476. The Wassail
Give way, give way, ye gates, and winAn easy blessing to your binAnd basket, by our entering in.
May both with manchet stand replete;Your larders, too, so hung with meat,That though a thousand, thousand eat,
Yet, ere twelve moons shall whirl aboutTheir silv'ry spheres, there's none may doubtBut more's sent in than was served out.
Next, may your dairies prosper soAs that your pans no ebb may know;But if they do, the more to flow,
Like to a solemn sober streamBank'd all with lilies, and the creamOf sweetest cowslips filling them.
Then, may your plants be prest with fruit,Nor bee, or hive you have be mute;But sweetly sounding like a lute.
Next, may your duck and teeming henBoth to the cock's tread say Amen;And for their two eggs render ten.
Last, may your harrows, shears, and ploughs,Your stacks, your stocks, your sweetest mows,All prosper by our virgin vows.
Alas! we bless, but see none hereThat brings us either ale or beer;In a dry house all things are near.
Let's leave a longer time to wait,Where rust and cobwebs bind the gate,And all live here with needy fate.
Where chimneys do for ever weepFor want of warmth, and stomachs keep,With noise, the servants' eyes from sleep.
It is in vain to sing, or stayOur free feet here; but we'll away:Yet to the Lares this we'll say:
The time will come when you'll be sadAnd reckon this for fortune bad,T'ave lost the good ye might have had.
Words in this poem
- manchet n.
- Fine white bread; a loaf of fine bread.
- replete a.
- Filled again; completely filled; full; charged; abounding. [L. repletus, p. p. of replere to fill again, fill up; pref. re- re- + plere to fill, akin to plenus full: cf. F. replet corpulent. See Plenty, Replenish.]
- 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,]
- prosper v. t.
- To favor; to render successful. [F. prospérer v. i., or L. prosperare, v. i., or L. prosperare, v. t., fr. prosper or prosperus. See Prosperous.]
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- teeming a.
- Prolific; productive.
- amen interj.
- An expression used at the end of prayers, and meaning, So be it. At the end of a creed, it is a solemn asseveration of belief. [L. amen, Gr. am certainly, truly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
476. The Wassail 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, 476. The Wassail, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/476-the-wassail.html, id L05457.
Form and metre
476. The Wassail is 39 lines in 13 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AAA winA · binA · inA
- 2 AAA repleteA · meatA · eatA
- 3 AAA aboutA · doubtA · outA
- 4 AAA soA · knowA · flowA
- 5 AA- streamA · creamA · them
- 6 AAA fruitA · muteA · luteA
- 7 AAA henA · amenA · tenA
- 8 AAA ploughsA · mowsA · vowsA
- 9 AAA hereA · beerA · nearA
- 10 AAA waitA · gateA · fateA
- 11 AAA weepA · keepA · sleepA
- 12 AAA stayA · awayA · sayA
- 13 AAA sadA · badA · hadA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Give way, give way, ye gates, and win | 8 | ········ |
| An easy blessing to your bin | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And basket, by our entering in. | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| May both with manchet stand replete; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Your larders, too, so hung with meat, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That though a thousand, thousand eat, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Yet, ere twelve moons shall whirl about | 8 | ········ |
| Their silv'ry spheres, there's none may doubt | 8 | ········ |
| But more's sent in than was served out. | 9 | ·/······· |
| Next, may your dairies prosper so | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| As that your pans no ebb may know; | 8 | ········ |
| But if they do, the more to flow, | 8 | ········ |
| Like to a solemn sober stream | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Bank'd all with lilies, and the cream | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of sweetest cowslips filling them. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Then, may your plants be prest with fruit, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor bee, or hive you have be mute; | 8 | ········ |
| But sweetly sounding like a lute. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Next, may your duck and teeming hen | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Both to the cock's tread say Amen; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And for their two eggs render ten. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Last, may your harrows, shears, and ploughs, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Your stacks, your stocks, your sweetest mows, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| All prosper by our virgin vows. | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| Alas! we bless, but see none here | 8 | ˘/······ |
| That brings us either ale or beer; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In a dry house all things are near. | 8 | ········ |
| Let's leave a longer time to wait, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where rust and cobwebs bind the gate, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And all live here with needy fate. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where chimneys do for ever weep | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For want of warmth, and stomachs keep, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With noise, the servants' eyes from sleep. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It is in vain to sing, or stay | 8 | ········ |
| Our free feet here; but we'll away: | 8 | /·····˘/ |
| Yet to the Lares this we'll say: | 7 | ······· |
| The time will come when you'll be sad | 8 | ········ |
| And reckon this for fortune bad, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| T'ave lost the good ye might have had. | 8 | ········ |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Stanza 13 Manchet: fine white bread · Prest: laden · Near: penurious · Leave to wait: cease waiting
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