The Good-morrow by John Donne

We want this blog to be fun to read. Occasionally, we are thus posting short literary 'snippets'. Today's 'snippet' is a poem by John Donne - The Good-morrow. Enjoy!

I Wonder by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved ? were we not wean'd till then?
But suck'd on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den?
'Twas so ; but this, all pleasures fancies be;
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone;
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown;
Let us possess one world; each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mix'd equally;
If our two loves be one, or thou and I
Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die.

For synopsis, commentary and a discussion of the themes and language of this poem please go to Poem analysis > The Good-morrow

If you have a suggestion as to which poem you would like to see as the next 'snippet', please do let me know by leaving a comment...

A Valediction: of Weeping by John Donne

We want this blog to be fun to read. Occasionally, we are thus going to post short literary 'snippets'. Today's 'snippet' is a poem by John Donne - A Valediction: of Weeping. Enjoy!

Let me pour forth
My tears before thy face, whilst I stay here,
For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear,
And by this mintage they are something worth.
For thus they be
Pregnant of thee ;
Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more ;
When a tear falls, that thou fall'st which it bore ;
So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore.

On a round ball
A workman, that hath copies by, can lay
An Europe, Afric, and an Asia,
And quickly make that, which was nothing, all.
So doth each tear,
Which thee doth wear,
A globe, yea world, by that impression grow,
Till thy tears mix'd with mine do overflow
This world, by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolvèd so.

O ! more than moon,
Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere ;
Weep me not dead, in thine arms, but forbear
To teach the sea, what it may do too soon ;
Let not the wind
Example find
To do me more harm than it purposeth :
Since thou and I sigh one another's breath,
Whoe'er sighs most is cruellest, and hastes the other's death.

For synopsis, commentary and a discussion of the themes and language of this poem please go to John Donne: Poem analysis > A Valediction: of Weeping

10 Useful John Donne resources

I've compiled a list of 10 web sites which, I think, can be useful and informative when researching John Donne and his works.

1. Luminarium - Contains easy to read sections on his quotes. works, life, and more.
2. John Donne @ Poets.org
3. http://www.online-literature.com/donne/ - Various articles and essays on John Donne
4. http://www.englishverse.com/poets/donne_john - Short introduction to John Donne
5. Searchable database of John Donne's sermons
6. John Donne @ Wikiquote
7. http://www.sonnets.org/donne.htm - A large selection of John Donne's works
8. Poetseers.org - A large selection of John Donne's poems
9. A biography of John Donne at Britainexpress.com
10. And finally, last but definitely not least, our very own Crossref-it.info. Get John Donne's biography, poem analysis, context material and timeline - all in one place (also contains resources on other Metaphysical poets)