1092. To the Most Accomplished Gentleman, M. Michael Oulsworth
Nor think that thou in this my book art worst,Because not plac'd here with the midst, or first.Since fame that sides with these, or goes beforeThose, that must live with thee for evermore;That fame, and fame's rear'd pillar, thou shalt seeIn the next sheet, brave man, to follow thee.Fix on that column then, and never fall,Held up by Fame's eternal pedestal.
Words in this poem
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
1092. To the Most Accomplished Gentleman, M. Michael Oulsworth 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, 1092. To the Most Accomplished Gentleman, M. Michael Oulsworth, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/1092-to-the-most-accomplished-gentleman-m-michael-oulsworth.html, id L05984.
Form and metre
1092. To the Most Accomplished Gentleman, M. Michael Oulsworth is 8 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDD worstA · firstA · beforeB · evermoreB · seeC · theeC · fallD · pedestalD
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Nor think that thou in this my book art worst, | 10 | ·········· |
| Because not plac'd here with the midst, or first. | 10 | ·········· |
| Since fame that sides with these, or goes before | 10 | ·········· |
| Those, that must live with thee for evermore; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That fame, and fame's rear'd pillar, thou shalt see | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In the next sheet, brave man, to follow thee. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fix on that column then, and never fall, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Held up by Fame's eternal pedestal. | 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.