705. The Bracelet of Pearl: To Silvia
I brake thy bracelet 'gainst my will,And, wretched, I did seeThee discomposed then, and stillArt discontent with me.
One gem was lost, and I will getA richer pearl for thee,Than ever, dearest Silvia, yetWas drunk to Antony.
Or, for revenge, I'll tell thee whatThou for the breach shall do;First crack the strings, and after thatCleave thou my heart in two.
Words in this poem
- discomposed a.
- Disordered; disturbed; disquieted.
- 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
705. The Bracelet of Pearl: To Silvia 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, 705. The Bracelet of Pearl: To Silvia, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/705-the-bracelet-of-pearl-to-silvia.html, id L05651.
Form and metre
705. The Bracelet of Pearl: To Silvia is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% 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 willA · seeB · stillA · meB
- 2 A-A- getA · thee · yetA · antony
- 3 ABAB whatA · doB · thatA · twoB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I brake thy bracelet 'gainst my will, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, wretched, I did see | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Thee discomposed then, and still | 7 | ······· |
| Art discontent with me. | 6 | ·˘˘/·· |
| One gem was lost, and I will get | 8 | ········ |
| A richer pearl for thee, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Than ever, dearest Silvia, yet | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Was drunk to Antony. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Or, for revenge, I'll tell thee what | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Thou for the breach shall do; | 6 | ······ |
| First crack the strings, and after that | 8 | ········ |
| Cleave thou my heart in two. | 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.