1091. On Himself
I will no longer kiss,I can no longer stay;The way of all flesh isThat I must go this day.Since longer I can't live,My frolic youths, adieu;My lamp to you I'll give,And all my troubles too.
About this text
1091. On Himself 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, 1091. On Himself, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/1091-on-himself.html, id L05983.
Form and metre
1091. On Himself is 8 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 12% 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 -A-ABCBC kiss · stayA · is · dayA · liveB · adieuC · giveB · tooC
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 will no longer kiss, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I can no longer stay; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The way of all flesh is | 6 | ······ |
| That I must go this day. | 6 | ······ |
| Since longer I can't live, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My frolic youths, adieu; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| My lamp to you I'll give, | 6 | ······ |
| And all my troubles too. | 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.