330. The Admonition
Seest thou those diamonds which she wearsIn that rich carcanet;Or those, on her dishevell'd hairs,Fair pearls in order set?Believe, young man, all those were tearsBy wretched wooers sent,In mournful hyacinths and rue,That figure discontent;Which when not warmed by her view,By cold neglect, each oneCongeal'd to pearl and stone;Which precious spoils upon herShe wears as trophies of her honour.Ah then, consider, what all this implies:She that will wear thy tears would wear thine eyes.
Words in this poem
- carcanet n.
- A jeweled chain, necklace, or collar. [Also written carkenet and carcant.] [Dim. fr. F. carcan the iron collar or chain of a criminal, a chain of preciousstones, LL. carcannum, fr. Armor. kerchen bosom, neck, kechen collar, fr. kelch ci]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
330. The Admonition 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, 330. The Admonition, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/330-the-admonition.html, id L05351.
Form and metre
330. The Admonition is 15 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic trimeter, 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 7.3 syllables. 2 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 trimeter.
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 ABABACDCD----EE wearsA · carcanetB · hairsA · setB · tearsA · sentC · rueD · discontentC · viewD · one · stone · her · honour · impliesE · eyesE
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Seest thou those diamonds which she wears | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In that rich carcanet; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Or those, on her dishevell'd hairs, | 8 | ········ |
| Fair pearls in order set? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Believe, young man, all those were tears | 8 | ˘/······ |
| By wretched wooers sent, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| In mournful hyacinths and rue, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| That figure discontent; | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| Which when not warmed by her view, | 7 | ······· |
| By cold neglect, each one | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Congeal'd to pearl and stone; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Which precious spoils upon her | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| She wears as trophies of her honour. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Ah then, consider, what all this implies: | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| She that will wear thy tears would wear thine eyes. | 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.