128. The White Island: Or, Place of the Blest
In this world, the isle of dreams,While we sit by sorrow's streams,Tears and terrors are our themesReciting:
But when once from hence we fly,More and more approaching nighUnto young EternityUniting:
In that whiter island, whereThings are evermore sincere;Candour here, and lustre thereDelighting:
There no monstrous fancies shallOut of hell an horror call,To create, or cause at all,Affrighting.
There in calm and cooling sleepWe our eyes shall never steep;But eternal watch shall keep,Attending
Pleasures, such as shall pursueMe immortalised, and you;And fresh joys, as never toHave ending.
Words in this poem
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- candour n.
- Whiteness; brightness; (as applied to moral conditions) usullied purity; innocence. [L. candor, fr. candëre; cf. F. candeur. See candid.]
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- 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,]
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
128. The White Island: Or, Place of the Blest 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, 128. The White Island: Or, Place of the Blest, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/128-the-white-island-or-place-of-the-blest.html, id L06139.
Form and metre
128. The White Island: Or, Place of the Blest is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.1 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 AAAB dreamsA · streamsA · themesA · recitingB
- 2 CC-B flyC · nighC · eternity · unitingB
- 3 D-DB whereD · sincere · thereD · delightingB
- 4 -EEB shall · callE · allE · affrightingB
- 5 FFFG sleepF · steepF · keepF · attendingG
- 6 HHHG pursueH · youH · toH · endingG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In this world, the isle of dreams, | 7 | ······· |
| While we sit by sorrow's streams, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Tears and terrors are our themes | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Reciting: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| But when once from hence we fly, | 7 | ······· |
| More and more approaching nigh | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Unto young Eternity | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Uniting: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| In that whiter island, where | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Things are evermore sincere; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Candour here, and lustre there | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Delighting: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| There no monstrous fancies shall | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Out of hell an horror call, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| To create, or cause at all, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Affrighting. | 3 | ··· |
| There in calm and cooling sleep | 7 | ····/˘· |
| We our eyes shall never steep; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But eternal watch shall keep, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Attending | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Pleasures, such as shall pursue | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Me immortalised, and you; | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| And fresh joys, as never to | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Have ending. | 3 | ·/˘ |
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.