1056. To His Peculiar Friend, M. Jo. Wicks
Since shed or cottage I have none,I sing the more, that thou hast oneTo whose glad threshold, and free door,I may a poet come, though poor,And eat with thee a savoury bit,Paying but common thanks for it.Yet should I chance, my Wicks, to seeAn over-leaven look in thee,To sour the bread, and turn the beerTo an exalted vinegar:Or should'st thou prize me as a dishOf thrice-boiled worts, or third-day's fish;I'd rather hungry go and come,Than to thy house be burdensome;Yet, in my depth of grief, I'd beOne that should drop his beads for thee.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- savoury n.
- An aromatic labiate plant (Satireia hortensis), much used in cooking; -- also called summer savory. [F. savorée; cf. It. santoreggia, satureja, L. satureia,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
1056. To His Peculiar Friend, M. Jo. Wicks 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, 1056. To His Peculiar Friend, M. Jo. Wicks, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/1056-to-his-peculiar-friend-m-jo-wicks.html, id L05956.
Form and metre
1056. To His Peculiar Friend, M. Jo. Wicks is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 75% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AA--BBCC--DDEECC noneA · oneA · door · poor · bitB · itB · seeC · theeC · beer · vinegar · dishD · fishD · comeE · burdensomeE · beC · theeC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Since shed or cottage I have none, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I sing the more, that thou hast one | 8 | ········ |
| To whose glad threshold, and free door, | 8 | ···/···· |
| I may a poet come, though poor, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And eat with thee a savoury bit, | 9 | ········· |
| Paying but common thanks for it. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Yet should I chance, my Wicks, to see | 8 | ········ |
| An over-leaven look in thee, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To sour the bread, and turn the beer | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| To an exalted vinegar: | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Or should'st thou prize me as a dish | 8 | ········ |
| Of thrice-boiled worts, or third-day's fish; | 9 | ···˘····· |
| I'd rather hungry go and come, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Than to thy house be burdensome; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Yet, in my depth of grief, I'd be | 8 | ········ |
| One that should drop his beads for thee. | 8 | ········ |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Worts: cabbages · Drop his beads: _i.e._, pray
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