733. A Ternary of Littles, upon a Pipkin of Jelly Sent to a Lady
A little saint best fits a little shrine,A little prop best fits a little vine:As my small cruse best fits my little wine.
A little seed best fits a little soil,A little trade best fits a little toil:As my small jar best fits my little oil.
A little bin best fits a little bread,A little garland fits a little head:As my small stuff best fits my little shed.
A little hearth best fits a little fire,A little chapel fits a little choir:As my small bell best fits my little spire.
A little stream best fits a little boat,A little lead best fits a little float:As my small pipe best fits my little note.
A little meat best fits a little belly,As sweetly, lady, give me leave to tell ye,This little pipkin fits this little jelly.
Words in this poem
- pipkin n.
- A small earthen boiler. [Dim. of Pipe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
733. A Ternary of Littles, upon a Pipkin of Jelly Sent to a Lady 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, 733. A Ternary of Littles, upon a Pipkin of Jelly Sent to a Lady, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/733-a-ternary-of-littles-upon-a-pipkin-of-jelly-sent-to-a-la.html, id L05675.
Form and metre
733. A Ternary of Littles, upon a Pipkin of Jelly Sent to a Lady is 18 lines in 6 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 AAA shrineA · vineA · wineA
- 2 AAA soilA · toilA · oilA
- 3 AAA breadA · headA · shedA
- 4 AA- fireA · choirA · spire
- 5 AAA boatA · floatA · noteA
- 6 A-A bellyA · ye · jellyA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A little saint best fits a little shrine, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A little prop best fits a little vine: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| As my small cruse best fits my little wine. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A little seed best fits a little soil, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A little trade best fits a little toil: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| As my small jar best fits my little oil. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A little bin best fits a little bread, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A little garland fits a little head: | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| As my small stuff best fits my little shed. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A little hearth best fits a little fire, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| A little chapel fits a little choir: | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| As my small bell best fits my little spire. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A little stream best fits a little boat, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A little lead best fits a little float: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| As my small pipe best fits my little note. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A little meat best fits a little belly, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| As sweetly, lady, give me leave to tell ye, | 11 | ·/˘/˘······ |
| This little pipkin fits this little jelly. | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
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.