984. A Bucolic Betwixt Two: Lacon and Thyrsis
Lacon. For a kiss or two, confess,What doth cause this pensiveness,Thou most lovely neat-herdess?Why so lonely on the hill?Why thy pipe by thee so still,That erewhile was heard so shrill?Tell me, do thy kine now failTo full fill the milking-pail?Say, what is't that thou dost ail?
Thyr. None of these; but out, alas!A mischance is come to pass,And I'll tell thee what it was:See, mine eyes are weeping-ripe.Lacon. Tell, and I'll lay down my pipe.
Thyr. I have lost my lovely steer,That to me was far more dearThan these kine which I milk here:Broad of forehead, large of eye,Party-colour'd like a pie;Smooth in each limb as a die;Clear of hoof, and clear of horn:Sharply pointed as a thorn,With a neck by yoke unworn;From the which hung down by strings,Balls of cowslips, daisy rings,Interplac'd with ribbonings:Faultless every way for shape;Not a straw could him escape;Ever gamesome as an ape,But yet harmless as a sheep.Pardon, Lacon, if I weep;Tears will spring where woes are deep.Now, ay me! ay me! Last nightCame a mad dog and did bite,Aye, and kill'd my dear delight.
Lacon. Alack, for grief!
Thyr. But I'll be brief.Hence I must, for time doth callMe, and my sad playmates all,To his ev'ning funeral.Live long, Lacon, so adieu!
Lacon. Mournful maid, farewell to you;Earth afford ye flowers to strew.
Words in this poem
- pensiveness n.
- The state of being pensive; serious thoughtfulness; seriousness. Hooker.
- erewhile adv.
- Some time ago; a little while before; heretofore.
- faultless a.
- Without fault; not defective or imperfect; free from blemish; free from incorrectness, vice, or offense; perfect; as, a faultless poem.
- gamesome a.
- Gay; sportive; playful; frolicsome; merry.
- alack interj.
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
984. A Bucolic Betwixt Two: Lacon and Thyrsis 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, 984. A Bucolic Betwixt Two: Lacon and Thyrsis, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/984-a-bucolic-betwixt-two-lacon-and-thyrsis.html, id L05890.
Form and metre
984. A Bucolic Betwixt Two: Lacon and Thyrsis is 43 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 ---AAABBB confess · pensiveness · herdess · hillA · stillA · shrillA · failB · pailB · ailB
- 2 CC-DD alasC · passC · was · ripeD · pipeD
- 3 EEEFFFGGGHH-IIIJJJKKK steerE · dearE · hereE · eyeF · pieF · dieF · hornG · thornG · unwornG · stringsH · ringsH · ribbonings · shapeI · escapeI · apeI · sheepJ · weepJ · deepJ · nightK · biteK · delightK
- 4 L griefL
- 5 LMM-N briefL · callM · allM · funeral · adieuN
- 6 NN youN · strewN
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Lacon. For a kiss or two, confess, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| What doth cause this pensiveness, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Thou most lovely neat-herdess? | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Why so lonely on the hill? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Why thy pipe by thee so still, | 7 | ······· |
| That erewhile was heard so shrill? | 9 | ········· |
| Tell me, do thy kine now fail | 7 | ······· |
| To full fill the milking-pail? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Say, what is't that thou dost ail? | 7 | ······· |
| Thyr. None of these; but out, alas! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A mischance is come to pass, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| And I'll tell thee what it was: | 7 | ······· |
| See, mine eyes are weeping-ripe. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lacon. Tell, and I'll lay down my pipe. | 9 | ········· |
| Thyr. I have lost my lovely steer, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That to me was far more dear | 7 | ······· |
| Than these kine which I milk here: | 7 | ······· |
| Broad of forehead, large of eye, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Party-colour'd like a pie; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Smooth in each limb as a die; | 7 | ······· |
| Clear of hoof, and clear of horn: | 7 | ······· |
| Sharply pointed as a thorn, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| With a neck by yoke unworn; | 7 | ······· |
| From the which hung down by strings, | 7 | ······· |
| Balls of cowslips, daisy rings, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Interplac'd with ribbonings: | 7 | ······· |
| Faultless every way for shape; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Not a straw could him escape; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Ever gamesome as an ape, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| But yet harmless as a sheep. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Pardon, Lacon, if I weep; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Tears will spring where woes are deep. | 7 | ······· |
| Now, ay me! ay me! Last night | 7 | ······· |
| Came a mad dog and did bite, | 7 | ······· |
| Aye, and kill'd my dear delight. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Lacon. Alack, for grief! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Thyr. But I'll be brief. | 5 | ····· |
| Hence I must, for time doth call | 7 | ······· |
| Me, and my sad playmates all, | 7 | ····/·· |
| To his ev'ning funeral. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Live long, Lacon, so adieu! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Lacon. Mournful maid, farewell to you; | 9 | ··/˘··/·· |
| Earth afford ye flowers to strew. | 7 | ·˘/·/·· |
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