Analysis of To George Herbert,

John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)



SENT HIM WITH ONE OF MY SEALS OF THE
ANCHOR AND CHRIST.

QUI prius assuetus serpentum fasce tabellas
Signare, hæc nostræ symbola parva domus,
Adscitus domui Domini, patrioque relicto
Stemmate, nanciscor stemmata jure nova.
Hinc mihi Crux primo quæ fronti impressa lavacro,
Finibus extensis, anchora facta patet.
Anchoræ in effigiem Crux tandem desinit ipsam,
Anchora fit tandem Crux tolerata diu.
Hoc tamen ut fiat, Christo vegetatur ab ipso
Crux, et ab affixo est Anchora facta Jesu.
Nec natalitiis penitus serpentibus orbor,
Non ita dat Deus, ut auferat ante data.
Qua sapiens, dos est, qua terram lambit et ambit,
Pestis, at in nostra sit medicina Cruce
Serpens fixa Cruci si sit natura, Crucique
A fixo nobis gratia tota fluat.
Omnia cum Crux sint, Crux Anchora fixa, sigillum
Non tam dicendum hoc, quam catechismus erit.
Mitto, nec exigua, exigua sub imagine, dona,
Pignora amicitiæ, et munera vota preces.
Plura tibi accumulet sanctus cognominis, Ille
Regia qui flavo dona sigillat equo.


Scheme AB CCBADBEBCCDABCFBEBACXF
Poetic Form
Metre 111111110 1001 111111 1111111 1110011 111110 11111111 11111 100111011 1110111 1111010111 111101111 11111 11011111010 110010111111 11010111 1111111 01101101 11111111 1111111 1111101010 111111 111111 1111011
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,003
Words 160
Sentences 11
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 2, 22
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 398
Words per stanza (avg) 79
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
73

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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