756. To Prince Charles upon His Coming to Exeter
What fate decreed, time now has made us see,A renovation of the west by thee.That preternatural fever, which did threatDeath to our country, now hath lost his heat,And, calms succeeding, we perceive no moreTh' unequal pulse to beat, as heretofore.Something there yet remains for thee to do;Then reach those ends that thou wast destin'd to.Go on with Sylla's fortune; let thy fateMake thee like him, this, that way fortunate:Apollo's image side with thee to blessThy war (discreetly made) with white success.Meantime thy prophets watch by watch shall pray,While young Charles fights, and fighting wins the day:That done, our smooth-paced poems all shall beSung in the high doxology of thee.Then maids shall strew thee, and thy curls from themReceive with songs a flowery diadem.
Words in this poem
- renovation n.
- The act or process of renovating; the state of being renovated or renewed. Thomson. [L.renovatio: cf. F. rénovation.]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- 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,]
- doxology n.
- In Christian worship: A hymn expressing praise and honor to God; a form of praise to God designed to be sung or chanted by the choir or the congregation. [LL. doxologia, Gr. doxologie. See Dogma, and Legend.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
756. To Prince Charles upon His Coming to 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, 756. To Prince Charles upon His Coming to Exeter, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/756-to-prince-charles-upon-his-coming-to-exeter.html, id L05697.
Form and metre
756. To Prince Charles upon His Coming to Exeter is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 89% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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 AA--BBCCDDEEFFAAGG seeA · theeA · threat · heat · moreB · heretoforeB · doC · toC · fateD · fortunateD · blessE · successE · prayF · dayF · beA · theeA · themG · diademG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What fate decreed, time now has made us see, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| A renovation of the west by thee. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| That preternatural fever, which did threat | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Death to our country, now hath lost his heat, | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| And, calms succeeding, we perceive no more | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Th' unequal pulse to beat, as heretofore. | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Something there yet remains for thee to do; | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Then reach those ends that thou wast destin'd to. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Go on with Sylla's fortune; let thy fate | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Make thee like him, this, that way fortunate: | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Apollo's image side with thee to bless | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| Thy war (discreetly made) with white success. | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Meantime thy prophets watch by watch shall pray, | 10 | /··/˘····· |
| While young Charles fights, and fighting wins the day: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That done, our smooth-paced poems all shall be | 10 | ··/··/˘··· |
| Sung in the high doxology of thee. | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Then maids shall strew thee, and thy curls from them | 10 | ·········· |
| Receive with songs a flowery diadem. | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Sylla's fortune: in allusion to Sylla's surname of _Felix_ · Doxology: glorifying
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