892. Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve
Down with the rosemary and bays,Down with the mistletoe;Instead of holly, now up-raiseThe greener box, for show.
The holly hitherto did sway;Let box now domineerUntil the dancing Easter day,Or Easter's eve appear.
Then youthful box which now hath graceYour houses to renew;Grown old, surrender must his placeUnto the crisped yew.
When yew is out, then birch comes in,And many flowers beside;Both of a fresh and fragrant kinTo honour Whitsuntide.
Green rushes, then, and sweetest bents,With cooler oaken boughs,Come in for comely ornamentsTo re-adorn the house.Thus times do shift; each thing his turn does hold:New things succeed, as former things grow old.
Words in this poem
- hitherto adv.
- To this place; to a prescribed limit.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- whitsuntide n.
- The week commencing with Whitsunday, esp. the first three days -- Whitsunday, Whitsun Monday, and Whitsun Tuesday; the time of Pentecost. R. of Gloucester. [Whitsunday + tide.]
- cooler n.
- That which cools, or abates heat or excitement.
- oaken a.
- Made or consisting of oaks or of the wood of oaks. [AS. acen.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
892. Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve 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, 892. Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/892-ceremonies-for-candlemas-eve.html, id L05813.
Form and metre
892. Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve is 22 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% 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 ABAB baysA · mistletoeB · raiseA · showB
- 2 ABAB swayA · domineerB · dayA · appearB
- 3 ABAB graceA · renewB · placeA · yewB
- 4 ABAB inA · besideB · kinA · whitsuntideB
- 5 ----AA bents · boughs · ornaments · house · holdA · oldA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Down with the rosemary and bays, | 8 | ···/·˘·· |
| Down with the mistletoe; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Instead of holly, now up-raise | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| The greener box, for show. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The holly hitherto did sway; | 8 | ·/˘/·/·· |
| Let box now domineer | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Until the dancing Easter day, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Or Easter's eve appear. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Then youthful box which now hath grace | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your houses to renew; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Grown old, surrender must his place | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Unto the crisped yew. | 5 | ····· |
| When yew is out, then birch comes in, | 8 | ········ |
| And many flowers beside; | 7 | ·/˘/˘·/ |
| Both of a fresh and fragrant kin | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To honour Whitsuntide. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Green rushes, then, and sweetest bents, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With cooler oaken boughs, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Come in for comely ornaments | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| To re-adorn the house. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Thus times do shift; each thing his turn does hold: | 10 | ·········· |
| New things succeed, as former things grow old. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
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.