Analysis of Satire IV

John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)



Well; I may now receive, and die. My sin
   Indeed is great, but yet I have been in
   A purgatory, such as fear'd hell is
   A recreation and scant map of this.
   My mind, neither with pride's itch, nor yet hath been
   Poison'd with love to see, or to be seen.
   I had no suit there, nor new suit to show,
   Yet went to court; but as Glaze which did go
   To'a mass in jest, catch'd, was fain to disburse
  The hundred marks, which is the statute's curse,
  Before he 'scap'd; so'it pleas'd my destiny
  (Guilty of my sin of going) to think me
  As prone to all ill, and of good as forget{-}
  Full, as proud, as lustful, and as much in debt,
  As vain, as witless, and as false as they
  Which dwell in court, for once going that way.
  Therefore I suffered this; towards me did run
  A thing more strange, than on Nile's slime the sun
  E'er bred, or all which into Noah's ark came;
  A thing which would have pos'd Adam to name;
  Stranger than seven antiquaries' studies,
  Than Afric's monsters, Guiana's rarities;
  Stranger than strangers; one, who for a Dane,
  In the Danes' massacre had sure been slain,
  If he had liv'd then; and without help dies,
  When next the 'prentices 'gainst strangers rise;
  One, whom the watch, at noon, lets scarce go by;
  One, to whom the examining justice sure would cry,
  "Sir, by your priesthood, tell me what you are."
  His clothes were strange, though coarse; and black, though bare;
  Sleeveless his jerkin was, and it had been
  Velvet, but 'twas now (so much ground was seen)
  Become tufftaffaty; and our children shall
  See it plain rash awhile, then nought at all.
  This thing hath travell'd, and, saith, speaks all tongues,
  And only knoweth what to all states belongs.
  Made of th' accents and best phrase of all these,
  He speaks one language. If strange meats displease,
  Art can deceive, or hunger force my taste,
  But pedants' motley tongue, soldiers' bombast,
  Mountebanks' drug-tongue, nor the terms of law
  Are strong enough preparatives, to draw
  Me to bear this; yet I must be content
  With his tongue, in his tongue, call'd compliment;
  In which he can win widows, and pay scores,
  Make men speak treason, cozen subtlest whores,
  Out-flatter favourites, or outlie either
  Jovius, or Surius, or both together.
  He names me, and comes to me; I whisper, "God!
  How have I sinn'd, that Thy wrath's furious rod,
  This fellow, chooseth me?" He saith, "Sir,
  I love your judgment; whom do you prefer,
  For the best linguist?" And I seelily
  Said, that I thought Calepine's dictionary.
  "Nay, but of men, most sweet Sir?" Beza then,
  Some Jesuits, and two reverend men
  Of our two Academies, I named. There
  He stopp'd me, and said; "Nay, your apostles were
  Good pretty linguists, and so Panurge was;
  Yet a poor gentleman all these may pass
  By travel." Then, as if he would have sold
  His tongue, he prais'd it, and such wonders told,
  That I was fain to say, "If you'had liv'd, sir,
  Time enough to have been interpreter
  To Babel's bricklayers, sure the tower had stood."
  He adds, "If of court life you knew the good,
  You would leave loneness." I said, "Not alone
  My loneness is; but Spartan's fashion,
  To teach by painting drunkards, doth not last
  Now; Aretine's pictures have made few chaste;
  No more can princes' courts, though there be few
  Better pictures of vice, teach me virtue."
  He, like to a high-stretch'd lute-string, squeak'd, "O sir,
  'Tis sweet to talk of kings." "At Westminster,"
  Said I, "the man that keeps the abbey tombs,
  And for his price doth with whoever comes
  Of all our Harrys and our Edwards talk,
  From king to king, and all their kin can walk.
  Your ears shall hear nought, but kings; your eyes meet
  Kings only; the way to it is King street."
  He smack'd and cried, "He's base, mechanic, coarse,
  So are all your Englishmen in their discourse.
  Are not your Frenchmen neat?" "Mine? As you see,
  I have but one Frenchman, look--he follows me."
  "Certes they are neatly cloth'd. I of this mind am,
  Your only wearing is your grogaram."
  "Not so, sir, I have more." Under this pitch
  He would not fly; I chaff'd him; but as itch
  Scratch'd into smart, and as blunt iron ground
  Into an edge, hurts worse; so I (fool) found
  Crossing hurt me. To fit my sullenness,
  He to another key his style doth dress,
  And asks, "Wh


Scheme Text too long
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010111 0111111110 010011111 001001111 11101111111 1011111111 1111111111 1111111111 10101111101 0101110101 01111111100 10111110111 11111011101 11111001101 1111001111 1101111011 1110101111 0111111101 101111011011 0111111011 10110110 11101100 1011011101 0011001111 1111100111 11011101 1101111111 1110010010111 1111011111 1101110111 101110111 1011111111 011010101 1111011111 1111001111 0101111101 111110011111 1111011101 1101110111 111011010 11110111 1101111 1111111110 1110111100 0111110011 11110111 11011110 11111010 11101111101 11111111001 11011111 1111011101 10110011 11111100 111111111 1100011001 11010100111 11101110100 110100111 1011001111 1101111111 1111101101 11111111111 1011110100 1110101011 1111111101 111111101 1111110 1111010111 11101111 1111011111 1010111110 11101111111 111111110 1101110101 0111110101 11101010101 1111011111 1111111111 1100111111 1101110101 1111100110 1111011111 11111011101 11110111111 11010111 1111111011 1111111111 1011011101 0111111111 10111111 1101011111 011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 4,293
Words 775
Sentences 31
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 93
Lines Amount 93
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 3,166
Words per stanza (avg) 760
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

3:58 min read
123

John Donne

John Donne was an English poet, satirist, lawyer and a cleric in the Church of England. more…

All John Donne poems | John Donne Books

53 fans

Discuss this John Donne poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Satire IV" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22573/satire-iv>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    May 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    16
    hours
    31
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem 'Still I Rise'?
    A Audre Loude
    B Edgar Allen Poe
    C Maya Angelou
    D Sylvia Plath