265. Another to His Saviour
If Thou be'st taken, God forbidI fly from Thee, as others did:But if Thou wilt so honour meAs to accept my company,I'll follow Thee, hap hap what shall,Both to the judge and judgment hall:And, if I see Thee posted there,To be all-flayed with whipping-cheer,I'll take my share; or else, my God,Thy stripes I'll kiss, or burn the rod.
Words in this poem
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- 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
265. Another to His Saviour 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, 265. Another to His Saviour, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/265-another-to-his-saviour.html, id L06276.
Form and metre
265. Another to His Saviour is 10 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 60% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 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 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----BBCC forbidA · didA · me · company · shall · hall · thereB · cheerB · godC · rodC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If Thou be'st taken, God forbid | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I fly from Thee, as others did: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But if Thou wilt so honour me | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As to accept my company, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| I'll follow Thee, hap hap what shall, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Both to the judge and judgment hall: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And, if I see Thee posted there, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To be all-flayed with whipping-cheer, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I'll take my share; or else, my God, | 8 | ········ |
| Thy stripes I'll kiss, or burn the rod. | 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.