216. A Meditation for His Mistress
You are a tulip seen to-day,But, dearest, of so short a stayThat where you grew scarce man can say.
You are a lovely July-flower,Yet one rude wind or ruffling showerWill force you hence, and in an hour.
You are a sparkling rose i' th' bud,Yet lost ere that chaste flesh and bloodCan show where you or grew or stood.
You are a full-spread, fair-set vine,And can with tendrils love entwine,Yet dried ere you distil your wine.
You are like balm enclosed wellIn amber, or some crystal shell,Yet lost ere you transfuse your smell.
You are a dainty violet,Yet wither'd ere you can be setWithin the virgin's coronet.
You are the queen all flowers among,But die you must, fair maid, ere long,As he, the maker of this song.
Words in this poem
- tulip n.
- Any plant of the liliaceous genus Tulipa. Many varieties are cultivated for their beautiful, often variegated flowers. Tulip tree. [F. tulipe, OF. also tulipan, It. tulipano, tulipa, from Turk. tulbend, dulbend, literally, a turban, Per. dulband; -- so called from the resemblance of the form]
- 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]
- entwine v. t.
- To twine, twist, or wreathe together or round. [Pref. en- + twine. Cf. Intwine.]
- transfuse v. t.
- To pour, as liquid, out of one vessel into another; to transfer by pouring. [L. transfusus, p. p. of transfundere: cf. F. transfuser. See Transfund.]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
216. A Meditation for His Mistress 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, 216. A Meditation for His Mistress, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/216-a-meditation-for-his-mistress.html, id L05260.
Form and metre
216. A Meditation for His Mistress is 21 lines in 7 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AAA dayA · stayA · sayA
- 2 AAA flowerA · showerA · hourA
- 3 AAA budA · bloodA · stoodA
- 4 AAA vineA · entwineA · wineA
- 5 AAA wellA · shellA · smellA
- 6 AAA violetA · setA · coronetA
- 7 -AA among · longA · songA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| You are a tulip seen to-day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But, dearest, of so short a stay | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That where you grew scarce man can say. | 8 | ········ |
| You are a lovely July-flower, | 9 | ···/˘·//˘ |
| Yet one rude wind or ruffling shower | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Will force you hence, and in an hour. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| You are a sparkling rose i' th' bud, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet lost ere that chaste flesh and blood | 8 | ········ |
| Can show where you or grew or stood. | 8 | ········ |
| You are a full-spread, fair-set vine, | 8 | ········ |
| And can with tendrils love entwine, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Yet dried ere you distil your wine. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| You are like balm enclosed well | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In amber, or some crystal shell, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Yet lost ere you transfuse your smell. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| You are a dainty violet, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Yet wither'd ere you can be set | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Within the virgin's coronet. | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| You are the queen all flowers among, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| But die you must, fair maid, ere long, | 8 | ········ |
| As he, the maker of this song. | 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.