Analysis of Elegy XIV: Julia
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
Hark, news, O envy ; thou shalt hear descried
My Julia ; who as yet was ne'er envied.
To vomit gall in slander, swell her veins
With calumny, that hell itself disdains,
Is her continual practice ; does her best,
To tear opinion e'en out of the breast
Of dearest friends, and—which is worse than vile—
Sticks jealousy in wedlock ; her own child
Scapes not the showers of envy. To repeat
The monstrous fashions how, were alive to eat
Deare reputation ; would to God she were
But half so loth to act vice, as to hear
My mild reproof. Lived Mantuan now again
That female Mastix to limn with his pen,
This she Chimera that hath eyes of fire,
Burning with anger—anger feeds desire—
Tongued like the night crow, whose ill boding cries
Give out for nothing but new injuries ;
Her breath like to the juice in Tænarus,
That blasts the springs, though ne'er so prosperous ;
Her hands, I know not how, used more to spill
The food of others than herself to fill ;
But O ! her mind, that Orcus, which includes
Legions of mischiefs, countless multitudes
Of formless curses, projects unmade up,
Abuses yet unfashion'd, thoughts corrupt,
Misshapen cavils, palpable untroths,
Inevitable errors, self-accusing loaths.
These, like those atoms swarming in the sun,
Throng in her bosom for creation.
I blush to give her halfe her due ; yet say,
No poison's half so bad as Julia.
Scheme | AABBAACAAADEFFDDGHBIJJKKLABBMMNO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101111 1101111110 1101010101 1100110101 10010010101 11010111101 1101011111 110001011 11010110101 01010100111 101011110 1111111111 11111101 11111111 11010111110 10110101010 110111111 1111011100 011101011 1101111100 0111111111 0111010111 110111101 10111010 111010011 01011101 01011001 010001010101 1111010001 100101010 1111010111 11111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,371 |
Words | 236 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,057 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 244 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 65 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Elegy XIV: Julia" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22487/elegy-xiv%3A-julia>.
Discuss this John Donne poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In