280. To the Yew and Cypress to Grace His Funeral
Both you two haveRelation to the grave:And whereThe funeral-trump sounds, you are there,
I shall be made,Ere long, a fleeting shade:Pray, comeAnd do some honour to my tomb.
Do not denyMy last request; for IWill beThankful to you, or friends, for me.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- 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.]
- thankful a.
- Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
280. To the Yew and Cypress to Grace His Funeral 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, 280. To the Yew and Cypress to Grace His Funeral, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/280-to-the-yew-and-cypress-to-grace-his-funeral.html, id L05310.
Form and metre
280. To the Yew and Cypress to Grace His Funeral is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.1 syllables. 50% 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 AABB haveA · graveA · whereB · thereB
- 2 AA-- madeA · shadeA · come · tomb
- 3 AABB denyA · iA · beB · meB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Both you two have | 4 | ···· |
| Relation to the grave: | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| And where | 2 | ·· |
| The funeral-trump sounds, you are there, | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| I shall be made, | 4 | ···· |
| Ere long, a fleeting shade: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Pray, come | 2 | ·· |
| And do some honour to my tomb. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Do not deny | 4 | ··˘/ |
| My last request; for I | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Will be | 2 | ·· |
| Thankful to you, or friends, for me. | 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.