A BURNT SHIP

A BURNT SHIP
by John Donne

Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
So all were lost, which in the ship were found,
They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drowned.

This poem is an epigram by John Donne originally published in 1633. It describes a scene of a burning ship in the ocean. The men on board are helplessly cast into their deaths either by being burnt on the ship, or by drowning in the ocean. The enemy around the ship made sure all survivors are non-existent. The last line offers a twist that is characteristic of an epigram, as it uses an oxymoronic statement to describe the soldiers’ fates. They were either burnt in the sea, or drowned in the ship.
The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABBACC. It is a syllabic verse, with 10 syllables per line, except the last time. The poem uses strong imagery to capture the scene of the event, using words like “fired ship.” In each of the first 5 lines, the “f” sound appears once, in “fired”, “flame”, “forth”, “foes”, and “found”. In line 4, the author uses alliteration for “ships” and “shot”. Finally, the oxymoronic last line is a paradox, as it states people in the sea were burnt by the fire around the ship, and people in the ship were drowned as it sank.