipso . . . raptus super hoc addit violentiam
quandam. ' Another word for 'ecstasy' was 'enthusiasm'.
l. 9.
_So to entergraft our hands. _ All the later editions read
'engraft', which makes the line smoother. But to me it seems more
probable that Donne wrote 'entergraft' and later editors changed this
to 'engraft', than that the opposite should have happened. Moreover,
'entergraft' gives the reciprocal force correctly, which 'engraft'
does not. Donne's precision is as marked as his subtlety. 'Entergraft'
has the support of all the best MSS.
PAGE =52=, l. 20. _And wee said nothing all the day. _ 'En amour un
silence vaut mieux qu'un langage. Il est bon d'etre interdit; il y
a une eloquence de silence qui penetre plus que la langue ne saurait
faire. Qu'un amant persuade bien sa maitresse quand il est interdit,
et que d'ailleurs il a de l'esprit! Quelque vivacite que l'on ait,
il est bon dans certaines rencontres qu'elle s'eteigne. Tout cela se
passe sans regle et sans reflexion; et quand l'esprit le fait, il n'y
pensait pas auparavant. C'est par necessite que cela arrive. ' Pascal,
_Discours sur les passions de l'amour_.
of the souls (l. 35). Donne had probably read Ficino's translation of
Plotinus (1492), but the doctrine of ecstasy passed into Christian
thought, connecting itself especially with the experience of St. Paul
(2 Cor. xii. 2). St. Paul's word is [Greek: harpagenta], and Aquinas
distinguishes between 'raptus' and 'ecstasis': 'Extasis importat
simpliciter excessum a seipso . . . raptus super hoc addit violentiam
quandam. ' Another word for 'ecstasy' was 'enthusiasm'.
l. 9.
_So to entergraft our hands. _ All the later editions read
'engraft', which makes the line smoother. But to me it seems more
probable that Donne wrote 'entergraft' and later editors changed this
to 'engraft', than that the opposite should have happened. Moreover,
'entergraft' gives the reciprocal force correctly, which 'engraft'
does not. Donne's precision is as marked as his subtlety. 'Entergraft'
has the support of all the best MSS.
PAGE =52=, l. 20. _And wee said nothing all the day. _ 'En amour un
silence vaut mieux qu'un langage. Il est bon d'etre interdit; il y
a une eloquence de silence qui penetre plus que la langue ne saurait
faire. Qu'un amant persuade bien sa maitresse quand il est interdit,
et que d'ailleurs il a de l'esprit! Quelque vivacite que l'on ait,
il est bon dans certaines rencontres qu'elle s'eteigne. Tout cela se
passe sans regle et sans reflexion; et quand l'esprit le fait, il n'y
pensait pas auparavant. C'est par necessite que cela arrive. ' Pascal,
_Discours sur les passions de l'amour_.
