422. The Poet Loves a Mistress, but Not to Marry
I do not love to wed,Though I do like to woo;And for a maidenheadI'll beg and buy it too.
I'll praise and I'll approveThose maids that never vary;And fervently I'll love,But yet I would not marry.
I'll hug, I'll kiss, I'll play,And, cock-like, hens I'll tread,And sport it any wayBut in the bridal bed.
For why? that man is poorWho hath but one of many,But crown'd he is with storeThat, single, may have any.
Why then, say, what is he,To freedom so unknown,Who, having two or three,Will be content with one?
Words in this poem
- maidenhead n.
- The state of being a maiden; maidenhood; virginity. [See Maidenhood.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
422. The Poet Loves a Mistress, but Not to Marry 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, 422. The Poet Loves a Mistress, but Not to Marry, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/422-the-poet-loves-a-mistress-but-not-to-marry.html, id L05420.
Form and metre
422. The Poet Loves a Mistress, but Not to Marry is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 wedA · wooB · maidenheadA · tooB
- 2 ABAB approveA · varyB · loveA · marryB
- 3 ABAB playA · treadB · wayA · bedB
- 4 -A-A poor · manyA · store · anyA
- 5 A-A- heA · unknown · threeA · one
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I do not love to wed, | 6 | ······ |
| Though I do like to woo; | 6 | ······ |
| And for a maidenhead | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| I'll beg and buy it too. | 6 | ······ |
| I'll praise and I'll approve | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Those maids that never vary; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And fervently I'll love, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| But yet I would not marry. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I'll hug, I'll kiss, I'll play, | 6 | ······ |
| And, cock-like, hens I'll tread, | 6 | ······ |
| And sport it any way | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But in the bridal bed. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For why? that man is poor | 6 | ······ |
| Who hath but one of many, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But crown'd he is with store | 6 | ······ |
| That, single, may have any. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Why then, say, what is he, | 6 | ······ |
| To freedom so unknown, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Who, having two or three, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Will be content with one? | 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.