Both the change and the
suggestion
imply some misapprehension
of the reference of these lines, which is to the preceding verse:
For our ease, give thine eyes th'unusual part
Of joy, a Teare.
of the reference of these lines, which is to the preceding verse:
For our ease, give thine eyes th'unusual part
Of joy, a Teare.
John Donne
He has spoken of _her_ flaming eyes, and now that he
identifies the lovers, that identity must be complete. Both the eyes
of both are lit with the same flame, both their hearts kindled at the
same fire. Compare later: 225. 'One fire of foure inflaming eyes,' &c.
l. 129. _Yet let_ _A23_, _O'F_. The first of these MSS. is an early
copy of the poem. 'Yet' improves both the sense and the metre. It
would be easily dropped from its likeness to 'let' suggesting a
duplication of that word.
PAGE =137=, l. 150. _Who can the Sun in water see. _ The Grolier Club
edition alters the full stop here to a semicolon; and Chambers quotes
the reading of _A18_, _N_, _TC_, 'winter' for 'water', as worth
noting.
Both the change and the suggestion imply some misapprehension
of the reference of these lines, which is to the preceding verse:
For our ease, give thine eyes th'unusual part
Of joy, a Teare.
The opening of a stanza with two lines which in thought belong to the
previous one is not unprecedented in Donne's poems. Compare the sixth
stanza of _A Valediction: of my name in the window_, and note.
Dryden has borrowed this image--like many another of Donne's:
Muse down again precipitate thy flight;
For how can mortal eyes sustain immortal light?
But as the sun in water we can bear,
Yet not the sun, but his reflection there,
So let us view her here in what she was,
And take her image in this watery glass.
_Eleonora_, ll. 134-9.
l. 156. _as their spheares are. _ The crystalline sphere in which each
planet is fixed.
PAGE =138=, ll. 171-81. _The Benediction. _ The accurate punctuation
of Donne's poetry is not an easy matter. In the 1633 edition the last
five lines of this stanza have no stronger stop than a comma.
identifies the lovers, that identity must be complete. Both the eyes
of both are lit with the same flame, both their hearts kindled at the
same fire. Compare later: 225. 'One fire of foure inflaming eyes,' &c.
l. 129. _Yet let_ _A23_, _O'F_. The first of these MSS. is an early
copy of the poem. 'Yet' improves both the sense and the metre. It
would be easily dropped from its likeness to 'let' suggesting a
duplication of that word.
PAGE =137=, l. 150. _Who can the Sun in water see. _ The Grolier Club
edition alters the full stop here to a semicolon; and Chambers quotes
the reading of _A18_, _N_, _TC_, 'winter' for 'water', as worth
noting.
Both the change and the suggestion imply some misapprehension
of the reference of these lines, which is to the preceding verse:
For our ease, give thine eyes th'unusual part
Of joy, a Teare.
The opening of a stanza with two lines which in thought belong to the
previous one is not unprecedented in Donne's poems. Compare the sixth
stanza of _A Valediction: of my name in the window_, and note.
Dryden has borrowed this image--like many another of Donne's:
Muse down again precipitate thy flight;
For how can mortal eyes sustain immortal light?
But as the sun in water we can bear,
Yet not the sun, but his reflection there,
So let us view her here in what she was,
And take her image in this watery glass.
_Eleonora_, ll. 134-9.
l. 156. _as their spheares are. _ The crystalline sphere in which each
planet is fixed.
PAGE =138=, ll. 171-81. _The Benediction. _ The accurate punctuation
of Donne's poetry is not an easy matter. In the 1633 edition the last
five lines of this stanza have no stronger stop than a comma.
