266. His Saviour's Words Going to the Cross
Have, have ye no regard, all yeWho pass this way, to pity Me,Who am a man of misery!
A man both bruis'd, and broke, and oneWho suffers not here for Mine own,But for My friends' transgression!
Ah! Sion's daughters, do not fearThe cross, the cords, the nails, the spear,The myrrh, the gall, the vinegar;
For Christ, your loving Saviour, hathDrunk up the wine of God's fierce wrath;Only there's left a little froth,
Less for to taste than for to showWhat bitter cups had been your due,Had He not drank them up for you.
Words in this poem
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
266. His Saviour's Words Going to the Cross 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, 266. His Saviour's Words Going to the Cross, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/266-his-saviour-s-words-going-to-the-cross.html, id L06277.
Form and metre
266. His Saviour's Words Going to the Cross is 15 lines in 5 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%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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- yeA · meA · misery
- 2 AAA oneA · ownA · transgressionA
- 3 AA- fearA · spearA · vinegar
- 4 AA- hathA · wrathA · froth
- 5 -AA show · dueA · youA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Have, have ye no regard, all ye | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Who pass this way, to pity Me, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who am a man of misery! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| A man both bruis'd, and broke, and one | 8 | ········ |
| Who suffers not here for Mine own, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But for My friends' transgression! | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Ah! Sion's daughters, do not fear | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The cross, the cords, the nails, the spear, | 8 | ········ |
| The myrrh, the gall, the vinegar; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| For Christ, your loving Saviour, hath | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Drunk up the wine of God's fierce wrath; | 8 | ········ |
| Only there's left a little froth, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Less for to taste than for to show | 8 | ········ |
| What bitter cups had been your due, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Had He not drank them up for you. | 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.