226. To the Most Virtuous Mistress Pot, Who Many Times Entertained Him
When I through all my many poems look,And see yourself to beautify my book,Methinks that only lustre doth appearA light fulfilling all the region here.Gild still with flames this firmament, and beA lamp eternal to my poetry.Which, if it now or shall hereafter shine,'Twas by your splendour, lady, not by mine.The oil was yours; and that I owe for yet:He pays the half who does confess the debt.
Words in this poem
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- 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,]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
226. To the Most Virtuous Mistress Pot, Who Many Times Entertained Him 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, 226. To the Most Virtuous Mistress Pot, Who Many Times Entertained Him, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/226-to-the-most-virtuous-mistress-pot-who-many-times-enterta.html, id L05267.
Form and metre
226. To the Most Virtuous Mistress Pot, Who Many Times Entertained Him is 10 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% 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--CCDD lookA · bookA · appearB · hereB · be · poetry · shineC · mineC · yetD · debtD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When I through all my many poems look, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And see yourself to beautify my book, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Methinks that only lustre doth appear | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| A light fulfilling all the region here. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Gild still with flames this firmament, and be | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| A lamp eternal to my poetry. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Which, if it now or shall hereafter shine, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| 'Twas by your splendour, lady, not by mine. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The oil was yours; and that I owe for yet: | 10 | ·········· |
| He pays the half who does confess the debt. | 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.