11. The Parliament of Roses to Julia
I dreamt the roses one time wentTo meet and sit in parliament;The place for these, and for the restOf flowers, was thy spotless breast,Over the which a state was drawnOf tiffanie or cobweb lawn.Then in that parly all those powersVoted the rose the queen of flowers;But so as that herself should beThe maid of honour unto thee.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- parliament n.
- A parleying; a discussion; a conference. [OE. parlement, F. parlement, fr. parler to speak; cf. LL. parlamentum, parliamentum. See Parley.]
- cobweb n.
- The network spread by a spider to catch its prey. [Cob a spider + web.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
11. The Parliament of Roses to Julia 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, 11. The Parliament of Roses to Julia, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/11-the-parliament-of-roses-to-julia.html, id L05074.
Form and metre
11. The Parliament of Roses to Julia is 10 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% 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 AABBCCDDEE wentA · parliamentA · restB · breastB · drawnC · lawnC · powersD · flowersD · beE · theeE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I dreamt the roses one time went | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To meet and sit in parliament; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The place for these, and for the rest | 8 | ········ |
| Of flowers, was thy spotless breast, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Over the which a state was drawn | 8 | ········ |
| Of tiffanie or cobweb lawn. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Then in that parly all those powers | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Voted the rose the queen of flowers; | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| But so as that herself should be | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The maid of honour unto thee. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- State: a canopy · Tiffanie: gauze · Parly: a parliament
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.