767. A Conjuration to Electra
By those soft tods of woolWith which the air is full;By all those tinctures there,That paint the hemisphere;By dews and drizzling rainThat swell the golden grain;By all those sweets that beI' th' flowery nunnery;By silent nights, and theThree forms of Hecate;By all aspects that blessThe sober sorceress,While juice she strains, and pithTo make her philters with;By time that hastens onThings to perfection;And by yourself, the bestConjurement of the rest:O my Electra! beIn love with none, but me.
Tods of wool, literally, tod of wool=twenty-eight pounds, here usedof the fleecy clouds.Tinctures, colours.Three forms of Hecate, the Diva triformis of Hor. Od. iii. 22.Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, Persephone in the world below.Aspects, i.e., of the planets.
Words in this poem
- nunnery n.
- A house in which nuns reside; a cloister or convent in which women reside for life, under religious vows. See Cloister, and Convent. [OE. nonnerie, OF. nonerie, F. nonnerie, fr. nonne nun, L. nonna. See Nun.]
- conjurement n.
- Serious injunction; solemn demand or entreaty.
- fleecy a.
- Covered with, made of, or resembling, a fleece.
- diana n.
- The daughter of Jupiter and Latona; a virgin goddess who presided over hunting, chastity, and marriage; -- identified with the Greek goddess Artemis. [L. Diana.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
767. A Conjuration to Electra 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, 767. A Conjuration to Electra, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/767-a-conjuration-to-electra.html, id L05708.
Form and metre
767. A Conjuration to Electra is 26 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines. The metre is dactylic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in dactylic dimeter.
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 AABBCCD-D-EEFFGGHHDD woolA · fullA · thereB · hemisphereB · rainC · grainC · beD · nunnery · theD · hecate · blessE · sorceressE · pithF · withF · onG · perfectionG · bestH · restH · beD · meD
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 dactylic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| By those soft tods of wool | 6 | ······ |
| With which the air is full; | 6 | ······ |
| By all those tinctures there, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That paint the hemisphere; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By dews and drizzling rain | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That swell the golden grain; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By all those sweets that be | 6 | ······ |
| I' th' flowery nunnery; | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| By silent nights, and the | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Three forms of Hecate; | 5 | ····· |
| By all aspects that bless | 6 | ··/··· |
| The sober sorceress, | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| While juice she strains, and pith | 6 | ······ |
| To make her philters with; | 6 | ······ |
| By time that hastens on | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Things to perfection; | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| And by yourself, the best | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Conjurement of the rest: | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| O my Electra! be | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| In love with none, but me. | 6 | ······ |
| Tods of wool, literally, tod of wool=twenty-eight pounds, here used | 14 | ···/˘···/˘···· |
| of the fleecy clouds. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Tinctures, colours. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Three forms of Hecate, the Diva triformis of Hor. Od. iii. 22. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, Persephone in the world below. | 17 | /˘·/˘/˘·········· |
| Aspects, i.e., of the planets. | 8 | /·····/˘ |
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