427. A Hymn to Sir Clipseby Crew
'Twas not love's dart,Or any blowOf want, or foe,Did wound my heartWith an eternal smart;
But only you,My sometimes knownCompanion,My dearest Crew,That me unkindly slew.
May your fault die,And have no nameIn books of fame;Or let it lieForgotten now, as I.
We parted areAnd now no more,As heretofore,By jocund LarShall be familiar.
But though we sever,My Crew shall seeThat I will beHere faithless never,But love my Clipseby ever.
Words in this poem
- unkindly a.
- Not kindly; unkind; ungracious.
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
427. A Hymn to Sir Clipseby Crew 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, 427. A Hymn to Sir Clipseby Crew, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/427-a-hymn-to-sir-clipseby-crew.html, id L05422.
Form and metre
427. A Hymn to Sir Clipseby Crew is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBAA, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, 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 4.5 syllables. 5 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 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 ABBAA dartA · blowB · foeB · heartA · smartA
- 2 ABBAA youA · knownB · companionB · crewA · slewA
- 3 ABBAA dieA · nameB · fameB · lieA · iA
- 4 ABBA- areA · moreB · heretoforeB · larA · familiar
- 5 ABBAA severA · seeB · beB · neverA · everA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Twas not love's dart, | 4 | ···· |
| Or any blow | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of want, or foe, | 4 | ···· |
| Did wound my heart | 4 | ···· |
| With an eternal smart; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| But only you, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| My sometimes known | 4 | ·˘/· |
| Companion, | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| My dearest Crew, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| That me unkindly slew. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| May your fault die, | 4 | ···· |
| And have no name | 4 | ···· |
| In books of fame; | 4 | ···· |
| Or let it lie | 4 | ···· |
| Forgotten now, as I. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| We parted are | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And now no more, | 4 | ···· |
| As heretofore, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| By jocund Lar | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Shall be familiar. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| But though we sever, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| My Crew shall see | 4 | ···· |
| That I will be | 4 | ···· |
| Here faithless never, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| But love my Clipseby ever. | 8 | ······/˘ |
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.