720. Proof to No Purpose
You see this gentle stream that glides,Shov'd on by quick-succeeding tides;Try if this sober stream you canFollow to th' wilder ocean;And see if there it keeps unspentIn that congesting element.Next, from that world of waters, thenBy pores and caverns back againInduct that inadult'rate sameStream to the spring from whence it came.This with a wonder when ye do,As easy, and else easier too,Then may ye recollect the grainsOf my particular remains,After a thousand lusters hurl'dBy ruffling winds about the world.
Words in this poem
- induct v. t.
- To bring in; to introduce; to usher in. [L. inductus, p. p. of inducere. See Induce.]
- recollect v. t.
- To recover or recall the knowledge of; to bring back to the mind or memory; to remember. [Pref. re- + collect: cf. L. recolligere, recollectum, to collect. Cf. Recollet.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
720. Proof to No Purpose 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, 720. Proof to No Purpose, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/720-proof-to-no-purpose.html, id L05665.
Form and metre
720. Proof to No Purpose is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 44% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH glidesA · tidesA · canB · oceanB · unspentC · elementC · thenD · againD · sameE · cameE · doF · tooF · grainsG · remainsG · hurl'dH · worldH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| You see this gentle stream that glides, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shov'd on by quick-succeeding tides; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Try if this sober stream you can | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Follow to th' wilder ocean; | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| And see if there it keeps unspent | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In that congesting element. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Next, from that world of waters, then | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By pores and caverns back again | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Induct that inadult'rate same | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Stream to the spring from whence it came. | 8 | ········ |
| This with a wonder when ye do, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As easy, and else easier too, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Then may ye recollect the grains | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Of my particular remains, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| After a thousand lusters hurl'd | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| By ruffling winds about the world. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.