371. His Lachrymæ; Or, Mirth Turned to Mourning
Call me no more,As heretofore,The music of a feast;Since now, alas!The mirth that wasIn me is dead or ceas'd.
Before I went,To banishment,Into the loathed west,I could rehearseA lyric verse,And speak it with the best.
But time, ay me!Has laid, I see,My organ fast asleep,And turn'd my voiceInto the noiseOf those that sit and weep.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
371. His Lachrymæ; Or, Mirth Turned to Mourning 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, 371. His Lachrymæ; Or, Mirth Turned to Mourning, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/371-his-lachrym-or-mirth-turned-to-mourning.html, id L05385.
Form and metre
371. His Lachrymæ; Or, Mirth Turned to Mourning is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 moreA · heretoforeA · feastB · alas · was · ceas'dB
- 2 AABCCB wentA · banishmentA · westB · rehearseC · verseC · bestB
- 3 AAB--B meA · seeA · asleepB · voice · noise · weepB
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Call me no more, | 4 | ···· |
| As heretofore, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| The music of a feast; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Since now, alas! | 4 | ··˘/ |
| The mirth that was | 4 | ···· |
| In me is dead or ceas'd. | 6 | ······ |
| Before I went, | 4 | ···· |
| To banishment, | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Into the loathed west, | 5 | ····· |
| I could rehearse | 4 | ··˘/ |
| A lyric verse, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And speak it with the best. | 6 | ······ |
| But time, ay me! | 4 | ···· |
| Has laid, I see, | 4 | ···· |
| My organ fast asleep, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And turn'd my voice | 4 | ···· |
| Into the noise | 4 | ···· |
| Of those that sit and weep. | 6 | ······ |
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.