Upon Parting
Go hence away, and in thy parting know'Tis not my voice but Heaven's that bids thee go;Spring hence thy faith, nor think it ill desertI find in thee that makes me thus to part.But voice of fame, and voice of Heaven have thunderedWe both were lost, if both of us not sundered.Fold now thine arms, and in thy last look rearOne sigh of love, and cool it with a tear.Since part we must, let's kiss; that done, retireWith as cold frost as erst we met with fire;With such white vows as fate can ne'er dissever,But truth knit fast; and so, farewell for ever.
Words in this poem
- dissever v. t.
- To part in two; to sever thoroughly; to sunder; to disunite; to separate; to disperse. [OE. dessevrer; pref. des- (L. dis-) + sevrer to sever, F. sevrer to wean, L. separate to separate. In this word the prefix is intensive. See Dis-, and Sever.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Upon Parting 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, Upon Parting, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/upon-parting.html, id L06283.
Form and metre
Upon Parting is 12 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.5 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AA--BBCCDD-- knowA · goA · desert · part · thunderedB · sunderedB · rearC · tearC · retireD · fireD · dissever · ever
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Go hence away, and in thy parting know | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| 'Tis not my voice but Heaven's that bids thee go; | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Spring hence thy faith, nor think it ill desert | 10 | ········/˘ |
| I find in thee that makes me thus to part. | 10 | ·········· |
| But voice of fame, and voice of Heaven have thundered | 11 | ·······/·/˘ |
| We both were lost, if both of us not sundered. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Fold now thine arms, and in thy last look rear | 10 | ·········· |
| One sigh of love, and cool it with a tear. | 10 | ·········· |
| Since part we must, let's kiss; that done, retire | 10 | ········˘/ |
| With as cold frost as erst we met with fire; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| With such white vows as fate can ne'er dissever, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| But truth knit fast; and so, farewell for ever. | 11 | ·······/·/˘ |
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.