35. His Sailing from Julia
When that day comes, whose evening says I'm goneUnto that watery desolation,Devoutly to thy closet-gods then prayThat my wing'd ship may meet no remora.Those deities which circum-walk the seas,And look upon our dreadful passages,Will from all dangers re-deliver meFor one drink-offering poured out by thee.Mercy and truth live with thee! and forbear(In my short absence) to unsluice a tear;But yet for love's sake let thy lips do this,Give my dead picture one engendering kiss:Work that to life, and let me ever dwellIn thy remembrance, Julia. So farewell.
Words in this poem
- desolation n.
- The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation. [F. désolation, L. desolatio.]
- devoutly adv.
- In a devout and reverent manner; with devout emotions; piously.
- remora n.
- Delay; obstacle; hindrance. [L.: cf. F. rémora.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- unsluice v. t.
- To sluice; to open the sluice or sluices of; to let flow; to discharge. [1st pref. un- + sluice.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
35. His Sailing from Julia 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, 35. His Sailing from Julia, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/35-his-sailing-from-julia.html, id L05098.
Form and metre
35. His Sailing from Julia is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AA--BBCCDDEEFF goneA · desolationA · pray · remora · seasB · passagesB · meC · theeC · forbearD · tearD · thisE · kissE · dwellF · farewellF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When that day comes, whose evening says I'm gone | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Unto that watery desolation, | 10 | ···/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Devoutly to thy closet-gods then pray | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| That my wing'd ship may meet no remora. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Those deities which circum-walk the seas, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| And look upon our dreadful passages, | 11 | ····/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Will from all dangers re-deliver me | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| For one drink-offering poured out by thee. | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Mercy and truth live with thee! and forbear | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| (In my short absence) to unsluice a tear; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| But yet for love's sake let thy lips do this, | 10 | ·········· |
| Give my dead picture one engendering kiss: | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Work that to life, and let me ever dwell | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In thy remembrance, Julia. So farewell. | 10 | ··˘/˘····/ |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Closet-gods: the Roman Lares · Remora: the sea Lamprey or suckstone, believed to check the course of
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