1024. Comfort to a Youth That Had Lost His Love
What needs complaints,When she a placeHas with the raceOf saints?In endless mirth,She thinks not onWhat's said or doneIn earth.She sees no tears,Or any toneOf thy deep groanShe hears:Nor does she mind,Or think on't now,That ever thouWast kind;But chang'd above,She likes not there.As she did here,Thy love.Forbear, therefore,And lull asleepThy woes, and weepNo more.
Words in this poem
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- lull v. t.
- To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
1024. Comfort to a Youth That Had Lost His Love is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Hesperides & Noble Numbers: Vol. 1 and 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #22421; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Herrick, 1024. Comfort to a Youth That Had Lost His Love, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/1024-comfort-to-a-youth-that-had-lost-his-love.html, id L05926.
Form and metre
1024. Comfort to a Youth That Had Lost His Love is 24 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 3.5 syllables. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBAC--CDEEDFGGFHIIHJKKJ complaintsA · placeB · raceB · saintsA · mirthC · on · done · earthC · tearsD · toneE · groanE · hearsD · mindF · nowG · thouG · kindF · aboveH · thereI · hereI · loveH · thereforeJ · asleepK · weepK · moreJ
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| What needs complaints, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| When she a place | 4 | ···· |
| Has with the race | 4 | ···· |
| Of saints? | 2 | ·· |
| In endless mirth, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| She thinks not on | 4 | ···· |
| What's said or done | 4 | ···· |
| In earth. | 2 | ·· |
| She sees no tears, | 4 | ···· |
| Or any tone | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of thy deep groan | 4 | ···· |
| She hears: | 2 | ·· |
| Nor does she mind, | 4 | ···· |
| Or think on't now, | 4 | ···· |
| That ever thou | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Wast kind; | 2 | ·· |
| But chang'd above, | 4 | ···· |
| She likes not there. | 4 | ···· |
| As she did here, | 4 | ···· |
| Thy love. | 2 | ·· |
| Forbear, therefore, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| And lull asleep | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Thy woes, and weep | 4 | ···· |
| No more. | 2 | ·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.