657. A Hymn to the Muses
O you the virgins nine!That do our souls inclineTo noble discipline!Nod to this vow of mine.Come, then, and now inspireMy viol and my lyreWith your eternal fire,And make me one entireComposer in your choir.Then I'll your altars strewWith roses sweet and new;And ever live a trueAcknowledger of you.
Words in this poem
- acknowledger n.
- One who acknowledges.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
657. A Hymn to the Muses 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, 657. A Hymn to the Muses, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/657-a-hymn-to-the-muses.html, id L05609.
Form and metre
657. A Hymn to the Muses is 13 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 77% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AAAABBBCCDDDD nineA · inclineA · disciplineA · mineA · inspireB · lyreB · fireB · entireC · choirC · strewD · newD · trueD · youD
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O you the virgins nine! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That do our souls incline | 6 | ··/·/˘ |
| To noble discipline! | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Nod to this vow of mine. | 6 | ······ |
| Come, then, and now inspire | 6 | ····˘/ |
| My viol and my lyre | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| With your eternal fire, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| And make me one entire | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Composer in your choir. | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| Then I'll your altars strew | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With roses sweet and new; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And ever live a true | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Acknowledger of you. | 6 | ˘/˘˘·· |
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.