Analysis of To Mr. Tilman After He Had Taken Orders
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
THOU, whose diviner soul hath caused thee now
To put thy hand unto the holy plough,
Making lay-scornings of the ministry
Not an impediment, but victory ;
What bring'st thou home with thee ? how is thy mind
Affected since the vintage ? Dost thou find
New thoughts and stirrings in thee ? and, as steel
Touch'd with a loadstone, dost new motions feel ?
Or, as a ship after much pain and care
For iron and cloth brings home rich Indian ware,
Hast thou thus traffick'd, but with far more gain
Of noble goods, and with less time and pain ?
Thou art the same materials, as before,
Only the stamp is changèd, but no more.
And as new crowned kings alter the face,
But not the money's substance, so hath grace
Changed only God's old image by creation,
To Christ's new stamp, at this thy coronation ;
Or, as we paint angels with wings, because
They bear God's message and proclaim His laws,
Since thou must do the like and so must move,
Art thou new feather'd with celestial love ?
Dear, tell me where thy purchase lies, and show
What thy advantage is above, below.
But if thy gainings do surmount expression,
Why doth the foolish world scorn that profession,
Whose joys pass speech ? Why do they think unfit
That gentry should join families with it ?
As if their day were only to be spent
In dressing, mistressing and compliment.
Alas ! poor joys, but poorer men, whose trust
Seems richly placèd in sublimèd dust,
—For such are clothes and beauty, which though gay,
Are, at the best, but of sublimèd clay—
Let then the world thy calling disrespect,
But go thou on, and pity their neglect.
What function is so noble, as to be
Ambassador to God, and destiny ?
To open life ? to give kingdoms to more
Than kings give dignities? to keep heaven's door ?
Mary's prerogative was to bear Christ, so
'Tis preachers' to convey Him, for they do,
As angels out of clouds, from pulpits speak ;
And bless the poor beneath, the lame, the weak.
If then th' astronomers, whereas they spy
A new-found star, their optics magnify,
How brave are those, who with their engine can
Bring man to heaven, and heaven again to man ?
These are thy titles and pre-eminences,
In whom must meet God's graces, men's offences ;
And so the heavens which beget all things here,
And the earth, our mother, which these things doth bear ;
Both these in thee, are in thy calling knit
And make thee now a blest hermaphrodite.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKLMMIINNOOPPQQRRBBGGMSTTUUVVWHXENY |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 1111100101 101110100 1101001100 11111111111 0101010111 1101001011 110111101 1101101101 110011111001 111111111 1101011101 11010100101 1001111111 011111001 1101010111 11011101010 1111111010 1111101101 1111000111 1111010111 1111010101 1111110101 1101010101 1111101010 11010111010 1111111101 1101110011 1111010111 01010100 0111110111 110110111 1111010111 110111111 110111001 1111010101 1101110111 0100110100 1101111011 111111101 10010011111 1101011111 1101111101 0101010101 111101000111 011111010 1111111101 111100100111 11110011000 011111011 01010101111 001101011111 1101101101 011101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,391 |
Words | 424 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 54 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,833 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 440 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 27, 2023
- 2:10 min read
- 81 Views
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"To Mr. Tilman After He Had Taken Orders" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22617/to-mr.-tilman-after-he-had-taken-orders>.
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