690. Stool-Ball
At stool-ball, Lucia, let us playFor sugar-cakes and wine:Or for a tansy let us pay,The loss, or thine, or mine.
If thou, my dear, a winner beAt trundling of the ball,The wager thou shall have, and me,And my misfortunes all.
But if, my sweetest, I shall get,Then I desire but this:That likewise I may pay the betAnd have for all a kiss.
Words in this poem
- tansy n.
- Any plant of the composite genus Tanacetum. The common tansy (T. vulgare) has finely divided leaves, a strong aromatic odor, and a very bitter taste. It is used for medicinal and culinary purposes. [OE. tansaye, F. tanaise; cf. It. & Sp. tanaceto, NL. tanacetum, Pg. atanasia, athanasia, Gr. 'aqanasi`a immortality, fr. 'aqa`natos immortal; 'a priv. + qa`nato]
- winner n.
- One who wins, or gains by success in competition, contest, or gaming.
- 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
690. Stool-Ball 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, 690. Stool-Ball, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/690-stool-ball.html, id L05638.
Form and metre
690. Stool-Ball is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB playA · wineB · payA · mineB
- 2 ABAB beA · ballB · meA · allB
- 3 ABAB getA · thisB · betA · kissB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| At stool-ball, Lucia, let us play | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For sugar-cakes and wine: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Or for a tansy let us pay, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The loss, or thine, or mine. | 6 | ······ |
| If thou, my dear, a winner be | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At trundling of the ball, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The wager thou shall have, and me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And my misfortunes all. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| But if, my sweetest, I shall get, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then I desire but this: | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| That likewise I may pay the bet | 8 | ·/······ |
| And have for all a kiss. | 6 | ······ |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Stanza 3 Stool-ball: a game of ball played by girls · Tansy: a cake made of eggs, cream, and herbs
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.