204. To the Fever, Not to Trouble Julia
Thou'st dar'd too far; but, fury, now forbearTo give the least disturbance to her hair:But less presume to lay a plait uponHer skin's most smooth and clear expansion.'Tis like a lawny firmament as yet,Quite dispossess'd of either fray or fret.Come thou not near that film so finely spread,Where no one piece is yet unlevelled.This if thou dost, woe to thee, fury, woe,I'll send such frost, such hail, such sleet, and snow,Such flesh-quakes, palsies, and such fears as shallDead thee to th' most, if not destroy thee all.And thou a thousand thousand times shalt beMore shak'd thyself than she is scorch'd by thee.
Words in this poem
- presume v. t.
- To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. [F. présumer, L. praesumere, praesumptum; prae before + sumere to take. See Assume, Redeem.]
- lawny a.
- Having a lawn; characterized by a lawn or by lawns; like a lawn.
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- sleet n.
- The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.
- 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,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
204. To the Fever, Not to Trouble 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, 204. To the Fever, Not to Trouble Julia, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/204-to-the-fever-not-to-trouble-julia.html, id L05249.
Form and metre
204. To the Fever, Not to Trouble Julia is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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 --AABB--CC--DD forbear · hair · uponA · expansionA · yetB · fretB · spread · unlevelled · woeC · snowC · shall · all · beD · theeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou'st dar'd too far; but, fury, now forbear | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To give the least disturbance to her hair: | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| But less presume to lay a plait upon | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Her skin's most smooth and clear expansion. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| 'Tis like a lawny firmament as yet, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Quite dispossess'd of either fray or fret. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Come thou not near that film so finely spread, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where no one piece is yet unlevelled. | 10 | ·········˘ |
| This if thou dost, woe to thee, fury, woe, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I'll send such frost, such hail, such sleet, and snow, | 10 | ·········· |
| Such flesh-quakes, palsies, and such fears as shall | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Dead thee to th' most, if not destroy thee all. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And thou a thousand thousand times shalt be | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| More shak'd thyself than she is scorch'd by thee. | 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.