616. To the Maids to Walk Abroad
Come, sit we under yonder tree,Where merry as the maids we'll be;And as on primroses we sit,We'll venture, if we can, at wit:If not, at draw-gloves we will play;So spend some minutes of the day:Or else spin out the thread of sands,Playing at Questions and Commands:Or tell what strange tricks love can do,By quickly making one of two.Thus we will sit and talk, but tellNo cruel truths of Philomel,Or Phyllis, whom hard fate forc'd onTo kill herself for Demophon.But fables we'll relate: how JovePut on all shapes to get a love;As now a satyr, then a swan;A bull but then, and now a man.Next we will act how young men woo,And sigh, and kiss as lovers do;And talk of brides, and who shall makeThat wedding-smock, this bridal cake,That dress, this sprig, that leaf, this vine,That smooth and silken columbine.This done, we'll draw lots who shall buyAnd gild the bays and rosemary;What posies for our wedding rings;What gloves we'll give and ribandings:And smiling at ourselves, decree,Who then the joining priest shall be.What short, sweet prayers shall be said;And how the posset shall be madeWith cream of lilies, not of kine,And maiden's-blush, for spiced wine.Thus, having talked, we'll next commendA kiss to each, and so we'll end.
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- satyr n.
- A sylvan deity or demigod, represented as part man and part goat, and characterized by riotous merriment and lasciviousness. [L. satyrus, Gr. satyre.]
- 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,]
- columbine a.
- Of or pertaining to a dove; dovelike; dove-colored. [L. columbinus, fr. columba dove.]
- posset v. t.
- To curdle; to turn, as milk; to coagulate; as, to posset the blood.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
616. To the Maids to Walk Abroad 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, 616. To the Maids to Walk Abroad, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/616-to-the-maids-to-walk-abroad.html, id L05575.
Form and metre
616. To the Maids to Walk Abroad is 36 lines in a single stanza. 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 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% 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 AABBCCDDEE--F---F-GGHHIIJ-KKJJ--LLMM treeA · beA · sitB · witB · playC · dayC · sandsD · commandsD · doE · twoE · tell · philomel · onF · demophon · jove · love · swanF · man · wooG · doG · makeH · cakeH · vineI · columbineI · buyJ · rosemary · ringsK · ribandingsK · decreeJ · beJ · said · made · kineL · wineL · commendM · endM
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Come, sit we under yonder tree, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where merry as the maids we'll be; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And as on primroses we sit, | 8 | ···/·˘·· |
| We'll venture, if we can, at wit: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| If not, at draw-gloves we will play; | 8 | ········ |
| So spend some minutes of the day: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or else spin out the thread of sands, | 8 | ········ |
| Playing at Questions and Commands: | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Or tell what strange tricks love can do, | 8 | ········ |
| By quickly making one of two. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thus we will sit and talk, but tell | 8 | ········ |
| No cruel truths of Philomel, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Or Phyllis, whom hard fate forc'd on | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To kill herself for Demophon. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But fables we'll relate: how Jove | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Put on all shapes to get a love; | 8 | ········ |
| As now a satyr, then a swan; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A bull but then, and now a man. | 8 | ········ |
| Next we will act how young men woo, | 8 | ········ |
| And sigh, and kiss as lovers do; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And talk of brides, and who shall make | 8 | ········ |
| That wedding-smock, this bridal cake, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That dress, this sprig, that leaf, this vine, | 8 | ········ |
| That smooth and silken columbine. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| This done, we'll draw lots who shall buy | 8 | ········ |
| And gild the bays and rosemary; | 8 | ·····/·˘ |
| What posies for our wedding rings; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| What gloves we'll give and ribandings: | 8 | ········ |
| And smiling at ourselves, decree, | 9 | ·/˘·˘˘/˘/ |
| Who then the joining priest shall be. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What short, sweet prayers shall be said; | 7 | ······· |
| And how the posset shall be made | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With cream of lilies, not of kine, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And maiden's-blush, for spiced wine. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Thus, having talked, we'll next commend | 9 | ·/˘·˘··˘/ |
| A kiss to each, and so we'll end. | 8 | ········ |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Draw-gloves: talking on the fingers · Philomela: daughter of Pandion, changed into a nightingale · Phyllis: the S. Phyllis of a former lyric (To Groves) · Gild the bays: see Note to 479
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