17. To God: An Anthem Sung in the Chapel at Whitehall Before the King
Verse. My God, I'm wounded by my sin,And sore without, and sick within.Ver. Chor. I come to Thee, in hope to findSalve for my body and my mind.Verse. In Gilead though no balm be foundTo ease this smart or cure this wound,Ver. Chor. Yet, Lord, I know there is with TheeAll saving health, and help for me.Verse. Then reach Thou forth that hand of Thine,That pours in oil, as well as wine,Ver. Chor. And let it work, for I'll endureThe utmost smart, so Thou wilt cure.
About this text
17. To God: An Anthem Sung in the Chapel at Whitehall Before the King 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, 17. To God: An Anthem Sung in the Chapel at Whitehall Before the King, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/17-to-god-an-anthem-sung-in-the-chapel-at-whitehall-before-t.html, id L06028.
Form and metre
17. To God: An Anthem Sung in the Chapel at Whitehall Before the King is 12 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 33% 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 AABBCCDDEEFF sinA · withinA · findB · mindB · foundC · woundC · theeD · meD · thineE · wineE · endureF · cureF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Verse. My God, I'm wounded by my sin, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And sore without, and sick within. | 8 | ········ |
| Ver. Chor. I come to Thee, in hope to find | 10 | ·········· |
| Salve for my body and my mind. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Verse. In Gilead though no balm be found | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| To ease this smart or cure this wound, | 8 | ········ |
| Ver. Chor. Yet, Lord, I know there is with Thee | 10 | ·········· |
| All saving health, and help for me. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Verse. Then reach Thou forth that hand of Thine, | 9 | ········· |
| That pours in oil, as well as wine, | 8 | ········ |
| Ver. Chor. And let it work, for I'll endure | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The utmost smart, so Thou wilt cure. | 8 | ·/······ |
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.