745. To Sir John Berkley, Governor of Exeter
Stand forth, brave man, since fate has made thee hereThe Hector over aged Exeter,Who for a long, sad time has weeping stoodLike a poor lady lost in widowhood,But fears not now to see her safety sold,As other towns and cities were, for goldBy those ignoble births which shame the stemThat gave progermination unto them:Whose restless ghosts shall hear their children sing,"Our sires betrayed their country and their king".True, if this city seven times rounded wasWith rock, and seven times circumflank'd with brass,Yet if thou wert not, Berkley, loyal proof,The senators, down tumbling with the roof,Would into prais'd, but pitied, ruins fall,Leaving no show where stood the capitol.But thou art just and itchless, and dost pleaseThy Genius with two strengthening buttresses,Faith and affection, which will never slipTo weaken this thy great dictatorship.
Words in this poem
- widowhood n.
- The state of being a widow; the time during which a woman is widow; also, rarely, the state of being a widower.
- 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,]
- capitol
- The temple of Jupiter, at Rome, on the Mona Capitolinus, where the Senate met. [L. capitolium, fr. caput head: cf. F. capitole. See Chief.]
- itchless a.
- Free from itching.
- dictatorship n.
- The office, or the term of office, of a dictator; hence, absolute power.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
745. To Sir John Berkley, Governor of Exeter 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, 745. To Sir John Berkley, Governor of Exeter, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/745-to-sir-john-berkley-governor-of-exeter.html, id L05687.
Form and metre
745. To Sir John Berkley, Governor of Exeter is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% 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--EEFFGGHH here · exeter · stoodA · widowhoodA · soldB · goldB · stemC · themC · singD · kingD · was · brass · proofE · roofE · fallF · capitolF · pleaseG · buttressesG · slipH · dictatorshipH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stand forth, brave man, since fate has made thee here | 10 | ·········· |
| The Hector over aged Exeter, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘˘ |
| Who for a long, sad time has weeping stood | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Like a poor lady lost in widowhood, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| But fears not now to see her safety sold, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As other towns and cities were, for gold | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| By those ignoble births which shame the stem | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| That gave progermination unto them: | 10 | ·········· |
| Whose restless ghosts shall hear their children sing, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| "Our sires betrayed their country and their king". | 10 | /·˘/·/˘··· |
| True, if this city seven times rounded was | 10 | ···/˘/·/˘· |
| With rock, and seven times circumflank'd with brass, | 10 | ···/······ |
| Yet if thou wert not, Berkley, loyal proof, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The senators, down tumbling with the roof, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘··· |
| Would into prais'd, but pitied, ruins fall, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| Leaving no show where stood the capitol. | 10 | /˘·····/˘˘ |
| But thou art just and itchless, and dost please | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thy Genius with two strengthening buttresses, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Faith and affection, which will never slip | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| To weaken this thy great dictatorship. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Progermination: budding out · Itchless: _i.e._, with no itch for bribes
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