To Mr. Rowland Woodward: if, as Mine is, Thy Lif

Name: To Mr. Rowland Woodward: if, as Mine is, Thy Life a Slumber Be
Author: John Donne

John Donne addresses this verse letter to Mr. Rowland Woodward, comparing the poem itself to a dream-image of the poet, more faithful than any shape Morpheus or his brother could fashion, since the letter carries his name, words, hand, feet, heart, mind, and wit. He calls the letter his deed of gift, his will, bequeathing himself as its legacy, and says he loves and even envies Woodward's withdrawn, melancholy retirement, rejoicing that though he himself stays behind, he can send his heart to Woodward as a lover sends his picture to an absent love. He then reflects that news reaches Woodward sooner than it reaches him, since havens are heavens and ships are winged angels bearing both gospel and stern threats. He fears Guiana's harvest is nipped in the spring, and that Fate treats them as God treated the Jews' guide, showing him the rich land but barring his entry, so that their own slowness is their punishment and sin. He supposes that once the Spanish businesses now eclipsing Guiana's light are finished, their discontinued hopes may be retrieved. But he adds that even if all hopes smoke away, almighty virtue is itself an India: if men are worlds, each man holds something answering in proportion to all the world's riches, and in good men that riches is virtue, the form of their form and the soul of their soul.

By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Verse Epistle, Metaphysical Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 410 words

First lines

If, as mine is, thy life a slumber be, / Seem, when thou read'st these lines, to dream of me. / Never did Morpheus nor his brother wear / Shapes so like those shapes, whom they would appear, / As this my letter is like me, for it / Hath my name, words, hand, feet, heart, mind and wit. / It is my deed of gift of me to thee; / It is my will, myself the legacy. / So thy retirings I love, yea envy, / Bred in thee by a wise melancholy, / That I rejoice, that unto where thou art, / Though I stay here, I can thus send my heart, / As kindly as any enamour'd patient / His picture to his absent love hath sent.

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To Mr. Rowland Woodward: if, as Mine is, Thy Life a Slumber Be 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: Verse Epistle, Metaphysical Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Devotional Poetry
Length: 410 words
Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

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Genres

Verse Epistle — The poem is structured as a direct address and personal letter in verse to Rowland Woodward, making the epistle form its primary generic classification.
Metaphysical Poetry — Exemplifies metaphysical style through complex conceits, intellectual wit, paradoxes, and unexpected juxtapositions characteristic of Donne's metaphysical school.
Lyric Poetry — Maintains intimate, meditative, and personal lyrical qualities focused on individual emotion, reflection, and introspection despite its epistolary framework.
Philosophical Poetry — Engages in sustained abstract meditation on virtue, spiritual wealth, absence and presence, human value, and the nature of meaningful connection.