82. To the Reverend Shade of His Religious Father
That for seven lusters I did never comeTo do the rites to thy religious tomb;That neither hair was cut, or true tears shedBy me, o'er thee, as justments to the dead,Forgive, forgive me; since I did not knowWhether thy bones had here their rest or no,But now 'tis known, behold! behold, I bringUnto thy ghost th' effused offering:And look what smallage, night-shade, cypress, yew,Unto the shades have been, or now are due,Here I devote; and something more than so;I come to pay a debt of birth I owe.Thou gav'st me life, but mortal; for that oneFavour I'll make full satisfaction;For my life mortal rise from out thy hearse.And take a life immortal from my verse.
Words in this poem
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- smallage n.
- A biennial umbelliferous plant (Apium graveolens) native of the seacoats of Europe and Asia. When deprived of its acrid and even poisonous properties by cultivation, it becomes celery. [Small + F. ache smallage. See Ach parsley.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
82. To the Reverend Shade of His Religious Father 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, 82. To the Reverend Shade of His Religious Father, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/82-to-the-reverend-shade-of-his-religious-father.html, id L05143.
Form and metre
82. To the Reverend Shade of His Religious Father is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 --AABBCCDDBBEEFF come · tomb · shedA · deadA · knowB · noB · bringC · offeringC · yewD · dueD · soB · oweB · oneE · satisfactionE · hearseF · verseF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| That for seven lusters I did never come | 10 | ··//˘··/˘· |
| To do the rites to thy religious tomb; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| That neither hair was cut, or true tears shed | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| By me, o'er thee, as justments to the dead, | 10 | ·········· |
| Forgive, forgive me; since I did not know | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| Whether thy bones had here their rest or no, | 10 | ·········· |
| But now 'tis known, behold! behold, I bring | 10 | ····˘/˘/·· |
| Unto thy ghost th' effused offering: | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| And look what smallage, night-shade, cypress, yew, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Unto the shades have been, or now are due, | 10 | ·········· |
| Here I devote; and something more than so; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| I come to pay a debt of birth I owe. | 10 | ·········· |
| Thou gav'st me life, but mortal; for that one | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Favour I'll make full satisfaction; | 9 | /˘····˘/˘ |
| For my life mortal rise from out thy hearse. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And take a life immortal from my verse. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Seven lusters: five and thirty years · Hair was cut: according to the Greek custom · Justments: dues · Smallage: water parsley
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