Eclogue: 1613, December 26 by John Donne

Name: Eclogue: 1613, December 26
Author: John Donne

Allophanes discovers Idios living in rural retirement during the Christmas season and rebukes him for missing the marriage of the Earl of Somerset at court. Allophanes contrasts the barren, frost-stripped countryside, where Flora wears a "frieze jerkin" and springs have lost their murmur, with the perpetual spring of the court, warmed not by the sun but by zeal to prince and state, by love, and above all by the prince's favour, which is "diffused o'er all." He describes the bride's eyes as wombs of stars that sow the court with constellations, kindling other ladies' eyes, whose jewels in turn catch fire, so that the whole court becomes "an everlasting east," unlike other courts, which resemble hell (fire without light) or stoves (artificial heat born of lust and envy). Idios answers that he is present in spirit, since a prince, like God, is liberal not only in fullness but in the capacity he gives others to feel and comprehend his bounty; reclused hermits may know heaven's glory better than worldlings, and the country stands to the court as the heart does to the world, an epitome sufficient in itself. Allophanes rejects this as fantasy: tasting a little spice does not make Idios part of the Indian fleet, nor does escaping frost make him warm. He argues that, as earth's hidden gold needs heaven's eye to gild it and faith comes from above, so wisdom and honour flow from the use of kings; angels employed on earth remain in heaven, so anyone abroad on honest business is still truly at home. He describes this particular court as one where all affections assent to the king's own, where trust is no folly, where ambition is only to obey, and where royal favour bends toward virtue alone. He adds that "our little Cupid" has now come of age, sued his livery, and been admitted into the breast that holds the king's counsels and secrets — the marriage itself being proof of this court's virtue. Idios explains that he withdrew precisely because he already understood all this: to know and feel it without having words to express it turns a man into "a grave of his own thoughts," and he would not sit at a great feast having no grace to say. Yet he did not entirely escape, for being present and full of the common joy, he did utter something. He offers Allophanes his nuptial song, insisting it was not made to invade the court or men's hearts, but since he counts himself already "dead and buried" in retirement, the song is the only epitaph he could frame, testifying that he made some sacrifice to that day. The song itself follows. It opens by declaring the old year reprieved from death, rescued not by the sun but by a "mightier fire" — the couple's inflaming eyes and loving hearts. The Muse professes itself unable to say whose eyes or heart should be prized more, since the bridegroom's eye burns as much as the bride's and her heart loves as fully as his; judged by beauty the bridegroom seems a maid, judged by courage the bride seems a man, so closely are the two joined that nature scarcely divided them. The bridegroom is praised for outrunning the sun, having laid every business aside in his Sovereign's breast so as to bring his own fire to the bride. The bride is urged to powder her radiant hair with ashes lest, unveiled, she prove a Phaëton rather than a Phoebus, and to give the onlookers the "unusual" gift of a joyful tear. She is described as descending to human infirmity by veiling herself in silk and gold, since her beholders are but dust and worms, her jewels compared to stars that are less pure than the spheres containing them. As the couple go to church they seem, through the "cypress" veil, like a sun doubled to onlookers' eyes, but church rites make them one; the church triumphant is said to have already made this match, so the church militant need strive no further, and the officiating priest, as "God's Recorder," is asked to impart every blessing. The song then blesses the pair as a "blest pair of swans," wishing them daily new joys, long life until wishes themselves fail, and heirs who will receive thanks from this king as the couple themselves gave it. It observes that the feast is "over-blest" — the groaning tables and unending dancing threaten to stay time itself, with masks and banquets continuing six hours past sunset. The bride is urged to leave the company for bed, since sun and moon, though they may rise together, need not set together; her going is described as leaving her watchful eyes and loving heart with the bridegroom even while her body departs. The bridegroom is said to hasten toward her "as he that sees a star fall runs apace" to find her in her human, unveiled form, since friends acquainted only in fine apparel must now surrender themselves as freely as they once gave each other their eyes and hearts. The song closes by invoking the lamp said to have burned unchanged for fifteen hundred years in Tullia's tomb, wishing the couple's own "love-lamps" might equal it in warmth and lastingness, since, unlike ordinary fire that consumes fuel into ash, theirs is a fire that is itself its own fuel — "joy's bonfire," uniting four inflaming eyes and two loving hearts into one flame. Having recited the song, Idios offers to burn it himself as a final sacrifice, but Allophanes stops him, insisting the paper has been "justly got": the perfume of burnt incense belongs not only to the one who presents it but to all who share the festival's joy. He refuses to let Idios act as priest, and instead asks to carry the song back to court himself, to lay it upon altars worthy of such devotion.

By John Donne · First published 1613 · Genre: Epithalamium, Eclogue, Metaphysical Poetry · 2,966 words

First lines

Allophanes finding Idios in the country in Christmas time, reprehends his absence from court, at the marriage of the Earl of Somerset; Idios gives an account of his purpose therein, and of his actions there.

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Eclogue: 1613, December 26 is listed on Textopian as a poem by John Donne, dated 1613 CE.

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Work type: Poem
Author: John Donne
Date: 1613 CE
Language: English
Genres: Epithalamium, Eclogue, Metaphysical Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Courtly Poetry
Length: 2,966 words
Structure: 1 section, 18 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Genres

Epithalamium — The work is fundamentally a wedding poem celebrating the marriage of the Earl of Somerset, containing traditional epithalamial elements including blessings for the couple, consummation references, and ceremonial celebration throughout the entire composition.
Eclogue — Explicitly titled an eclogue and structured as a dialogue between two speakers (Allophanes and Idios) engaging in debate and discourse, following classical eclogue tradition, though set in a courtly rather than pastoral setting.
Metaphysical Poetry — Exhibits characteristic Donnean metaphysical wit with elaborate conceits (eyes as stars and flames, love as fire, the couple as swans), complex philosophical arguments about presence and absence, striking juxtapositions, and intellectual density.
Lyric Poetry — Contains lyrical passages expressing emotional celebration, personal testimony, and sensory imagery about love and joy, though embedded within a more complex argumentative and philosophical framework.