47. The Parcæ; Or, Three Dainty Destinies: The Armillet
Three lovely sisters working were,As they were closely set,Of soft and dainty maidenhairA curious armillet.I, smiling, asked them what they did,Fair Destinies all three,Who told me they had drawn a threadOf life, and 'twas for me.They show'd me then how fine 'twas spun,And I reply'd thereto,--"I care not now how soon 'tis done,Or cut, if cut by you".
Words in this poem
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
47. The Parcæ; Or, Three Dainty Destinies: The Armillet 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, 47. The Parcæ; Or, Three Dainty Destinies: The Armillet, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/47-the-parc-or-three-dainty-destinies-the-armillet.html, id L05109.
Form and metre
47. The Parcæ; Or, Three Dainty Destinies: The Armillet is 12 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 -----A-AB-B- were · set · maidenhair · armillet · did · threeA · thread · meA · spunB · thereto · doneB · you
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Three lovely sisters working were, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| As they were closely set, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of soft and dainty maidenhair | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| A curious armillet. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| I, smiling, asked them what they did, | 9 | ·/˘·˘···· |
| Fair Destinies all three, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Who told me they had drawn a thread | 8 | ········ |
| Of life, and 'twas for me. | 6 | ······ |
| They show'd me then how fine 'twas spun, | 8 | ········ |
| And I reply'd thereto,-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| "I care not now how soon 'tis done, | 8 | ········ |
| Or cut, if cut by you". | 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.