515. His Winding-Sheet
Come thou, who art the wine and witOf all I've writ:The grace, the glory, and the bestPiece of the rest.Thou art of what I did intendThe all and end;And what was made, was made to meetThee, thee, my sheet.Come then, and be to my chaste sideBoth bed and bride.We two, as reliques left, will haveOne rest, one grave.And, hugging close, we will not fearLust entering here,Where all desires are dead or coldAs is the mould;And all affections are forgot,Or trouble not.Here, here the slaves and pris'ners beFrom shackles free:And weeping widows long oppress'dDo here find rest.The wronged client ends his lawsHere, and his cause.Here those long suits of chancery lieQuiet, or die:And all Star-Chamber bills do cease,Or hold their peace.Here needs no Court for our Request,Where all are best,All wise, all equal, and all justAlike i' th' dust.Nor need we here to fear the frownOf court or crown:Where fortune bears no sway o'er things,There all are kings.In this securer place we'll keep,As lull'd asleep;Or for a little time we'll lieAs robes laid by;To be another day re-worn,Turn'd, but not torn:Or, like old testaments engrost,Lock'd up, not lost.And for a while lie here conceal'd,To be reveal'dNext at that great Platonick year,And then meet here.
Words in this poem
- intend v. t.
- To stretch' to extend; to distend. [OE. entenden to be attentive, F. entendre, fr. L. intendre, intentum, and intensum, to intend, attend, stretch out, extend; pref. in- in + tendere to stretch, s]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- securer n.
- One who, or that which, secures.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
515. His Winding-Sheet 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, 515. His Winding-Sheet, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/515-his-winding-sheet.html, id L05491.
Form and metre
515. His Winding-Sheet is 48 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 96% of the lines. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.1 syllables. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK--LLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWW witA · writA · bestB · restB · intendC · endC · meetD · sheetD · sideE · brideE · haveF · graveF · fearG · hereG · coldH · mouldH · forgotI · notI · beJ · freeJ · oppress'dK · restK · laws · cause · lieL · dieL · ceaseM · peaceM · requestN · bestN · justO · dustO · frownP · crownP · thingsQ · kingsQ · keepR · asleepR · lieS · byS · wornT · tornT · engrostU · lostU · conceal'dV · reveal'dV · yearW · hereW
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Come thou, who art the wine and wit | 8 | ········ |
| Of all I've writ: | 4 | ···· |
| The grace, the glory, and the best | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Piece of the rest. | 4 | ···· |
| Thou art of what I did intend | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The all and end; | 4 | ···· |
| And what was made, was made to meet | 8 | ········ |
| Thee, thee, my sheet. | 4 | ···· |
| Come then, and be to my chaste side | 8 | ········ |
| Both bed and bride. | 4 | ···· |
| We two, as reliques left, will have | 8 | ········ |
| One rest, one grave. | 4 | ···· |
| And, hugging close, we will not fear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Lust entering here, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Where all desires are dead or cold | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| As is the mould; | 4 | ···· |
| And all affections are forgot, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Or trouble not. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Here, here the slaves and pris'ners be | 8 | ········ |
| From shackles free: | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And weeping widows long oppress'd | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Do here find rest. | 4 | ···· |
| The wronged client ends his laws | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Here, and his cause. | 4 | ···· |
| Here those long suits of chancery lie | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Quiet, or die: | 4 | /˘·· |
| And all Star-Chamber bills do cease, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or hold their peace. | 4 | ···· |
| Here needs no Court for our Request, | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| Where all are best, | 4 | ···· |
| All wise, all equal, and all just | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Alike i' th' dust. | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Nor need we here to fear the frown | 8 | ········ |
| Of court or crown: | 4 | ···· |
| Where fortune bears no sway o'er things, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| There all are kings. | 4 | ···· |
| In this securer place we'll keep, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| As lull'd asleep; | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Or for a little time we'll lie | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As robes laid by; | 4 | ···· |
| To be another day re-worn, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Turn'd, but not torn: | 4 | ···· |
| Or, like old testaments engrost, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Lock'd up, not lost. | 4 | ···· |
| And for a while lie here conceal'd, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To be reveal'd | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Next at that great Platonick year, | 8 | ········ |
| And then meet here. | 4 | ···· |
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.