863. Upon Love
Love brought me to a silent groveAnd show'd me there a tree,Where some had hang'd themselves for love,And gave a twist to me.
The halter was of silk and gold,That he reach'd forth unto me;No otherwise than if he wouldBy dainty things undo me.
He bade me then that necklace use;And told me, too, he makethA glorious end by such a noose,His death for love that taketh.
'Twas but a dream; but had I beenThere really alone,My desp'rate fears in love had seenMine execution.
Words in this poem
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
863. Upon Love 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, 863. Upon Love, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/863-upon-love.html, id L05790.
Form and metre
863. Upon Love is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 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 common measure.
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 -A-A grove · treeA · love · meA
- 2 -A-A gold · meA · would · meA
- 3 ABAB useA · makethB · nooseA · takethB
- 4 AAAA beenA · aloneA · seenA · executionA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Love brought me to a silent grove | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And show'd me there a tree, | 6 | ······ |
| Where some had hang'd themselves for love, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And gave a twist to me. | 6 | ······ |
| The halter was of silk and gold, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That he reach'd forth unto me; | 7 | ······· |
| No otherwise than if he would | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By dainty things undo me. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| He bade me then that necklace use; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And told me, too, he maketh | 7 | ······· |
| A glorious end by such a noose, | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| His death for love that taketh. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| 'Twas but a dream; but had I been | 8 | ········ |
| There really alone, | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| My desp'rate fears in love had seen | 8 | ········ |
| Mine execution. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
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.