_
If, as mine is, thy life a slumber be,
Seeme, when thou read'st these lines, to dreame of me,
Never did Morpheus nor his brother weare
Shapes soe like those Shapes, whom they would appeare,
As this my letter is like me, for it 5
Hath my name, words, hand, feet, heart, minde and wit;
It is my deed of gift of mee to thee,
It is my Will, my selfe the Legacie.
If, as mine is, thy life a slumber be,
Seeme, when thou read'st these lines, to dreame of me,
Never did Morpheus nor his brother weare
Shapes soe like those Shapes, whom they would appeare,
As this my letter is like me, for it 5
Hath my name, words, hand, feet, heart, minde and wit;
It is my deed of gift of mee to thee,
It is my Will, my selfe the Legacie.
John Donne
20
[To M^r E. G. _W:_ _first printed in Gosse's_ Life and Letters
of John Donne, _&c. _ 1899]
[5-6 beene, . . . London,] _no commas_, _W_]
[6 staying] staing _W_]
[7 dearth] dirth _W_]
[7-8 posses, . . . emptines;] posses . . . emptines. _W_]
To M^r _R. W.
_
If, as mine is, thy life a slumber be,
Seeme, when thou read'st these lines, to dreame of me,
Never did Morpheus nor his brother weare
Shapes soe like those Shapes, whom they would appeare,
As this my letter is like me, for it 5
Hath my name, words, hand, feet, heart, minde and wit;
It is my deed of gift of mee to thee,
It is my Will, my selfe the Legacie.
So thy retyrings I love, yea envie,
Bred in thee by a wise melancholy, 10
That I rejoyce, that unto where thou art,
Though I stay here, I can thus send my heart,
As kindly'as any enamored Patient
His Picture to his absent Love hath sent.
All newes I thinke sooner reach thee then mee; 15
Havens are Heavens, and Ships wing'd Angels be,
The which both Gospell, and sterne threatnings bring;
Guyanaes harvest is nip'd in the spring,
I feare; And with us (me thinkes) Fate deales so
As with the Jewes guide God did; he did show 20
Him the rich land, but bar'd his entry in:
Oh, slownes is our punishment and sinne.
Perchance, these Spanish businesse being done,
Which as the Earth betweene the Moone and Sun
Eclipse the light which Guyana would give, 25
Our discontinued hopes we shall retrive:
But if (as all th'All must) hopes smoake away,
Is not Almightie Vertue'an India?
If men be worlds, there is in every one
Some thing to answere in some proportion 30
All the worlds riches: And in good men, this,
Vertue, our formes forme and our soules soule, is.
[To M^r R. W. _A18_, _A23_, _N_, _O'F_, _TCC_, _TCD_, _W:_ To
M. R. W. _1633-69:_ _no breaks_, _W:__ two stanzas of fourteen
lines and a quatrain_, _1633:_ _twenty-eight lines continuous
and a quatrain_, _1633-69_]
[3 brother _1633-69_, _A18_, _N_, _O'F_, _TC:_ brethren _W_]
[6 hand,] hands _O'F_, _TC_]
[21 in: _1650-69_, _W:_ in, _1633-39_]
[22 Oh, _A23_, _N_, _O'F_, _TC:_ Ah, _W:_ Our _1633-69_
sinne. _W:_ sinne; _1633-69_]
[23 businesse _1633_, _A18_, _N_, _TC:_ busnesses _W:_
businesses _1635-69_
done] donne _W_]
[27 all th'All _W:_ All th'All _1633-69_]
[31 men, this, _Ed:_ men, this _1633-69_]
[32 soules soule, is. _Chambers:_ soules soule is. _1633-69_]
To M^r _R. W. _
Kindly I envy thy songs perfection
Built of all th'elements as our bodyes are:
That Litle of earth that is in it, is a faire
Delicious garden where all sweetes are sowne.
[To M^r E. G. _W:_ _first printed in Gosse's_ Life and Letters
of John Donne, _&c. _ 1899]
[5-6 beene, . . . London,] _no commas_, _W_]
[6 staying] staing _W_]
[7 dearth] dirth _W_]
[7-8 posses, . . . emptines;] posses . . . emptines. _W_]
To M^r _R. W.
_
If, as mine is, thy life a slumber be,
Seeme, when thou read'st these lines, to dreame of me,
Never did Morpheus nor his brother weare
Shapes soe like those Shapes, whom they would appeare,
As this my letter is like me, for it 5
Hath my name, words, hand, feet, heart, minde and wit;
It is my deed of gift of mee to thee,
It is my Will, my selfe the Legacie.
So thy retyrings I love, yea envie,
Bred in thee by a wise melancholy, 10
That I rejoyce, that unto where thou art,
Though I stay here, I can thus send my heart,
As kindly'as any enamored Patient
His Picture to his absent Love hath sent.
All newes I thinke sooner reach thee then mee; 15
Havens are Heavens, and Ships wing'd Angels be,
The which both Gospell, and sterne threatnings bring;
Guyanaes harvest is nip'd in the spring,
I feare; And with us (me thinkes) Fate deales so
As with the Jewes guide God did; he did show 20
Him the rich land, but bar'd his entry in:
Oh, slownes is our punishment and sinne.
Perchance, these Spanish businesse being done,
Which as the Earth betweene the Moone and Sun
Eclipse the light which Guyana would give, 25
Our discontinued hopes we shall retrive:
But if (as all th'All must) hopes smoake away,
Is not Almightie Vertue'an India?
If men be worlds, there is in every one
Some thing to answere in some proportion 30
All the worlds riches: And in good men, this,
Vertue, our formes forme and our soules soule, is.
[To M^r R. W. _A18_, _A23_, _N_, _O'F_, _TCC_, _TCD_, _W:_ To
M. R. W. _1633-69:_ _no breaks_, _W:__ two stanzas of fourteen
lines and a quatrain_, _1633:_ _twenty-eight lines continuous
and a quatrain_, _1633-69_]
[3 brother _1633-69_, _A18_, _N_, _O'F_, _TC:_ brethren _W_]
[6 hand,] hands _O'F_, _TC_]
[21 in: _1650-69_, _W:_ in, _1633-39_]
[22 Oh, _A23_, _N_, _O'F_, _TC:_ Ah, _W:_ Our _1633-69_
sinne. _W:_ sinne; _1633-69_]
[23 businesse _1633_, _A18_, _N_, _TC:_ busnesses _W:_
businesses _1635-69_
done] donne _W_]
[27 all th'All _W:_ All th'All _1633-69_]
[31 men, this, _Ed:_ men, this _1633-69_]
[32 soules soule, is. _Chambers:_ soules soule is. _1633-69_]
To M^r _R. W. _
Kindly I envy thy songs perfection
Built of all th'elements as our bodyes are:
That Litle of earth that is in it, is a faire
Delicious garden where all sweetes are sowne.
