123. The Tear Sent to Her from Staines
Glide, gentle streams, and bearAlong with you my tearTo that coy girlWho smiles, yet slaysMe with delays,And strings my tears as pearl.
See! see, she's yonder set,Making a carcanetOf maiden-flowers!There, there presentThis orientAnd pendant pearl of ours.
Then say I've sent one moreGem to enrich her store;And that is allWhich I can send,Or vainly spend,For tears no more will fall.
Nor will I seek supplyOf them, the spring's once dry;But I'll devise,Among the rest,A way that's bestHow I may save mine eyes.
Yet say--should she condemnMe to surrender themThen say my partMust be to weepOut them, to keepA poor, yet loving heart.
Say too, she would have this;She shall: then my hope is,That when I'm poorAnd nothing haveTo send or save,I'm sure she'll ask no more.
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- carcanet n.
- A jeweled chain, necklace, or collar. [Also written carkenet and carcant.] [Dim. fr. F. carcan the iron collar or chain of a criminal, a chain of preciousstones, LL. carcannum, fr. Armor. kerchen bosom, neck, kechen collar, fr. kelch ci]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
123. The Tear Sent to Her from Staines 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, 123. The Tear Sent to Her from Staines, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/123-the-tear-sent-to-her-from-staines.html, id L05181.
Form and metre
123. The Tear Sent to Her from Staines is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.1 syllables. 4 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 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 AABCCB bearA · tearA · girlB · slaysC · delaysC · pearlB
- 2 AABCCB setA · carcanetA · flowersB · presentC · orientC · oursB
- 3 AABCCB moreA · storeA · allB · sendC · spendC · fallB
- 4 AABCCB supplyA · dryA · deviseB · restC · bestC · eyesB
- 5 AABCCB condemnA · themA · partB · weepC · keepC · heartB
- 6 ---AA- this · is · poor · haveA · saveA · more
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Glide, gentle streams, and bear | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Along with you my tear | 6 | ˘/···· |
| To that coy girl | 4 | ···· |
| Who smiles, yet slays | 4 | ···· |
| Me with delays, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And strings my tears as pearl. | 6 | ······ |
| See! see, she's yonder set, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Making a carcanet | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Of maiden-flowers! | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| There, there present | 4 | ··/˘ |
| This orient | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And pendant pearl of ours. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Then say I've sent one more | 6 | ······ |
| Gem to enrich her store; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And that is all | 4 | ···· |
| Which I can send, | 4 | ···· |
| Or vainly spend, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| For tears no more will fall. | 6 | ······ |
| Nor will I seek supply | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Of them, the spring's once dry; | 6 | ······ |
| But I'll devise, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Among the rest, | 4 | ···· |
| A way that's best | 4 | ···· |
| How I may save mine eyes. | 6 | ······ |
| Yet say--should she condemn | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Me to surrender them | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Then say my part | 4 | ···· |
| Must be to weep | 4 | ···· |
| Out them, to keep | 4 | ···· |
| A poor, yet loving heart. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Say too, she would have this; | 6 | ······ |
| She shall: then my hope is, | 6 | ······ |
| That when I'm poor | 4 | ···· |
| And nothing have | 4 | ·/˘· |
| To send or save, | 4 | ···· |
| I'm sure she'll ask no more. | 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.