87. Kissing Usury
Bianca, letMe pay the debtI owe thee for a kissThou lend'st to me,And I to theeWill render ten for this.
If thou wilt sayTen will not payFor that so rich a one;I'll clear the sum,If it will comeUnto a million.
By this, I guess,Of happinessWho has a little measure,He must of rightTo th' utmost miteMake payment for his pleasure.
About this text
87. Kissing Usury 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, 87. Kissing Usury, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/87-kissing-usury.html, id L05148.
Form and metre
87. Kissing Usury is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.7 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 56% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 AABCCB letA · debtA · kissB · meC · theeC · thisB
- 2 AABCCB sayA · payA · oneB · sumC · comeC · millionB
- 3 AABCCB guessA · happinessA · measureB · rightC · miteC · pleasureB
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Bianca, let | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| Me pay the debt | 4 | ···· |
| I owe thee for a kiss | 6 | ······ |
| Thou lend'st to me, | 4 | ···· |
| And I to thee | 4 | ···· |
| Will render ten for this. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| If thou wilt say | 4 | ···· |
| Ten will not pay | 4 | ···· |
| For that so rich a one; | 6 | ······ |
| I'll clear the sum, | 4 | ···· |
| If it will come | 4 | ···· |
| Unto a million. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| By this, I guess, | 4 | ···· |
| Of happiness | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Who has a little measure, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| He must of right | 4 | ···· |
| To th' utmost mite | 4 | ·/·· |
| Make payment for his pleasure. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
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.