Henrico Wottoni in Hibernia Belligeranti
The poem is addressed by its speaker to Henrico Wottoni as he goes to fight in Ireland, opening with a reproachful question: has going to conquer cost Wottoni so much of himself that his best quality, his "respective friendship," should die so quickly? The speaker insists that his own stake in any public gain from the campaign is not great enough that he would want to lose Wottoni's love for the sake of Ireland. He says he would more readily accept death itself — which, though it does not reap wholesale, still gleans many friends away over time — than see Wottoni's alert, waking mind fall prey to lethargy or negligence. The speaker then turns to the physical dangers of the campaign, granting that shot, bogs, and skeins may deal with bodies as fate allows and restrains. He argues that a young death is preferable to being struck down later by sickness, reasoning that one who "pays" (dies) before death attacks him thereby escapes arrest — a debtor who settles the account early evades the seizure that would otherwise come. His deeper concern is for Wottoni's soul rather than his body. He describes that soul as originally filled with graces, and since then refined and distilled, as if through crooked alembics, by passage through many schools and courts that quicken and sharpen it. He urges that this soul must not now submit itself to what he calls "the Irish negligence" — a debasement or dulling he fears the Irish campaign or environment might induce. Finally, the speaker specifies what kind of correspondence he wants from Wottoni while he is away. He does not ask for laboured letters that would wear out long sheets of paper, nor for letters composed out of fear that their carriage might be dishonest or intercepted, nor for letters crafted with a seer's art or artifice. Instead, he asks only for letters that come not from the brain but from the heart.
By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Metaphysical Poetry, Verse Epistle, Elegy · 251 words
First lines
Went you to conquer? and have so much lost / Yourself, that what in you was best and most, / Respective friendship, should so quickly die? / In public gain my share is not such that I / Would lose your love for Ireland: better cheap / I pardon death (who though he do not reap / Yet gleans he many of our friends away) / Then that your waking mind should be a prey / To lethargies. Let shot, and bogs, and skeins / With bodies deal, as fate bids and restrains; / Ere sicknesses attack, young death is best, / Who pays before his death doth 'scape arrest. / Let not your soul (at first with graces fill'd, / And since, and thorough crooked limbecs, still'd / In many schools and courts, which quicken it,) / It self unto the Irish negligence submit. / I ask not laboured letters which should wear / Long papers out: nor letters which should fear / Dishonest carriage: or a seers art: / Nor such as from the brain come, but the heart.
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Henrico Wottoni in Hibernia Belligeranti is listed on Textopian as a poem by John Donne, dated 1633 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: John Donne
- Date: 1633 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Metaphysical Poetry, Verse Epistle, Elegy, Didactic Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 251 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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Genres
- Metaphysical Poetry — Exhibits characteristic Donne metaphysical elements including complex spiritual philosophy, abstract conceits about the soul and friendship, intellectual density, and paradoxical wit typical of 17th-century metaphysical verse.
- Verse Epistle — Structured as a personal letter addressed to a specific individual regarding their military departure to Ireland, employing the verse epistle form characteristic of Donne's communications with friends and patrons.
- Elegy — Mourns the apparent loss of the addressee's former virtuous self and the death of intimate friendship, expressing sorrow over both spiritual and relational decline caused by absence and worldly entanglement.
- Didactic Poetry — Functions as moral and spiritual instruction warning against lethargy, negligence, and the corruption of the soul through military campaigns and removal from civilizing influences.
Tags
metaphysical poetry · Renaissance literature · Early Modern England · Henry Wotton · Irish warfare · diplomatic history · colonial conflict · Latin composition · historical narrative · political commentary · court poetry · biographical tribute