211. His Poetry His Pillar
Only a little moreI have to write,Then I'll give o'er,And bid the world good-night.
'Tis but a flying minuteThat I must stay,Or linger in it;And then I must away.
O time that cut'st down allAnd scarce leav'st hereMemorialOf any men that were.
How many lie forgotIn vaults beneath?And piecemeal rotWithout a fame in death?
Behold this living stoneI rear for me,Ne'er to be thrownDown, envious Time, by thee.
Pillars let some set upIf so they please:Here is my hopeAnd my Pyramides.
Words in this poem
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- piecemeal adv.
- In pieces; in parts or fragments. [OE. pecemele; pece a piece + AS. m, dat. pl. of m part. See Meal a portion.]
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
211. His Poetry His Pillar 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, 211. His Poetry His Pillar, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/211-his-poetry-his-pillar.html, id L05255.
Form and metre
211. His Poetry His Pillar is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 2 of the 6 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 46% 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 -A-A more · writeA · o'er · nightA
- 2 ABAB minuteA · stayB · itA · awayB
- 3 A-A- allA · here · memorialA · were
- 4 A-A- forgotA · beneath · rotA · death
- 5 ABAB stoneA · meB · thrownA · theeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Only a little more | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| I have to write, | 4 | ···· |
| Then I'll give o'er, | 4 | ···· |
| And bid the world good-night. | 6 | ······ |
| 'Tis but a flying minute | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| That I must stay, | 4 | ···· |
| Or linger in it; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And then I must away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| O time that cut'st down all | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And scarce leav'st here | 4 | ···· |
| Memorial | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Of any men that were. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| How many lie forgot | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| In vaults beneath? | 4 | ···· |
| And piecemeal rot | 4 | ·/·· |
| Without a fame in death? | 6 | ······ |
| Behold this living stone | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| I rear for me, | 4 | ···· |
| Ne'er to be thrown | 4 | ···· |
| Down, envious Time, by thee. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Pillars let some set up | 6 | /˘···· |
| If so they please: | 4 | ···· |
| Here is my hope | 4 | ···· |
| And my Pyramides. | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
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.