To Mr. Basil Brooke by John Donne

Name: To Mr. Basil Brooke
Author: John Donne

Two sonnets addressed to Basil Brooke. In the first, the poet asks whether Brooke's sacred hunger of science is not yet satisfied, whether his brain's rich hive is not fulfilled with honey drawn from the arts' spirits and their quintessence. He urges Brooke to wean himself at last and withdraw from Cambridge, his old nurse, and, like the rest, to toughly chew and sturdily digest the immense vast volumes of the common law. He tells him to begin soon, lest his own grief grieve Brooke too: the grief that what he himself should have begun in his youth's morning must now be done late, so that, like giddy travellers who stray or sleep all day and lose light and strength, he must ride post in darkness and weariness. In the second sonnet, the poet tells Brooke that if he is married unto his Muse, he should embrace her ever and ever multiply with her, and that the poet himself would never commit the strange adultery of tempting Brooke and procuring his Muse's widowhood. He confesses that he himself once had a Muse, but because he is cold, she divorced herself, the cause being in him; he can take no new Muse in bigamy, withheld not only by his will but by his power. Hence, he says, the rhymes he now writes have never had a mother, and so want matter, having only a little form which their father gave them; they are profane and imperfect, too bad to be counted children of poetry, unless they are confirmed and bishoped by Brooke.

By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Dedicatory Poetry, Verse Epistle, Metaphysical Poetry · 336 words

First lines

Is not thy sacred hunger of science / Yet satisfied? is not thy brain's rich hive / Fulfill'd with honey, which thou dost derive / From the arts' spirits and their quintessence? / Then wean thyself at last, and thee withdraw / From Cambridge thy old nurse, and, as the rest, / Here toughly chew, and sturdily digest / Th' immense vast volumes of our common law. / And begin soon, lest my grief grieve thee too, / Which is, that that, which I should have begun / In my youth's morning, now late must be done; / And I, as giddy travellers must do, / Which stray or sleep all day, and having lost / Light and strength, dark and tired must then ride post.

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To Mr. Basil Brooke 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: Dedicatory Poetry, Verse Epistle, Metaphysical Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Philosophical Poetry
Length: 336 words
Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

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Genres

Dedicatory Poetry — The poem is directly addressed to Basil Brooke and written to praise and encourage his pursuits, which is the defining characteristic of dedicatory verse.
Verse Epistle — Structured as a formal address offering counsel and advice to a specific recipient, employing the conventions of epistolary poetry.
Metaphysical Poetry — Exemplifies Donne's signature style with complex conceits, particularly the extended metaphor of marriage and divorce from the Muse, and sophisticated intellectual wit.
Lyric Poetry — Contains personal emotional reflection and meditation on the speaker's own loss of creative ability and regret, expressing subjective inner experience.