36. How the Wall-Flower Came First, and Why So Called
Why this flower is now call'd so,List, sweet maids, and you shall know.Understand, this firstling wasOnce a brisk and bonnie lass,Kept as close as Danaë was:Who a sprightly springall lov'd,And to have it fully prov'd,Up she got upon a wall,Tempting down to slide withal:But the silken twist untied,So she fell, and, bruis'd, she died.Love, in pity of the deed,And her loving-luckless speed,Turn'd her to this plant we callNow the flower of the wall.
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,]
- firstling n.
- The first produce or offspring; -- said of animals, especially domestic animals; as, the firstlings of his flock. [First + -ling.]
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- springall a.
- An active, springly young man. [Scot. springald, springel, fr. Scot. & E. spring.]
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- luckless a.
- Being without luck; unpropitious; unfortunate; unlucky; meeting with ill success or bad fortune; as, a luckless gamester; a luckless maid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
36. How the Wall-Flower Came First, and Why So Called 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, 36. How the Wall-Flower Came First, and Why So Called, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/36-how-the-wall-flower-came-first-and-why-so-called.html, id L05099.
Form and metre
36. How the Wall-Flower Came First, and Why So Called is 15 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 53% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 AAB-B--CCDDEECC soA · knowA · wasB · lass · wasB · lov'd · prov'd · wallC · withalC · untiedD · diedD · deedE · speedE · callC · wallC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Why this flower is now call'd so, | 7 | ··/···· |
| List, sweet maids, and you shall know. | 7 | ······· |
| Understand, this firstling was | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Once a brisk and bonnie lass, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Kept as close as Danaë was: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Who a sprightly springall lov'd, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And to have it fully prov'd, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Up she got upon a wall, | 7 | ······· |
| Tempting down to slide withal: | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| But the silken twist untied, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| So she fell, and, bruis'd, she died. | 7 | ······· |
| Love, in pity of the deed, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And her loving-luckless speed, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Turn'd her to this plant we call | 7 | ······· |
| Now the flower of the wall. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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