750. Love Dislikes Nothing
Whatsoever thing I see,Rich or poor although it be;'Tis a mistress unto me.
Be my girl or fair or brown,Does she smile or does she frown,Still I write a sweetheart down.
Be she rough or smooth of skin;When I touch I then beginFor to let affection in.
Be she bald, or does she wearLocks incurl'd of other hair,I shall find enchantment there.
Be she whole, or be she rent,So my fancy be content,She's to me most excellent.
Be she fat, or be she lean,Be she sluttish, be she clean,I'm a man for ev'ry scene.
Words in this poem
- 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
750. Love Dislikes Nothing 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, 750. Love Dislikes Nothing, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/750-love-dislikes-nothing.html, id L05692.
Form and metre
750. Love Dislikes Nothing is 18 lines in 6 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% 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. 11% 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 AAA seeA · beA · meA
- 2 AAA brownA · frownA · downA
- 3 AAA skinA · beginA · inA
- 4 AAA wearA · hairA · thereA
- 5 AAA rentA · contentA · excellentA
- 6 AAA leanA · cleanA · sceneA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whatsoever thing I see, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Rich or poor although it be; | 7 | ······· |
| 'Tis a mistress unto me. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Be my girl or fair or brown, | 7 | ······· |
| Does she smile or does she frown, | 7 | ······· |
| Still I write a sweetheart down. | 7 | ····/·· |
| Be she rough or smooth of skin; | 7 | ······· |
| When I touch I then begin | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| For to let affection in. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Be she bald, or does she wear | 7 | ······· |
| Locks incurl'd of other hair, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I shall find enchantment there. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Be she whole, or be she rent, | 7 | ······· |
| So my fancy be content, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| She's to me most excellent. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Be she fat, or be she lean, | 7 | ······· |
| Be she sluttish, be she clean, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I'm a man for ev'ry scene. | 7 | ······· |
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.