Break of Day
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
'Tis true, 'tis day; what though it be?
O wilt thou therefore rise from me?
Why should we rise, because 'tis light?
Did we lie down, because 'twas night?
Love which in spite of darkness brought us hither
Should in despite of light keep us together.
Light hath no tongue, but is all eye;
If it could speak as well as spy,
This were the worst that it could say -
That being well, I fain would stay,
And that I loved my heart and honour so,
That I would not from her, that had them, go.
Must business thee from hence remove?
Oh, that's the worst disease of love!
The poor, the foul, the false, love can
Admit, but not the busied man.
He which hath business, and makes love, doth do
Such wrong as when a married man doth woo.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 157 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFF XXGGHH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 713 |
Words | 144 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
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"Break of Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 1 Jun 2023. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/22465/break-of-day>.
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