In the old editions this is placed among the _Divine Poems_, and Donne
meant it to bear that character. For it was rather unwillingly that
Donne, now in Orders, wrote this poem at the instance of his friend
and patron Sir Robert Ker, or Carr, later (1633) Earl of Ancrum.
James Hamilton, b. 1584, succeeded his father in 1604 as Marquis of
Hamilton, and his uncle in 1609 as Duke of Chatelherault and Earl of
Arran. He was made a Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber and held other posts
in Scotland. On the occasion of James I's visit to Scotland in 1617 he
played a leading part, and thereafter became a favourite courtier,
his name figuring in all the great functions described in Nichol's
_Progresses_. In 1617 Chamberlain writes: 'I have not heard a man
generally better spoken of than the Marquis, even by all the English;
insomuch that he is every way held as the gallantest gentleman of
both the nations.' He was High Commissioner to the Parliament held at
Edinburgh in 1624, where he secured the passing of the Five Articles
of Perth. In 1624 he opposed the French War policy of Buckingham, and
when he died on March 2, 1624/5, it was maintained that the latter had
poisoned him.
The rhetoric and rhythm of this poem depend a good deal on getting
the right punctuation and a clear view of what are the periods. I have
ventured to make a few emendations in the arrangement of _1633_. The
first sentence ends with the emphatic 'wee doe not so' (l. 8), where
'wee' might be printed in italics. The next closes with 'all lost a
limbe' (l. 18), and the effect is marred if, with Chambers and the
Grolier Club editor, one places a full stop after 'Music lacks a
song', though a colon might be most appropriate. The last two lines
clinch the detailed statement which has preceded. The next sentence
again is not completed till l. 30, 'in the form thereof his bodie's
there', but, though _1633_ has only a semicolon here, a full stop
is preferable, or at least a colon. Chambers's full stops at l. 22,
'none', and l. 28, 'a resurrection', have again the effect of
breaking the logical and rhythmical structure. Lines 23-4 are entirely
parenthetical and would be better enclosed in brackets. Four sustained
periods compose the elegy.
PAGE =289=, ll. 6-7. _If every severall Angell bee A kind alone._ Ea
enim quae conveniunt specie, et differunt numero, conveniunt in formâ
sed distinguuntur materialiter. Si ergo Angeli non sunt compositi ex
materiâ et formâ ... sequitur quod _impossibile sit esse duos Angelos
unius speciei_: sicut etiam impossibile esset dicere quod essent
plures albedines (whitenesses) separatae aut plures humanitates: ...
Si tamen Angeli haberent materiam nec sic possent esse plures Angeli
unius speciei. Sic enim opporteret quod principium distinctionis unius
ab alio esset materia, non quidem secundum divisionem quantitatis, cum
sint incorporei, sed secundum diversitatem potentiarum: quae quidem
diversitas materiae causat diversitatem non solum speciei sed generis.
Aquinas, _Summa_ I. l. 4.