1068. Upon Gorgonius

Robert Herrick (1591–1674) · 1648

iambic tetrameter · rhyming couplets · 4 lines · from Hesperides

Unto Pastillus rank Gorgonius cameTo have a tooth twitched out of's native frame;Drawn was his tooth, but stank so, that some say,The barber stopped his nose, and ran away.

Words in this poem

stank a.
Weak; worn out. [OF. estanc, or It. stanco. See Stanch, a.]
barber n.
One whose occupation it is to shave or trim the beard, and to cut and dress the hair of his patrons. Barber's itch. See under Itch. [OE. barbour, OF. barbeor, F. barbier, as if fr. an assumed L. barbator, fr. barba beard. See 1st Barb.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

1068. Upon Gorgonius 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, 1068. Upon Gorgonius, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/1068-upon-gorgonius.html, id L06440.

Form and metre

1068. Upon Gorgonius is 4 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The lines average 10.0 syllables.

See other poems in rhyming couplets.

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. 1 AABB cameA · frameA · sayB · awayB
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. How this is done.

LineSyl.Stress
Unto Pastillus rank Gorgonius came10··········
To have a tooth twitched out of's native frame;10·······/˘·
Drawn was his tooth, but stank so, that some say,10··········
The barber stopped his nose, and ran away.10·/˘·····˘/

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.

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