219. A Dirge upon the Death of the Right Valiant Lord, Bernard Stuart
Hence, hence, profane! soft silence let us haveWhile we this trental sing about thy grave.
Had wolves or tigers seen but thee,They would have showed civility;And, in compassion of thy years,Washed those thy purple wounds with tears.But since thou'rt slain, and in thy fallThe drooping kingdom suffers all;
Chor. This we will do, we'll daily comeAnd offer tears upon thy tomb:And if that they will not suffice,Thou shall have souls for sacrifice.Sleep in thy peace, while we with spice perfume thee,And cedar wash thee, that no times consume thee.
Live, live thou dost, and shall; for why?Souls do not with their bodies die:Ignoble offsprings, they may fallInto the flames of funeral:Whenas the chosen seed shall springFresh, and for ever flourishing.
Chor. And times to come shall, weeping, read thy gloryLess in these marble stones than in thy story.
Words in this poem
- trental n.
- An office and mass for the dead on the thirtieth day after death or burial. [LL. trentale, fr. L. triginta thirty; akin to tres three: cf. OF. trentel. See Three, and cf. Trigintal.]
- civility n.
- The state of society in which the relations and duties of a citizen are recognized and obeyed; a state of civilization. [L. civilitas: cf. F. civilité. See Civil.]
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
219. A Dirge upon the Death of the Right Valiant Lord, Bernard Stuart 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, 219. A Dirge upon the Death of the Right Valiant Lord, Bernard Stuart, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/219-a-dirge-upon-the-death-of-the-right-valiant-lord-bernard.html, id L05263.
Form and metre
219. A Dirge upon the Death of the Right Valiant Lord, Bernard Stuart is 22 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 82% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% 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 AA haveA · graveA
- 2 --AABB thee · civility · yearsA · tearsA · fallB · allB
- 3 --AABB come · tomb · sufficeA · sacrificeA · theeB · theeB
- 4 AABBCC whyA · dieA · fallB · funeralB · springC · flourishingC
- 5 AA gloryA · storyA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hence, hence, profane! soft silence let us have | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| While we this trental sing about thy grave. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Had wolves or tigers seen but thee, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They would have showed civility; | 9 | ····˘˘/˘˘ |
| And, in compassion of thy years, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Washed those thy purple wounds with tears. | 9 | ·˘··/˘··· |
| But since thou'rt slain, and in thy fall | 8 | ········ |
| The drooping kingdom suffers all; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Chor. This we will do, we'll daily come | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And offer tears upon thy tomb: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And if that they will not suffice, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Thou shall have souls for sacrifice. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sleep in thy peace, while we with spice perfume thee, | 11 | ········˘/· |
| And cedar wash thee, that no times consume thee. | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/· |
| Live, live thou dost, and shall; for why? | 8 | ········ |
| Souls do not with their bodies die: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ignoble offsprings, they may fall | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Into the flames of funeral: | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Whenas the chosen seed shall spring | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Fresh, and for ever flourishing. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Chor. And times to come shall, weeping, read thy glory | 12 | ······/˘··/˘ |
| Less in these marble stones than in thy story. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Stanza 5 Trental: a dirge; but see Note · Cedar: oil of cedar
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