246. His Recantation
Love, I recant,And pardon craveThat lately I offended;But 'twas,Alas!To make a brave,But no disdain intended.
No more I'll vaunt,For now I seeThou only hast the powerTo findAnd bindA heart that's free,And slave it in an hour.
Words in this poem
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
246. His Recantation 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, 246. His Recantation, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/246-his-recantation.html, id L05282.
Form and metre
246. His Recantation is 14 lines in 2 stanzas of 7 lines each. 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -AB--AB recant · craveA · offendedB · twas · alas · braveA · intendedB
- 2 -ABCCAB vaunt · seeA · powerB · findC · bindC · freeA · hourB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Love, I recant, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And pardon crave | 4 | ·/˘· |
| That lately I offended; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| But 'twas, | 2 | ·· |
| Alas! | 2 | ˘/ |
| To make a brave, | 4 | ···· |
| But no disdain intended. | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| No more I'll vaunt, | 4 | ···· |
| For now I see | 4 | ···· |
| Thou only hast the power | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| To find | 2 | ·· |
| And bind | 2 | ·· |
| A heart that's free, | 4 | ···· |
| And slave it in an hour. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.