490. Upon Himself
I could never love indeed;Never see mine own heart bleed:Never crucify my life,Or for widow, maid, or wife.
I could never seek to pleaseOne or many mistresses:Never like their lips to swearOil of roses still smelt there.
I could never break my sleep,Fold mine arms, sob, sigh, or weep:Never beg, or humbly wooWith oaths and lies, as others do.
I could never walk alone;Put a shirt of sackcloth on:Never keep a fast, or prayFor good luck in love that day.
But have hitherto liv'd freeAs the air that circles me:And kept credit with my heart,Neither broke i' th' whole, or part.
Words in this poem
- crucify v. t.
- To fasten to a cross; to put to death by nailing the hands and feet to a cross or gibbet. [F. crucifier, fr. (assumed) LL. crucificare, for crucifigere, fr, L. crux, crucis, cross + figere to fix, the ending - figere being changed to -ficare, F. -fier]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- sackcloth n.
- Linen or cotton cloth such a sacks are made of; coarse cloth; anciently, a cloth or garment worn in mourning, distress, mortification, or penitence.
- hitherto adv.
- To this place; to a prescribed limit.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
490. Upon 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, 490. Upon Himself, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/490-upon-himself.html, id L05470.
Form and metre
490. Upon Himself is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 AABB indeedA · bleedA · lifeB · wifeB
- 2 AABB pleaseA · mistressesA · swearB · thereB
- 3 AABB sleepA · weepA · wooB · doB
- 4 --AA alone · on · prayA · dayA
- 5 AABB freeA · meA · heartB · partB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I could never love indeed; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Never see mine own heart bleed: | 7 | /˘····· |
| Never crucify my life, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Or for widow, maid, or wife. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I could never seek to please | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| One or many mistresses: | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Never like their lips to swear | 7 | /˘····· |
| Oil of roses still smelt there. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I could never break my sleep, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Fold mine arms, sob, sigh, or weep: | 7 | ······· |
| Never beg, or humbly woo | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| With oaths and lies, as others do. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I could never walk alone; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Put a shirt of sackcloth on: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Never keep a fast, or pray | 7 | /˘····· |
| For good luck in love that day. | 7 | ······· |
| But have hitherto liv'd free | 7 | ··/·/·· |
| As the air that circles me: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And kept credit with my heart, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Neither broke i' th' whole, or part. | 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.