Analysis of The Curse
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
Whoever guesses, thinks, or dreams, he knows
Who is my mistress, wither by this curse ;
Him, only for his purse
May some dull whore to love dispose,
And then yield unto all that are his foes ;
May he be scorn'd by one, whom all else scorn,
Forswear to others, what to her he hath sworn,
With fear of missing, shame of getting, torn.
Madness his sorrow, gout his cramps, may he
Make, by but thinking who hath made him such ;
And may he feel no touch
Of conscience, but of fame, and be
Anguish'd, not that 'twas sin, but that 'twas she ;
Or may he for her virtue reverence
One that hates him only for impotence,
And equal traitors be she and his sense.
May he dream treason, and believe that he
Meant to perform it, and confesses, and die,
And no record tell why ;
His sons, which none of his may be,
Inherit nothing but his infamy ;
Or may he so long parasites have fed,
That he would fain be theirs whom he hath bred,
And at the last be circumcised for bread.
The venom of all stepdames, gamesters' gall,
What tyrants and their subjects interwish,
What plants, mine, beasts, fowl, fish,
Can contribute, all ill, which all
Prophets or poets spake, and all which shall
Be annex'd in schedules unto this by me,
Fall on that man ; For if it be a she
Nature beforehand hath out-cursèd me.
Scheme | ABBAACCC DEEDDFFX DGGDDHHH IEXIXDDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101011111 1111010111 110111 11111101 0111011111 1111111111 01110110111 1111011101 1011011111 1111011111 011111 11011101 1011111111 1111010100 1111101100 0101011011 1111000111 11011001001 010111 11111111 0101011100 111111011 1111111111 010111011 01011111 11001101 111111 10101111 1011010111 11001010111 1111111101 100111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,292 |
Words | 242 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 245 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 139 Views
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