172. A Ring Presented to Julia
Julia, I bringTo thee this ring,Made for thy finger fit;To show by thisThat our love is(Or should be) like to it.
Close though it beThe joint is free;So, when love's yoke is on,It must not gall,Or fret at allWith hard oppression.
But it must playStill either way,And be, too, such a yokeAs not too wideTo overslide,Or be so strait to choke.
So we who bearThis beam must rearOurselves to such a heightAs that the stayOf either mayCreate the burden light.
And as this roundIs nowhere foundTo flaw, or else to sever:So let our loveAs endless prove,And pure as gold for ever.
Words in this poem
- overslide v. t.
- To slide over or by.
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
172. A Ring Presented to Julia 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, 172. A Ring Presented to Julia, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/172-a-ring-presented-to-julia.html, id L05223.
Form and metre
172. A Ring Presented to Julia is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 53% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 AAB--B bringA · ringA · fitB · this · is · itB
- 2 AABCCB beA · freeA · onB · gallC · allC · oppressionB
- 3 AABCCB playA · wayA · yokeB · wideC · overslideC · chokeB
- 4 AABCCB bearA · rearA · heightB · stayC · mayC · lightB
- 5 AABCCB roundA · foundA · severB · loveC · proveC · everB
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Julia, I bring | 4 | ···· |
| To thee this ring, | 4 | ···· |
| Made for thy finger fit; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To show by this | 4 | ···· |
| That our love is | 4 | ·/·· |
| (Or should be) like to it. | 6 | ······ |
| Close though it be | 4 | ···· |
| The joint is free; | 4 | ···· |
| So, when love's yoke is on, | 6 | ······ |
| It must not gall, | 4 | ···· |
| Or fret at all | 4 | ···· |
| With hard oppression. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| But it must play | 4 | ···· |
| Still either way, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And be, too, such a yoke | 6 | ······ |
| As not too wide | 4 | ···· |
| To overslide, | 4 | ···· |
| Or be so strait to choke. | 6 | ······ |
| So we who bear | 4 | ···· |
| This beam must rear | 4 | ···· |
| Ourselves to such a height | 6 | ˘/···· |
| As that the stay | 4 | ···· |
| Of either may | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Create the burden light. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| And as this round | 4 | ···· |
| Is nowhere found | 4 | ·/·· |
| To flaw, or else to sever: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| So let our love | 4 | ··/· |
| As endless prove, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And pure as gold for ever. | 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.