312. Content, Not Cates
'Tis not the food, but the contentThat makes the table's merriment.Where trouble serves the board, we eatThe platters there as soon as meat.A little pipkin with a bitOf mutton or of veal in it,Set on my table, trouble-free,More than a feast contenteth me.
Welcome! but yet no entrance, till we blessFirst you, then you, and both for white success.Profane no porch, young man and maid, for fearYe wrong the Threshold-god that keeps peace here:Please him, and then all good-luck will betideYou, the brisk bridegroom, you, the dainty bride.Do all things sweetly, and in comely wise;Put on your garlands first, then sacrifice:That done, when both of you have seemly fed,We'll call on Night, to bring ye both to bed:Where, being laid, all fair signs looking on,Fish-like, increase then to a million;And millions of spring-times may ye have,Which spent, one death bring to ye both one grave.
Words in this poem
- pipkin n.
- A small earthen boiler. [Dim. of Pipe.]
- mutton n.
- A sheep. Chapman. [OE. motoun, OF. moton, molton, a sheep, wether, F. mouton, LL. multo, by transposition of l fr. L. mutilus mutilated. See Mutilate.]
- betide v. t.
- To happen to; to befall; to come to ; as, woe betide the wanderer. [OE. bitiden; pref. bi-, be- + tiden, fr. AS. tidan, to happen, fr. tid time. See Tide.]
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
312. Content, Not Cates 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, 312. Content, Not Cates, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/312-content-not-cates.html, id L05338.
Form and metre
312. Content, Not Cates is 22 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 AABBCCDD contentA · merrimentA · eatB · meatB · bitC · itC · freeD · meD
- 2 AABBCC--DDEEFF blessA · successA · fearB · hereB · betideC · brideC · wise · sacrifice · fedD · bedD · onE · millionE · haveF · graveF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Tis not the food, but the content | 8 | ······/˘ |
| That makes the table's merriment. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Where trouble serves the board, we eat | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The platters there as soon as meat. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A little pipkin with a bit | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of mutton or of veal in it, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Set on my table, trouble-free, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| More than a feast contenteth me. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Welcome! but yet no entrance, till we bless | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| First you, then you, and both for white success. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Profane no porch, young man and maid, for fear | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Ye wrong the Threshold-god that keeps peace here: | 10 | ···/······ |
| Please him, and then all good-luck will betide | 10 | ········˘/ |
| You, the brisk bridegroom, you, the dainty bride. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Do all things sweetly, and in comely wise; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Put on your garlands first, then sacrifice: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That done, when both of you have seemly fed, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| We'll call on Night, to bring ye both to bed: | 10 | ·········· |
| Where, being laid, all fair signs looking on, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Fish-like, increase then to a million; | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| And millions of spring-times may ye have, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Which spent, one death bring to ye both one grave. | 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.