173. To the Detractor
Where others love and praise my verses, stillThy long black thumb-nail marks them out for ill:A fellon take it, or some whitflaw comeFor to unslate or to untile that thumb!But cry thee mercy: exercise thy nailsTo scratch or claw, so that thy tongue not rails:Some numbers prurient are, and some of theseAre wanton with their itch; scratch, and 'twill please.
Words in this poem
- fellon n.
- Variant of Felon.
- untile v. t.
- To take the tiles from; to uncover by removing the tiles. [1st pref. un- + tile.]
- prurient a.
- Uneasy with desire; itching; especially, having a lascivious curiosity or propensity; lustful. [L. pruries, -entis, p. pr. of prurire to itch. Cf. Freeze.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
173. To the Detractor 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, 173. To the Detractor, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/173-to-the-detractor.html, id L05224.
Form and metre
173. To the Detractor is 8 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 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 50% 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 AABBCCDD stillA · illA · comeB · thumbB · nailsC · railsC · theseD · pleaseD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Where others love and praise my verses, still | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Thy long black thumb-nail marks them out for ill: | 10 | ·········· |
| A fellon take it, or some whitflaw come | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| For to unslate or to untile that thumb! | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| But cry thee mercy: exercise thy nails | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To scratch or claw, so that thy tongue not rails: | 10 | ·········· |
| Some numbers prurient are, and some of these | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Are wanton with their itch; scratch, and 'twill please. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Fellon: a sore, especially in the finger · Whitflaw: or whitlow
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.