"The Relic" is one of John Donne's passionate love songs—and also, oddly, a jab at the Catholic practice of venerating saints' bodies. Imagining a day some years down the line when someone will dig up his grave and find his bones wearing a bracelet of his lover's "bright hair," the poem's speaker sighs that someone will probably try to pass these remains off as the relics of saints. That's a "mis-devotion," he scoffs; what the people of the future should venerate is the miraculous love he and his darling shared. Deep human love, this poem suggests, is plenty sacred on its own. Fittingly enough, this poem wasn't widely published until after Donne's death, when it was collected in the 1633 volume Poems.
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The Full Text of “The Relic”
1When my grave is broke up again
2 Some second guest to entertain,
3 (For graves have learn'd that woman-head,
4 To be to more than one a bed)
5 And he that digs it, spies
6A bracelet of bright hair about the bone,
7 Will he not let'us alone,
8And think that there a loving couple lies,
9Who thought that this device might be some way
10To make their souls, at the last busy day,
11Meet at this grave, and make a little stay?
12 If this fall in a time, or land,
13 Where mis-devotion doth command,
14 Then he, that digs us up, will bring
15 Us to the bishop, and the king,
16 To make us relics; then
17Thou shalt be a Mary Magdalen, and I
18 A something else thereby;
19All women shall adore us, and some men;
20And since at such time miracles are sought,
21I would have that age by this paper taught
22What miracles we harmless lovers wrought.
23 First, we lov'd well and faithfully,
24 Yet knew not what we lov'd, nor why;
25 Difference of sex no more we knew
26 Than our guardian angels do;
27 Coming and going, we
28Perchance might kiss, but not between those meals;
29 Our hands ne'er touch'd the seals
30Which nature, injur'd by late law, sets free;
31These miracles we did, but now alas,
32All measure, and all language, I should pass,
33Should I tell what a miracle she was.
The Full Text of “The Relic”
1When my grave is broke up again
2 Some second guest to entertain,
3 (For graves have learn'd that woman-head,
4 To be to more than one a bed)
5 And he that digs it, spies
6A bracelet of bright hair about the bone,
7 Will he not let'us alone,
8And think that there a loving couple lies,
9Who thought that this device might be some way
10To make their souls, at the last busy day,
11Meet at this grave, and make a little stay?
12 If this fall in a time, or land,
13 Where mis-devotion doth command,
14 Then he, that digs us up, will bring
15 Us to the bishop, and the king,
16 To make us relics; then
17Thou shalt be a Mary Magdalen, and I
18 A something else thereby;
19All women shall adore us, and some men;
20And since at such time miracles are sought,
21I would have that age by this paper taught
22What miracles we harmless lovers wrought.
23 First, we lov'd well and faithfully,
24 Yet knew not what we lov'd, nor why;
25 Difference of sex no more we knew
26 Than our guardian angels do;
27 Coming and going, we
28Perchance might kiss, but not between those meals;
29 Our hands ne'er touch'd the seals
30Which nature, injur'd by late law, sets free;
31These miracles we did, but now alas,
32All measure, and all language, I should pass,
33Should I tell what a miracle she was.
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“The Relic” Summary
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“The Relic” Themes
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The Miraculous, Enduring Power of Love
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The Foolishness of Worshipping Relics
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Spiritual Love vs. Physical Love
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Relic”
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Lines 1-4
When my grave is broke up again
Some second guest to entertain,
(For graves have learn'd that woman-head,
To be to more than one a bed) -
Lines 5-8
And he that digs it, spies
A bracelet of bright hair about the bone,
Will he not let'us alone,
And think that there a loving couple lies, -
Lines 9-11
Who thought that this device might be some way
To make their souls, at the last busy day,
Meet at this grave, and make a little stay? -
Lines 12-16
If this fall in a time, or land,
Where mis-devotion doth command,
Then he, that digs us up, will bring
Us to the bishop, and the king,
To make us relics; -
Lines 16-22
then
Thou shalt be a Mary Magdalen, and I
A something else thereby;
All women shall adore us, and some men;
And since at such time miracles are sought,
I would have that age by this paper taught
What miracles we harmless lovers wrought. -
Lines 23-30
First, we lov'd well and faithfully,
Yet knew not what we lov'd, nor why;
Difference of sex no more we knew
Than our guardian angels do;
Coming and going, we
Perchance might kiss, but not between those meals;
Our hands ne'er touch'd the seals
Which nature, injur'd by late law, sets free; -
Lines 31-33
These miracles we did, but now alas,
All measure, and all language, I should pass,
Should I tell what a miracle she was.
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“The Relic” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Conceit
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Allusion
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Metaphor
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Alliteration
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Repetition
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“The Relic” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Entertain
- Woman-head
- Let'us
- Device
- The last busy day
- Make a little stay
- Mis-devotion
- Relics
- Mary Magdalen
- A something else thereby
- Sought
- This paper
- Perchance
- Seals
- Injur'd by late law
- Pass
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- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Relic”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Relic” Speaker
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“The Relic” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Relic”
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More “The Relic” Resources
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External Resources
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A Portrait of Donne — See a portrait of Donne made when he (like this poem's speaker) was a dashing young lover.
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Donne's Poems — See images from the 1633 first edition of Donne's Poems, the posthumous collection in which "The Relic" was first published.
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Donne's Legacy — Read a review of a recent Donne biography that discusses his continuing influence.
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A Brief Biography — Learn more about Donne's life and work via the British Library.
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by John Donne
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