Analysis of Elegy XX (Alternate) Love's War

John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)



Till I have peace with thee, warr other Men,
And when I have peace, can I leave thee then?
All other Warrs are scrupulous; Only thou
0 fayr free Citty, maist thyselfe allow
To any one: In Flanders, who can tell
Whether the Master presse; or men rebell?
Only we know, that which all Ideots say,
They beare most blows which come to part the fray.
France in her lunatique giddines did hate
Ever our men, yea and our God of late;
Yet she relyes upon our Angels well,
Which nere returne; no more than they which fell.
Sick Ireland is with a strange warr possest
Like to an Ague; now raging, now at rest;
Which time will cure: yet it must doe her good
If she were purg'd, and her head vayne let blood.
And Midas joyes our Spanish journeys give,
We touch all gold, but find no food to live.
And I should be in the hott parching clime,
To dust and ashes turn'd before my time.
To mew me in a Ship, is to inthrall
Mee in a prison, that weare like to fall;
Or in a Cloyster; save that there men dwell
In a calme heaven, here in a swaggering hell.
Long voyages are long consumptions,
And ships are carts for executions.
Yea they are Deaths; Is't not all one to flye
Into an other World, as t'is to dye?
Here lett mee warr; in these armes lett mee lye;
Here lett mee parle, batter, bleede, and dye.
Thyne armes imprison me, and myne armes thee,
Thy hart thy ransome is, take myne for mee.
Other men war that they their rest may gayne;
But wee will rest that wee may fight agayne.
Those warrs the ignorant, these th'experienc'd love,
There wee are alwayes under, here above.
There Engins farr off breed a just true feare,
Neere thrusts, pikes, stabs, yea bullets hurt not here.
There lyes are wrongs; here safe uprightly ly;
Tltere men kill men, we'will make one by and by,
Thou nothing; I not halfe so much shall do
In these Warrs, as they may which from us two
Shall spring. Thousands wee see which travaile not
To warrs; But stay swords, armes, and shott
To make at home; And shall not I do then
More glorious service, staying to make men?


Scheme AABBCCDDEECCEFGHIJKKCLCCDMNNNNOKAAPPQQNNRRSSAA
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111101 0111111111 11011100101 1111101 1101010111 100101111 101111111 1111111101 1001111 101011010111 1110110101 111111111 1100110111 1111110111 1111111101 1101001111 01011010101 1111111111 011100111 1101010111 111001111 1001011111 100111111 001101001001 1100111 01111010 11111111111 01110111111 1111011111 111110101 1101010111 1111011111 1011111111 111111111 11010011101001 111110101 111110111 1111110111 11111111 11111111101 1101111111 0111111111 111011111 11111101 1111011111 11001010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 2,037
Words 391
Sentences 18
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 46
Lines Amount 46
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,560
Words per stanza (avg) 389
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 13, 2023

1:59 min read
180

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

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