104. To His Dear God
I'll hope no moreFor things that will not come;And if they do, they prove but cumbersome.Wealth brings much woe;And, since it fortunes so,'Tis better to be poorThan so t' aboundAs to be drown'dOr overwhelm'd with store.
Pale care, avaunt!I'll learn to be contentWith that small stock Thy bounty gave or lent.What may conduceTo my most healthful use,Almighty God, me grant;But that, or this,That hurtful is,Deny Thy suppliant.
Words in this poem
- cumbersome a.
- Burdensome or hindering, as a weight or drag; embarrassing; vexatious; cumbrous.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- avaunt v. t.
- To advance; to move forward; to elevate.
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- conduce v. t.
- To conduct; to lead; to guide.
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
104. To His Dear God 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, 104. To His Dear God, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/104-to-his-dear-god.html, id L06115.
Form and metre
104. To His Dear God is 18 lines in 2 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.6 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABBCC-DDA moreA · comeB · cumbersomeB · woeC · soC · poor · aboundD · drown'dD · storeA
- 2 AAABBA--A avauntA · contentA · lentA · conduceB · useB · grantA · this · is · suppliantA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I'll hope no more | 4 | ···· |
| For things that will not come; | 6 | ······ |
| And if they do, they prove but cumbersome. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Wealth brings much woe; | 4 | ···· |
| And, since it fortunes so, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| 'Tis better to be poor | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Than so t' abound | 5 | ···˘/ |
| As to be drown'd | 4 | ···· |
| Or overwhelm'd with store. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Pale care, avaunt! | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I'll learn to be content | 6 | ····/˘ |
| With that small stock Thy bounty gave or lent. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| What may conduce | 4 | ··˘/ |
| To my most healthful use, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Almighty God, me grant; | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| But that, or this, | 4 | ···· |
| That hurtful is, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Deny Thy suppliant. | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
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.