98. Another New-Year's Gift: Or, Song for the Circumcision
Hence, hence profane, and none appearWith anything unhallowed here;No jot of leaven must be foundConceal'd in this most holy ground.
Chor. But let no Christmas mirth beginBefore ye purge and circumciseYour hearts, and hands, lips, ears, and eyes.
Then, like a perfum'd altar, seeThat all things sweet and clean may be:For here's a Babe that, like a bride,Will blush to death if ought be spi'dIll-scenting, or unpurifi'd.
Chor. The room is 'cens'd: help, help t' invokeHeaven to come down, the while we chokeThe temple with a cloud of smoke.
And softly handle Him; y'ad need,Because the pretty Babe does bleed.Poor pitied Child! who from Thy stallBring'st, in Thy blood, a balm that shallBe the best New-Year's gift to all.
Chor. Long may He live till He hath toldHis New-Years trebled to His old:And when that's done, to re-aspireA new-born Phœnix from His own chaste fire.
Words in this poem
- unhallowed a.
- Not consecrated; hence, profane; unholy; impious; wicked. [Pref. un- not + hallowed.]
- circumcise v. t.
- To cut off the prepuce of foreskin of, in the case of males, and the internal labia of, in the case of females. [L. circumcisus, p. p. of circumcidere to cut around, to circumcise; circum + caedere to cut; akin to E. cæsura, homicide, concise, and prob. to shed, v. t.]
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
98. Another New-Year's Gift: Or, Song for the Circumcision 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, 98. Another New-Year's Gift: Or, Song for the Circumcision, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/98-another-new-year-s-gift-or-song-for-the-circumcision.html, id L06109.
Form and metre
98. Another New-Year's Gift: Or, Song for the Circumcision is 24 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 75% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% 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 AABB appearA · hereA · foundB · groundB
- 2 -AA begin · circumciseA · eyesA
- 3 AABB- seeA · beA · brideB · spi'dB · unpurifi'd
- 4 AAA invokeA · chokeA · smokeA
- 5 AAB-B needA · bleedA · stallB · shall · allB
- 6 AABB toldA · oldA · aspireB · fireB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hence, hence profane, and none appear | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| With anything unhallowed here; | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘· |
| No jot of leaven must be found | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Conceal'd in this most holy ground. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Chor. But let no Christmas mirth begin | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| Before ye purge and circumcise | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Your hearts, and hands, lips, ears, and eyes. | 8 | ········ |
| Then, like a perfum'd altar, see | 8 | ···˘//˘· |
| That all things sweet and clean may be: | 8 | ········ |
| For here's a Babe that, like a bride, | 8 | ········ |
| Will blush to death if ought be spi'd | 8 | ········ |
| Ill-scenting, or unpurifi'd. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Chor. The room is 'cens'd: help, help t' invoke | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Heaven to come down, the while we choke | 9 | /˘······· |
| The temple with a cloud of smoke. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And softly handle Him; y'ad need, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Because the pretty Babe does bleed. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Poor pitied Child! who from Thy stall | 8 | ·/······ |
| Bring'st, in Thy blood, a balm that shall | 8 | ········ |
| Be the best New-Year's gift to all. | 8 | ········ |
| Chor. Long may He live till He hath told | 9 | ········· |
| His New-Years trebled to His old: | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| And when that's done, to re-aspire | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A new-born Phœnix from His own chaste fire. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
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