779. Upon Julia's Clothes
Whenas in silks my Julia goes,Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flowsThe liquefaction of her clothes.
Next, when I cast mine eyes and seeThat brave vibration each way free;O how that glittering taketh me!
Words in this poem
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- liquefaction n.
- The act or operation of making or becoming liquid; especially, the conversion of a solid into a liquid by the sole agency of heat. [L. liquefactio: cf. F. liquéfaction. See Liquefy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
779. Upon Julia's Clothes 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, 779. Upon Julia's Clothes, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/779-upon-julia-s-clothes.html, id L05720.
Form and metre
779. Upon Julia's Clothes is 6 lines in 2 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 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables.
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 goesA · flowsA · clothesA
- 2 AAA seeA · freeA · meA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whenas in silks my Julia goes, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The liquefaction of her clothes. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Next, when I cast mine eyes and see | 8 | ········ |
| That brave vibration each way free; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| O how that glittering taketh me! | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
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.