942. Upon Cupid
Love, like a beggar, came to meWith hose and doublet torn:His shirt bedangling from his knee,With hat and shoes outworn.
He ask'd an alms; I gave him bread,And meat too, for his need:Of which, when he had fully fed,He wished me all good speed.
Away he went, but as he turn'd(In faith I know not how)He touch'd me so, as that I burn['d],And am tormented now.
Love's silent flames and fires obscureThen crept into my heart;And though I saw no bow, I'm sureHis finger was the dart.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
942. Upon Cupid 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, 942. Upon Cupid, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/942-upon-cupid.html, id L05860.
Form and metre
942. Upon Cupid is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. 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 7.1 syllables. 25% 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 meA · tornB · kneeA · outwornB
- 2 ABAB breadA · needB · fedA · speedB
- 3 ABAB turn'dA · howB · burn['dA · nowB
- 4 ABAB obscureA · heartB · sureA · dartB
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, like a beggar, came to me | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With hose and doublet torn: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| His shirt bedangling from his knee, | 8 | ········ |
| With hat and shoes outworn. | 6 | ······ |
| He ask'd an alms; I gave him bread, | 8 | ········ |
| And meat too, for his need: | 6 | ······ |
| Of which, when he had fully fed, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He wished me all good speed. | 6 | ······ |
| Away he went, but as he turn'd | 8 | ˘/······ |
| (In faith I know not how) | 6 | ······ |
| He touch'd me so, as that I burn['d], | 9 | ········· |
| And am tormented now. | 6 | ··/·˘· |
| Love's silent flames and fires obscure | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘/ |
| Then crept into my heart; | 6 | ······ |
| And though I saw no bow, I'm sure | 8 | ········ |
| His finger was the dart. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.