506. To the Right Honourable Edward, Earl of Dorset
If I dare write to you, my lord, who areOf your own self a public theatre,And, sitting, see the wiles, ways, walks of wit,And give a righteous judgment upon it,What need I care, though some dislike me should,If Dorset say what Herrick writes is good?We know y'are learn'd i' th' Muses, and no lessIn our state-sanctions, deep or bottomless.Whose smile can make a poet, and your glanceDash all bad poems out of countenance;So that an author needs no other baysFor coronation than your only praise,And no one mischief greater than your frownTo null his numbers, and to blast his crown.Few live the life immortal. He ensuresHis fame's long life who strives to set up yours.
Words in this poem
- theatre n.
- An edifice in which dramatic performances or spectacles are exhibited for the amusement of spectators; anciently uncovered, except the stage, but in modern times roofed. [F. thé\'83tre, L. theatrum, Gr. dhya to meditate, think. Cf. Theory.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- coronation n.
- The act or solemnity of crowning a sovereign; the act of investing a prince with the insignia of royalty, on his succeeding to the sovereignty. [See Coronate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
506. To the Right Honourable Edward, Earl of Dorset 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, 506. To the Right Honourable Edward, Earl of Dorset, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/506-to-the-right-honourable-edward-earl-of-dorset.html, id L05483.
Form and metre
506. To the Right Honourable Edward, Earl of Dorset is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 --AABBCCDDEEFFGG are · theatre · witA · itA · shouldB · goodB · lessC · bottomlessC · glanceD · countenanceD · baysE · praiseE · frownF · crownF · ensuresG · yoursG
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| If I dare write to you, my lord, who are | 10 | ·········· |
| Of your own self a public theatre, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| And, sitting, see the wiles, ways, walks of wit, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And give a righteous judgment upon it, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| What need I care, though some dislike me should, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| If Dorset say what Herrick writes is good? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| We know y'are learn'd i' th' Muses, and no less | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In our state-sanctions, deep or bottomless. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Whose smile can make a poet, and your glance | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Dash all bad poems out of countenance; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| So that an author needs no other bays | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For coronation than your only praise, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And no one mischief greater than your frown | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To null his numbers, and to blast his crown. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Few live the life immortal. He ensures | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| His fame's long life who strives to set up yours. | 10 | ·········· |
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.