Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BLOSSOM, by JOHN DONNE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BLOSSOM, by         Recitation         Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Little think'st thou, poor flower
Last Line: As glad to have my body as my mind.
Variant Title(s): Foreknowledge
Subject(s): Love


Little think'st thou, poor flower,
Whom I have watched six or seven days,
And seen thy birth, and seen what every hour
Gave to thy growth, thee to this height to raise,
And now dost laugh and triumph on this bough,
Little think'st thou
That it will freeze anon, and that I shall
Tomorrow find thee fall'n, or not at all.
Little think'st thou, poor heart,
That labor'st yet to nestle thee
And think'st by hovering here to get a part
In a forbidden or forbidding tree,
And hop'st her stiffness by long siege to bow,
Little think'st thou
That thou tomorrow, ere that sun doth wake,
Must with this sun and me a journey take.
But thou, which lov'st to be
Subtle to plague thyself, wilt say,
Alas, if you must go, what's that to me?
Here lies my business, and here I will stay:
You go to friends whose love and means present
Various content
To your eyes, ears, and tongue, and every part.
If then your body go, what need you a heart?
Well, then, stay here; but know,
When thou hast stayed and done thy most,
A naked thinking heart that makes no show
Is to a woman but a kind of ghost.
How shall she know my heart; or, having none,
Know thee for one?
Practice may make her know some other part,
But take my word, she doth not know a heart.
Meet me at London, then,
Twenty days hence, and thou shalt see
Me fresher and more fat by being with men
Than if I had stayed still with her and thee.
For God's sake, if you can, be you so too:
I would give you
There to another friend, whom we shall find
As glad to have my body as my mind.







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