658. On Himself
I'll sing no more, nor will I longer writeOf that sweet lady, or that gallant knight.I'll sing no more of frosts, snows, dews and showers;No more of groves, meads, springs and wreaths of flowers.I'll write no more, nor will I tell or singOf Cupid and his witty cozening:I'll sing no more of death, or shall the graveNo more my dirges and my trentalls have.
Words in this poem
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- witty a.
- Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
658. On Himself 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, 658. On Himself, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/658-on-himself.html, id L05610.
Form and metre
658. On Himself is 8 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDD writeA · knightA · showersB · flowersB · singC · cozeningC · graveD · haveD
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I'll sing no more, nor will I longer write | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of that sweet lady, or that gallant knight. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I'll sing no more of frosts, snows, dews and showers; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| No more of groves, meads, springs and wreaths of flowers. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I'll write no more, nor will I tell or sing | 10 | ·········· |
| Of Cupid and his witty cozening: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| I'll sing no more of death, or shall the grave | 10 | ·········· |
| No more my dirges and my trentalls have. | 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.