919. Happiness to Hospitality; Or, a Hearty Wish to Good Housekeeping
First, may the hand of bounty bringInto the daily offeringOf full provision such a store,Till that the cook cries: Bring no more.Upon your hogsheads never fallA drought of wine, ale, beer, at all;But, like full clouds, may they from thenceDiffuse their mighty influence.Next, let the lord and lady hereEnjoy a Christ'ning year by year;And this good blessing back them still,T' have boys, and girls too, as they will.Then from the porch may many a brideUnto the holy temple ride:And thence return, short prayers said,A wife most richly married.Last, may the bride and bridegroom beUntouch'd by cold sterility;But in their springing blood so play,As that in lusters few they may,By laughing too, and lying down,People a city or a town.
Words in this poem
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- sterility n.
- The quality or condition of being sterile. [L. sterilitas: cf. F. stérilité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
919. Happiness to Hospitality; Or, a Hearty Wish to Good Housekeeping 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, 919. Happiness to Hospitality; Or, a Hearty Wish to Good Housekeeping, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/919-happiness-to-hospitality-or-a-hearty-wish-to-good-housek.html, id L05837.
Form and metre
919. Happiness to Hospitality; Or, a Hearty Wish to Good Housekeeping is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 82% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGG-G--HHII bringA · offeringA · storeB · moreB · fallC · allC · thenceD · influenceD · hereE · yearE · stillF · willF · brideG · rideG · said · marriedG · be · sterility · playH · mayH · downI · townI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| First, may the hand of bounty bring | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Into the daily offering | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Of full provision such a store, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Till that the cook cries: Bring no more. | 8 | ········ |
| Upon your hogsheads never fall | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A drought of wine, ale, beer, at all; | 8 | ········ |
| But, like full clouds, may they from thence | 8 | ········ |
| Diffuse their mighty influence. | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Next, let the lord and lady here | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Enjoy a Christ'ning year by year; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And this good blessing back them still, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| T' have boys, and girls too, as they will. | 9 | ········· |
| Then from the porch may many a bride | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Unto the holy temple ride: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And thence return, short prayers said, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| A wife most richly married. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Last, may the bride and bridegroom be | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Untouch'd by cold sterility; | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘˘ |
| But in their springing blood so play, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As that in lusters few they may, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| By laughing too, and lying down, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| People a city or a town. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 1
Word-glosses from Pollard's edition (Muses' Library, 1891; Project Gutenberg #22421).
- Wish: om. orig. ed · Lusters: quinquenniums
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