38. Upon Time
Time was uponThe wing, to fly away;And I call'd onHim but awhile to stay;But he'd be gone,For ought that I could say.
He held out thenA writing, as he went;And ask'd me, whenFalse man would be contentTo pay againWhat God and Nature lent.
An hour-glass,In which were sands but few,As he did pass,He show'd, and told me, too,Mine end near was;And so away he flew.
Words in this poem
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
38. Upon Time 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, 38. Upon Time, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/38-upon-time.html, id L06049.
Form and metre
38. Upon Time is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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 ABAB-B uponA · awayB · onA · stayB · gone · sayB
- 2 ABABAB thenA · wentB · whenA · contentB · againA · lentB
- 3 ABAB-B glassA · fewB · passA · tooB · was · flewB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Time was upon | 4 | ···· |
| The wing, to fly away; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And I call'd on | 4 | ···· |
| Him but awhile to stay; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| But he'd be gone, | 4 | ···· |
| For ought that I could say. | 6 | ······ |
| He held out then | 4 | ···· |
| A writing, as he went; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And ask'd me, when | 4 | ···· |
| False man would be content | 6 | ····/˘ |
| To pay again | 4 | ··˘/ |
| What God and Nature lent. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| An hour-glass, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In which were sands but few, | 6 | ······ |
| As he did pass, | 4 | ···· |
| He show'd, and told me, too, | 6 | ······ |
| Mine end near was; | 4 | ···· |
| And so away he flew. | 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.