146. Upon the Bishop of Lincoln's Imprisonment
Never was day so over-sick with showersBut that it had some intermitting hours;Never was night so tedious but it knewThe last watch out, and saw the dawning too;Never was dungeon so obscurely deepWherein or light or day did never peep;Never did moon so ebb, or seas so wane,But they left hope-seed to fill up again.So you, my lord, though you have now your stay,Your night, your prison, and your ebb, you maySpring up afresh, when all these mists are spent,And star-like, once more gild our firmament.Let but that mighty Cæsar speak, and thenAll bolts, all bars, all gates shall cleave; as whenThat earthquake shook the house, and gave the stoutApostles way, unshackled, to go out.This, as I wish for, so I hope to see;Though you, my lord, have been unkind to me,To wound my heart, and never to apply,When you had power, the meanest remedy.Well, though my grief by you was gall'd the more,Yet I bring balm and oil to heal your sore.
Words in this poem
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- afresh adv.
- Anew; again; once more; newly. [Pref. a- + fresh.]
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- 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,]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
146. Upon the Bishop of Lincoln's Imprisonment 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, 146. Upon the Bishop of Lincoln's Imprisonment, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/146-upon-the-bishop-of-lincoln-s-imprisonment.html, id L05200.
Form and metre
146. Upon the Bishop of Lincoln's Imprisonment is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 91% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIII-JJ showersA · hoursA · knewB · tooB · deepC · peepC · waneD · againD · stayE · mayE · spentF · firmamentF · thenG · whenG · stoutH · outH · seeI · meI · applyI · remedy · moreJ · soreJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Never was day so over-sick with showers | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| But that it had some intermitting hours; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Never was night so tedious but it knew | 10 | /···/˘˘··· |
| The last watch out, and saw the dawning too; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Never was dungeon so obscurely deep | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Wherein or light or day did never peep; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Never did moon so ebb, or seas so wane, | 10 | /˘········ |
| But they left hope-seed to fill up again. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| So you, my lord, though you have now your stay, | 10 | ·········· |
| Your night, your prison, and your ebb, you may | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Spring up afresh, when all these mists are spent, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And star-like, once more gild our firmament. | 11 | ······/˘/˘˘ |
| Let but that mighty Cæsar speak, and then | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| All bolts, all bars, all gates shall cleave; as when | 10 | ·········· |
| That earthquake shook the house, and gave the stout | 10 | ·/········ |
| Apostles way, unshackled, to go out. | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘··· |
| This, as I wish for, so I hope to see; | 10 | ·········· |
| Though you, my lord, have been unkind to me, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| To wound my heart, and never to apply, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| When you had power, the meanest remedy. | 11 | ···/˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| Well, though my grief by you was gall'd the more, | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet I bring balm and oil to heal your sore. | 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.