To Mr. I. L.: Blest are your North Parts, for al

Name: To Mr. I. L.: Blest are your North Parts, for all this Long Time
Author: John Donne

In this poem, John Donne addresses "Mr. I. L.," telling him that the north parts where his friend lives are blessed for this whole long time, since the speaker's own sun is there with him. The speaker's own climate is cold and dark; heaven's sun, which stayed away from the speaker so long this year, stayed in the north instead, because, the speaker thinks, "she" was there. Drawn hither by nature's kindness away from that north, the sun here instead rages, chafes, and threatens pestilence in the speaker's own place. Yet as long as she stays away from him, the speaker will consider his own place no south, no summer, and no day at all. The speaker declares that his own heart, both kind and unkind, has run off with thee (Mr. I. L.), and asks that it be sacrificed there to that beauteous sun. The speaker then offers a string of good wishes for his friend's land and household: may thy pastures, with their flowery feasts, fatten thy lean beasts as suddenly as lard; may thy woods, though often polled, ever wear a green head of hair, and, when thee list, a golden one; may all thy sheep bring forth twins; may thy horse outgo all others in chase and race; may thy love and courage never grow cold; may thy son never become a ward; and may thy loved wife never seem old. The poem closes with the speaker wishing that thou mayst wish great things and attain them, just as thou tellest her — and none but her — of the speaker's own pain.

By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Metaphysical Poetry, Dedicatory Poetry · 275 words

First lines

Blest are your north parts, for all this long time / My sun is with you; cold and dark 's our clime; / Heaven's sun, which stay'd so long from us this year, / Stay'd in your north, I think, for she was there; / And hither by kind nature drawn from thence, / Here rages, chafes, and threatens pestilence. / Yet I, as long as she from hence doth stay, / Think this no south, no summer, nor no day. / With thee my kind and unkind heart is run; / There sacrifice it to that beauteous sun. / So may thy pastures with their flowery feasts, / As suddenly as lard, fat thy lean beasts; / So may thy woods oft poll'd, yet ever wear / A green, and-when thee list-a golden hair; / So may all thy sheep bring forth twins; and so / In chase and race may thy horse all outgo; / So may thy love and courage ne'er be cold; / Thy son ne'er ward; thy loved wife ne'er seem old. / But mayst thou wish great things, and them attain, / As thou tell'st her, and none but her, my pain.

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To Mr. I. L.: Blest are your North Parts, for all this Long Time 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: Lyric Poetry, Metaphysical Poetry, Dedicatory Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Love Poetry
Length: 275 words
Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Genres

Lyric Poetry — The poem expresses profound personal emotion and contemplation through intimate address, with the speaker's subjective experience of separation and absence forming the emotional core, characteristic of lyric form.
Metaphysical Poetry — Exemplifies Donne's metaphysical style through intellectual conceits linking celestial bodies and geography to emotional states, witty paradoxes about climate and seasons serving abstract ideas, and philosophical complexity.
Dedicatory Poetry — Directly addresses and praises 'Mr. I. L.' with formal compliments and blessings, functioning as a tribute poem honoring a specific individual according to Renaissance conventions of dedicatory verse.
Pastoral Poetry — Incorporates pastoral imagery including pastures, flowery feasts, woods, sheep, and horses, employing bucolic conventions and the form of agricultural blessings to structure complimentary wishes.