43. On Himself
Young I was, but now am old,But I am not yet grown cold;I can play, and I can twine'Bout a virgin like a vine:In her lap too I can lieMelting, and in fancy die;And return to life if sheClaps my cheek, or kisseth me:Thus, and thus it now appearsThat our love outlasts our years.
Words in this poem
- claps v. t.
- Variant of Clasp
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
43. On Himself 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, 43. On Himself, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/43-on-himself.html, id L05105.
Form and metre
43. On Himself is 10 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 40% 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 AABBCCDDEE oldA · coldA · twineB · vineB · lieC · dieC · sheD · meD · appearsE · yearsE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Young I was, but now am old, | 7 | ······· |
| But I am not yet grown cold; | 7 | ······· |
| I can play, and I can twine | 7 | ······· |
| 'Bout a virgin like a vine: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In her lap too I can lie | 7 | ······· |
| Melting, and in fancy die; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And return to life if she | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Claps my cheek, or kisseth me: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thus, and thus it now appears | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| That our love outlasts our years. | 7 | ·/·/·/· |
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.