The Ecstasy
by
John Donne
(Text
& Paraphrase)
Text
Where, like a pillow
on a bed
A pregnant bank
swell'd up to rest
The violet's
reclining head,
Sat we two, one
another's best.
Our hands were firmly
cemented
With a fast balm,
which thence did spring;
Our eye-beams
twisted, and did thread
Our eyes upon one
double string;
So to'intergraft our
hands, as yet
Was all the means to
make us one,
And pictures in our
eyes to get
Was all our
propagation.
As 'twixt two equal
armies fate
Suspends uncertain
victory,
Our souls (which to
advance their state
Were gone out) hung
'twixt her and me.
And whilst our souls
negotiate there,
We like sepulchral
statues lay;
All day, the same our
postures were,
And we said nothing,
all the day.
If any, so by love
refin'd
That he soul's
language understood,
And by good love were
grown all mind,
Within convenient
distance stood,
He (though he knew
not which soul spake,
Because both meant,
both spake the same)
Might thence a new
concoction take
And part far purer
than he came.
This ecstasy doth
unperplex,
We said, and tell us
what we love;
We see by this it was
not sex,
We see we saw not
what did move;
But as all several
souls contain
Mixture of things,
they know not what,
Love these mix'd
souls doth mix again
And makes both one,
each this and that.
A single violet
transplant,
The strength, the
colour, and the size,
(All which before was
poor and scant)
Redoubles still, and
multiplies.
When love with one
another so
Interinanimates two
souls,
That abler soul,
which thence doth flow,
Defects of loneliness
controls.
We then, who are this
new soul, know
Of what we are
compos'd and made,
For th' atomies of
which we grow
Are souls, whom no
change can invade.
But oh alas, so long,
so far,
Our bodies why do we
forbear?
They'are ours, though
they'are not we; we are
The intelligences,
they the spheres.
We owe them thanks,
because they thus
Did us, to us, at
first convey,
Yielded their senses'
force to us,
Nor are dross to us,
but allay.
On man heaven's
influence works not so,
But that it first
imprints the air;
So soul into the soul
may flow,
Though it to body
first repair.
As our blood labors
to beget
Spirits, as like
souls as it can,
Because such fingers
need to knit
That subtle knot
which makes us man,
So must pure lovers'
souls descend
T' affections, and to
faculties,
Which sense may reach
and apprehend,
Else a great prince
in prison lies.
To'our bodies turn we
then, that so
Weak men on love
reveal'd may look;
Love's mysteries in
souls do grow,
But yet the body is
his book.
And if some lover,
such as we,
Have heard this
dialogue of one,
Let him still mark
us, he shall see
Small
change, when we'are to bodies gone.
Paraphrase
Where, like a pillow ….
one another's best.
Donne
says, that we, two lovers, each thinking of the other as the best person in the
world, sat on the riverbank which was raised high like a pillow to enable the
reclining heads of violet flowers to rest on it.
Our hands were …. one
double string;
He
says, our hands were firmly grasped and from them a strong perfume emanated.
Our eyes met and reflected the image of each other. It appeared as if our eyes
were strung together on a double thread.
So to'intergraft our
hands, …. our propagation.
Our
hands were firmly clasped together and this was the means of bringing us close
to each other. Our eyes reflected our images and this was the only fusion of
our love.
As 'twixt two equal
armies …. hung 'twixt her and me.
Just
as when two equally powerful enemies fight each other while fate holds the
victory in a state of balance, undecided which way to turn the scale, in the
same way, our souls, which had left our bodies to sublimate to a state of
bliss, hung between the two of us uncertain of their future.
And whilst our souls ….
all the day.
He says,
while our souls, communicated with each other in this situation, we lay quiet
and motionless like statues built over the monument of the dead. All the day
our bodies continued to remain in the same position without movement or speech.
If any, so by love
refin'd …. purer than he came.
The poet
says, if any stranger, whose soul had been purified by a similar process had
stood beside our souls, and had been capable of understanding the language of
the souls and his purified mind would have forgotten the existence of the body
and enlightened and sharpened the faculties of his mind, such a soul may not
have understood the conversation of our souls because both our souls meant and
spoke the same thing, but that soul might have undergone a fresh process of purification
and felt more refined than before.
This ecstasy doth ….
what did move;
Our
souls have reached a state of ecstasy, which revealed to us what we did not
know earlier. We realized that love was not sex experience. We discovered the
first time that love really is a matter of the soul and not of the body.
But as all several
souls …. each this and that.
He
says, souls are made of various elements of which we have no knowledge. It is
love which brings together two souls and makes them one, though, in reality,
the two have senate existence.
A single violet
transplant, …. and multiplies.
When
a violet plant is transplanted, it shows a marked improvement in its colour,
size and strength. After transplantation it almost doubles itself and also
grows more rapidly.
When love with ….
loneliness controls.
In a
similar manner when love brings two souls together it imparts to them a great
zeal and life. The stronger (or noble soul) supplements (or removes) the
deficiencies of the lesser soul. Love also removes the feeling of loneliness
felt by single souls.
We then, who are ….
no change can invade.
As a
result of the union of two souls, so to say, a new soul comes into being. This
new soul knows of what elements the two souls are composed. It makes us realize
that the substances of which we are made are not subject to any change.
But oh alas, …. they
the spheres.
The
poet says, alas, we have so far and so long ignored our bodies. The bodies are
ours, but we are distinct from the bodies. We are souls; we are of spiritual
substance; we are like heavenly planets while our bodies are the spheres in
which we move.
We owe them thanks, ….
but allay.
He says,
we are thankful to our bodies, because they brought us together in the first
instance. Our bodies surrendered their sense in order to enable our love to be
spiritual. Our bodies are not impure matter, but they are like an alloy. The
body is useful agent for holy love.
On man heaven's
influence …. body first repair.
Donne
says, the influence of heavenly bodies on man comes through the air. So, when a
soul wishes to love another soul, it can contact it through the medium of the
body. Hence a union of souls may need the contact of bodies as the first step.
As our blood labors ….
which makes us man,
He
says, Just as the blood, which is an important constituent of our bodies
labours to produce the essence, which helps in uniting two bodies, in the same
way a spiritual love produces a kind of ecstasy which binds the two souls
together. This subtle knot of love may not be fully understood.
Just
as blood produces elements which brings about the union of sense and soul which
constitute a man, in the same way the lover’s soul leaves some linking elements
like the sense and the bodily faculties to express their love.
So must pure lovers' ….
prince in prison lies.
The
sense and faculty of the body come to the aid of the soul, which is like a
prisoner. Just as a prince who is imprisoned cannot gain freedom unless
somebody comes to his aid, in the same way the senses of the body go to the aid
of the lover’s soul and secure freedom for it.
To'our bodies turn we
then, …. body is his book.
We
must now turn to our bodies so that weak men may have a test of high love. Love
sublimates the soul but it is through the medium of the body that love is first
experienced. The body is as important as the soul in the matter of love.
And if some lover, ….
we'are to bodies gone.
If
some lover like us has heard this discourse, let him look carefully at us.
After our pure love, when we go back to our bodies he will find no change in us
because we shall not revert to physical self again.
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