The Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne, Volume 7, Part 1: The Holy Sonnets

HSShe

HSShe Textual Introduction As is indicated on Figure 2 in the General Textual Introduction (p. lxii), that in NY3 is the sole manuscript copy of HSShe, and the poem never appeared among the seventeenth...century editions. Indeed, the very existence of this sonnet remained generally unknown until Edmund Gosse published it-and eventually the entire NY3 sequence-in the 1890S (see the General Textual Introduction, pp.lxxix-Ixxx [fn. 19] and xc). Having been brought to light, of course, the poem has appeared in all subsequent editions, always appended at the end of the previous 16 Holy Son... nets (however arranged) as the first of the 3 sonnets unique to the Westmoreland manuscript (see Figure 6 on p. lxxvi). A prolific editor, Gosse took a considerably looser approach to his task than have most of his successors, and-as is shown in the Historical Collation-some details in his three printings of HSShe vary not only from the manuscript, but also from one another. At the end of line 3, for example, where NY3 reads "rauished," (so spelled and punctuated), Gosse reports "vanished"; moreover, he punctuates here in three different ways, using a dash in 71 (-), a period and a dash inIac (.-), and a comma and a dash in 72 (,-). Gosse's unvarying substitution of "vanished" for "rauished" may be a deliberate bowdlerization, and other divergences from the manuscript-such as his "on [for NY3'S in] heavenly things" in line 4 and "their [for NY3'S the] head" in line 6-perhaps represent conscious "improvements." Such anomalies as lac's "Does" (for Dost") in line 10 and "this [for the] World" in line 14, however, can only be attributed to carelessness. Although Gosse follows the manuscript's pattern of indentation in both 71 and lac, in 72, as part of a regular... ized presentation of the entire NY3 sequence, the poem appears without indenta... tion. All twentieth...century editions also print the poem without indentation, instead imposing the flush,left style that they follow for the first 16 sonnets. Grierson (Q) and, following him, Hayward (S) and Patrides (DO), moreover, all print Gosse's "on" (for "in") in line 4 and his "their" (for "the") in line 6. As is noted in the General Textual Introduction (see pp. lxxxiii and cii), a major crux involving punc... tuation appears in line 10, where the manuscript gives "Dost woe my Soule for hers; offring all thine ...." Though he reduces the semicolon to a comma, Gosse pre... serves the syntax of the line as it exists in the manuscript; and Grierson (who rein' stitutes the semicolon), Hayward, Smith (AA), and Patrides follow him in this. Finding the manuscript's version of the line unintelligible, however, Bennett (T) removes the punctuation after "hers" and inserts a comma after "Soule"; and his emended "Dost woo my soul, for hers off'ring all thine" is adopted in all subsequent editions-including the present one-save those of Smith and Patrides. HSShe Textual Introduction As is indicated on Figure 2 in the General Textual Introduction (p. lxii), that in NY3 is the sole manuscript copy of HSShe, and the poem never appeared among the seventeenth-century editions. Indeed, the very existence of this sonnet remained generally unknown until Edmund Gosse published it-and eventually the entire NY3 sequence-in the I890S (see the General Textual Introduction, pp.lxxix-Ixxx [fn. 19] and xc). Having been brought to light, of course, the poem has appeared in all subsequent editions, always appended at the end of the previous 16 Holy Sonnets (however arranged) as the first of the 3 sonnets unique to the Westmoreland manuscript (see Figure 6 on p. lxxvi). A prolific editor, Gosse took a considerably looser approach to his task than have most of his successors, and-as is shown in the Historical Collation-some details in his three printings of HSShe vary not only from the manuscript, but also from one another. At the end of line 3, for example, where NY3 reads "rauished," (so spelled and punctuated), Gosse reports "vanished"; moreover, he punctuates here in three different ways, using a dash in 71 (-), a period and a dash in lac (.-), and a comma and a dash in 72 (,-). Gosse's unvarying substitution of "vanished" for "rauished" may be a deliberate bowdlerization, and other divergences from the manuscript-such as his "on [for NY3's in] heavenly things" in line 4 and "their [for NY3's the] head" in line 6-perhaps represent conscious...