567. Upon the Loss of His Finger
One of the five straight branches of my handIs lop'd already, and the rest but standExpecting when to fall, which soon will be;First dies the leaf, the bough next, next the tree.
About this text
567. Upon the Loss of His Finger 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, 567. Upon the Loss of His Finger, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/567-upon-the-loss-of-his-finger.html, id L05534.
Form and metre
567. Upon the Loss of His Finger is 4 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The lines average 10.0 syllables.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 handA · standA · beB · treeB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| One of the five straight branches of my hand | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Is lop'd already, and the rest but stand | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Expecting when to fall, which soon will be; | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| First dies the leaf, the bough next, next the tree. | 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.