An
unpublished
_Problem_ shows his knowledge of
John of Salisbury.
John of Salisbury.
John Donne
ll. 30-2. _who made thee to stand Sentinell, &c. _ 'Souldier' is the
reading of what is perhaps the older version of the _Satyres_. It
would do as well: 'Quare et tibi, Publi, et piis omnibus retinendus
est animus in custodia corporis; nec iniussu eius a quo ille est
vobis datus ex hominum vita migrandum est, ne munus assignatum a Deo
defugisse videamini. ' Cicero, _Somnium Scipionis_.
'Veteres quidem philosophiae principes, Pythagoras et Plotinus,
prohibitionis huius non tam creatores sunt quam praecones, omnino
illicitum esse dicentes _quempiam militiae servientem a praesidio et
commissa sibi statione discedere_ contra ducis vel principis iussum.
Plane eleganti exemplo usi sunt eo quod militia est vita hominis super
terram. ' John of Salisbury, _Policrat. _ ii. 27.
Donne considers the rashness of those whom he refers to as a degree
of, an approach to, suicide. To expose ourselves to these perils we
abandon the moral warfare to which we are appointed. In his own work
on suicide ([Greek: BIATHANATOS], &c. ) Donne discusses the permissible
approaches to suicide.
An unpublished _Problem_ shows his knowledge of
John of Salisbury.
ll. 33-4. _Know thy foes, &c. _ I have followed the better MSS. here
against _1633_ and _L74_, _N_, _TCD_. The dropping of 's' after 'foe'
has probably led to the attempt to regularize the construction by
interjecting 'h'is'. Donne has three foes in view--the devil, the
world, and the flesh.
l. 35. _quit. _ Whether we read 'quit' or 'rid' the construction
is difficult. The phrase seems to mean 'to be free of his whole
Realm'--an unparalleled use of either adjective.
l. 36. _The worlds all parts.
