John Donne - 4 - Argo

Goe, and catche a falling starre,
Get with child a mandrake roote,
Tell me, where all past yeares are,
Or who cleft the Divels foot,
Teach me to heare Mermaides singing,
Or to keep off envies stinging,
And find
What winde
Serves to advance an honest minde.

If thou beest borne to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand daies and nights,
Till age snow white haires on thee,
Thou, when thou retorn'st, wilt tell me
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And sweare
No where
Loves a woman true, and faire.

If thou findst one, let mee know,
Such a Pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet doe not, I would not goe,
Though at next doore wee might meet,
Though shee were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet shee
Will bee
False, ere I come, to two, or three.



Magic trochaics set off a search for the honest female lover. A tale of human inconstancy expressed in metaphysical conceits, rhetorical tropes and impossibilities, related in the manner of an assumed worldliness. I have heard the mermaids singing...

The Argo recording from 1964 (PLP 1012), read with considerable authority by William Squire, Peter Orr and Richard Johnson. I add two items read by Eric Portman. Warmly recommended (and kindly seed)