638. The Beggar to Mab, the Fairy Queen
Please your Grace, from out your store,Give an alms to one that's poor,That your mickle may have more.Black I'm grown for want of meatGive me then an ant to eat,Or the cleft ear of a mouseOver-sour'd in drink of souce;Or, sweet lady, reach to meThe abdomen of a bee;Or commend a cricket's hip,Or his huckson, to my scrip.Give for bread a little bitOf a pea that 'gins to chit,And my full thanks take for it.Flour of fuzz-balls, that's too goodFor a man in needihood;But the meal of milldust canWell content a craving man.Any orts the elves refuseWell will serve the beggar's use.But if this may seem too muchFor an alms, then give me suchLittle bits that nestle thereIn the prisoner's panier.So a blessing light uponYou and mighty Oberon:That your plenty last till whenI return your alms again.
Words in this poem
- mickle a.
- Much; great. [Old Eng. & Scot.] [OE. mikel, muchel, mochel, mukel, AS. micel, mycel; akin to OS. mikil, OHG. mihil, mihhil, Icel. mikill, mykill, Goth. mikils, L. magnus, Gr. mahat. sq. root103]
- scrip n.
- A small bag; a wallet; a satchel. [OE. scrippe, probably of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. & OSw. skreppa, and also LL. scrippum, OF. esquerpe, escrepe, F. écharpe scarf. Cf. Scarp, Scarf a piece of dr]
- chit n.
- The embryo or the growing bud of a plant; a shoot; a sprout; as, the chits of Indian corn or of potatoes. [Cf. AS. ci shoot, sprig, from the same root as cinan to yawn. See Chink a cleft.]
- nestle v. i.
- To make and occupy a nest; to nest. [AS. nestlian.]
- oberon n.
- The king of the fairies, and husband of Titania or Queen Mab. [F., fr. OF. Auberon; prob. of Frankish origin.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
638. The Beggar to Mab, the Fairy Queen 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, 638. The Beggar to Mab, the Fairy Queen, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/638-the-beggar-to-mab-the-fairy-queen.html, id L05592.
Form and metre
638. The Beggar to Mab, the Fairy Queen is 28 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 A-ABB-CDDEEFFFGGHH-CII--JJKK storeA · poor · moreA · meatB · eatB · mouse · souceC · meD · beeD · hipE · scripE · bitF · chitF · itF · goodG · needihoodG · canH · manH · refuse · useC · muchI · suchI · there · panier · uponJ · oberonJ · whenK · againK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Please your Grace, from out your store, | 7 | ······· |
| Give an alms to one that's poor, | 7 | ······· |
| That your mickle may have more. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Black I'm grown for want of meat | 7 | ······· |
| Give me then an ant to eat, | 7 | ······· |
| Or the cleft ear of a mouse | 7 | ······· |
| Over-sour'd in drink of souce; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Or, sweet lady, reach to me | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The abdomen of a bee; | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Or commend a cricket's hip, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Or his huckson, to my scrip. | 7 | ······· |
| Give for bread a little bit | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of a pea that 'gins to chit, | 7 | ······· |
| And my full thanks take for it. | 7 | ······· |
| Flour of fuzz-balls, that's too good | 8 | /˘······ |
| For a man in needihood; | 7 | ······· |
| But the meal of milldust can | 7 | ······· |
| Well content a craving man. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Any orts the elves refuse | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Well will serve the beggar's use. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But if this may seem too much | 7 | ······· |
| For an alms, then give me such | 7 | ······· |
| Little bits that nestle there | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| In the prisoner's panier. | 7 | ··/˘˘/˘ |
| So a blessing light upon | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| You and mighty Oberon: | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| That your plenty last till when | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I return your alms again. | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Mickle: much · Souce: salt-pickle · Huckson: huckle-bone · Chit: sprout · Orts: scraps of food · Prisoner's panier: the basket which poor prisoners used to hang out
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