137. Salutation
Christ, I have read, did to His chaplains say,Sending them forth, Salute no man by th' way:Not that He taught His ministers to beUnsmooth or sour to all civility,But to instruct them to avoid all snaresOf tardidation in the Lord's affairs.Manners are good; but till His errand ends,Salute we must nor strangers, kin, or friends.
Words in this poem
- civility n.
- The state of society in which the relations and duties of a citizen are recognized and obeyed; a state of civilization. [L. civilitas: cf. F. civilité. See Civil.]
- instruct a.
- Arranged; furnished; provided. [L. instructus, p. p. of instruere to furnish, provide, construct, instruct; pref. in- in, struere. See Structure.]
- avoid v. t.
- To empty. Wyclif. [OF. esvuidier, es (L. ex) + vuidier, voidier, to empty. See Void, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
137. Salutation 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, 137. Salutation, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/137-salutation.html, id L06148.
Form and metre
137. Salutation is 8 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 75% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 77% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 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 AA--BBCC sayA · wayA · be · civility · snaresB · affairsB · endsC · friendsC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Christ, I have read, did to His chaplains say, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Sending them forth, Salute no man by th' way: | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Not that He taught His ministers to be | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Unsmooth or sour to all civility, | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| But to instruct them to avoid all snares | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Of tardidation in the Lord's affairs. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Manners are good; but till His errand ends, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Salute we must nor strangers, kin, or friends. | 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.