How widely it
circulated
in MS.
John Donne
Between two stools
the Breech comes to the Ground. '
The caricature is etched by G. Cruikshank and is dated 1808.
The 'Maceron' which was inserted in _1635_ is not a misprint, but a
pseudo-correction by some one who did not recognize 'mucheron' and
knew that Donne had elsewhere used 'maceron' for a fop or puppy (see
p. 163, l. 117).
'Mushrome', the spelling of the word in _G_, is found also in the
_Sermons_ (80. 73. 748).
l. 22. _which Eve eate_: 'eate' is of course the past tense, and
should be 'ate' in modernized editions, not 'eat' as in Chambers's and
the Grolier Club editions.
THE PROGRESSE OF THE SOULE.
The strange poem _The Progresse of the Soule_, or _Metempsychosis_, is
dated by Donne himself, 16 Augusti 1601. The different use of the
same title which Donne made later to describe the progress of the
soul heavenward, after its release from the body, shows that he had no
intention of publishing the poem.
How widely it circulated in MS. we
do not know, but I know of three copies only which are extant, viz.
_G_, _O'F_, and that given in the group _A18_, _N_, _TCC_, _TCD_.
It was from the last that the text of _1633_ was printed, the editor
supplying the punctuation, which in the MS. is scanty. In some copies
of _1633_ the same omissions of words occur as in the MS. but the poem
was corrected in several places as it passed through the press.
_G_, though not without mistakes itself, supplies some important
emendations.
The sole light from without which has been thrown upon the poem comes
from Ben Jonson's conversations with Drummond: 'The conceit of Dones
Transformation or [Greek: Metempsychosis] was that he sought the soule
of that aple which Eve pulled and thereafter made it the soule of a
bitch, then of a shee wolf, and so of a woman; his generall purpose
was to have brought in all the bodies of the Hereticks from the soule
of Cain, and at last left in the bodie of Calvin. Of this he never
wrotte but one sheet, and now, since he was made Doctor, repenteth
highlie and seeketh to destroy all his poems. '
Jonson was clearly recalling the poem somewhat inaccurately, and
at the same time giving the substance of what Donne had told him.
Probably Donne mystified him on purpose, for it is evident from the
poem that in his first intention Queen Elizabeth herself was to be the
soul's last host. It is impossible to attach any other meaning to the
seventh stanza; and that intention also explains the bitter tone in
which women are satirized in the fragment. Women and courtiers are
the chief subject of Donne's sardonic satire in this poem, as of
Shakespeare's in _Hamlet_.
I have indicated elsewhere what I think is the most probable motive
of the poem. It reflects the mood of mind into which Donne, like many
others, was thrown by the tragic fate of Essex in the spring of the
year.
the Breech comes to the Ground. '
The caricature is etched by G. Cruikshank and is dated 1808.
The 'Maceron' which was inserted in _1635_ is not a misprint, but a
pseudo-correction by some one who did not recognize 'mucheron' and
knew that Donne had elsewhere used 'maceron' for a fop or puppy (see
p. 163, l. 117).
'Mushrome', the spelling of the word in _G_, is found also in the
_Sermons_ (80. 73. 748).
l. 22. _which Eve eate_: 'eate' is of course the past tense, and
should be 'ate' in modernized editions, not 'eat' as in Chambers's and
the Grolier Club editions.
THE PROGRESSE OF THE SOULE.
The strange poem _The Progresse of the Soule_, or _Metempsychosis_, is
dated by Donne himself, 16 Augusti 1601. The different use of the
same title which Donne made later to describe the progress of the
soul heavenward, after its release from the body, shows that he had no
intention of publishing the poem.
How widely it circulated in MS. we
do not know, but I know of three copies only which are extant, viz.
_G_, _O'F_, and that given in the group _A18_, _N_, _TCC_, _TCD_.
It was from the last that the text of _1633_ was printed, the editor
supplying the punctuation, which in the MS. is scanty. In some copies
of _1633_ the same omissions of words occur as in the MS. but the poem
was corrected in several places as it passed through the press.
_G_, though not without mistakes itself, supplies some important
emendations.
The sole light from without which has been thrown upon the poem comes
from Ben Jonson's conversations with Drummond: 'The conceit of Dones
Transformation or [Greek: Metempsychosis] was that he sought the soule
of that aple which Eve pulled and thereafter made it the soule of a
bitch, then of a shee wolf, and so of a woman; his generall purpose
was to have brought in all the bodies of the Hereticks from the soule
of Cain, and at last left in the bodie of Calvin. Of this he never
wrotte but one sheet, and now, since he was made Doctor, repenteth
highlie and seeketh to destroy all his poems. '
Jonson was clearly recalling the poem somewhat inaccurately, and
at the same time giving the substance of what Donne had told him.
Probably Donne mystified him on purpose, for it is evident from the
poem that in his first intention Queen Elizabeth herself was to be the
soul's last host. It is impossible to attach any other meaning to the
seventh stanza; and that intention also explains the bitter tone in
which women are satirized in the fragment. Women and courtiers are
the chief subject of Donne's sardonic satire in this poem, as of
Shakespeare's in _Hamlet_.
I have indicated elsewhere what I think is the most probable motive
of the poem. It reflects the mood of mind into which Donne, like many
others, was thrown by the tragic fate of Essex in the spring of the
year.
