"The Relique"
By John Donne

Transcription, correction, editorial commentary, and markup by Students and Staff of the University of Virginia
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Sources

London : M. F. for John Marriot, 1633We have taken our text from the Text Creation Partnership's digitized version of the 1633 edition of Donne's poems: https://github.com/textcreationpartnership/A69225/blob/master/A69225.xml. Donne's poems circulated in manuscript during his life time, and were not issued in a print version until this edition, which came out after Donne's death in 1632. The long "s" of the original has been modernized, but we have otherwise kept the original spelling. The title page has been sourced from Princeton University Special Collections.

Editorial Statements

Research informing these annotations draws on publicly-accessible resources, with links provided where possible. Annotations have also included common knowledge, defined as information that can be found in multiple reliable sources. If you notice an error in these annotations, please contact lic.open.anthology@gmail.com.

Original spelling and capitalization is retained, though the long s has been silently modernized and ligatured forms are not encoded.

Hyphenation has not been retained, except where necessary for the sense of the word.

Page breaks have been retained. Catchwords, signatures, and running headers have not.

Materials have been transcribed from and checked against first editions, where possible. See the Sources section for more information.

Citation

Donne, John. "The Relique". Poems, by J. D., With Elegies on the Authors Death, M. F. for John Marriot, 1633 , 200 . Literature in Context: An Open Anthology. http://anthology.lib.virginia.edu/work/Donne/donne-relic. Accessed: 2024-11-23T10:22:11.236Z

Linked Data

Explore the collection using linked open data.

TEST Audio
[TP] POEMS,
By J. D[onne].
WITH
ELEGIES
ON THE AUTHOR'S
Death.

 LONDON.
 Printed by M. F. for [J]OHN MARRIOT,
and are to be sold at his shop in St Dunstans
Church-yard in Fleet-street. 1633. The Relique. 1WHen my grave is broke up againe 2Some second guest to entertaine, 3(For graves have learn'd that woman-head 4To be to more then one a Bed) 5And he that digs it, spies 6A bracelet of bright haire about the bone, 7Will he not let'us alone, 8And thinke that there a loving couple lies, 9Who thought that this device might be some way 10To make their soules, at the last busie day, 11Meet at this grave, and make a little stay? 12If this fall in a time, or land, 13Where mis-devotion doth command, 14Then, he that digges us up, will bring 15Us, to the Bishop, and the King, 16To make us Reliques; then 17Thou shalt be a Mary Magdalen, and I 18A something else thereby; 19All women shall adore us, and some men; 20And since at such time, miracles are sought, 22I would have that age by this paper taught 23What miracles wee harmelesse lovers wrought. 24First, we lov'd well and faithfully, 25Yet knew not what wee lov'd, nor why, 26Difference of sex no more wee new, 27Then our Guardian Angells doe, 28Comming and going, wee, 29Perchance might kisse, but not between those meales 30Our hands ne'r toucht the seales, 31Which nature, injur'd by late law, sets free, 32These miracles wee did; but now alas, 33All measure, and all language, I should passe, 34Should I tell what a miracle shee was.
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Footnotes