Cherry-Ripe
There is a garden in her faceWhere roses and white lilies blow;A heavenly paradise is that place,Wherein all pleasant fruits do flow:There cherries grow which none may buyTill ‘Cherry-ripe’ themselves do cry.
Those cherries fairly do encloseOf orient pearl a double row,Which when her lovely laughter shows,They look like rose-buds fill’d with snow;Yet them nor peer nor prince can buyTill ‘Cherry-ripe’ themselves do cry.
Her eyes like angels watch them still;Her brows like bended bows do stand,Threat’ning with piercing frowns to killAll that attempt with eye or handThose sacred cherries to come nigh,Till ‘Cherry-ripe’ themselves do cry.
Words in this poem
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
- enclose v. t.
- To inclose. See Inclose. [F. enclos, p. p. of enclore to enclose; pref. en- (L. in) + clore to close. See Close, and cf. Inclose, Include.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cherry-Ripe is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Campion, Cherry-Ripe, in Poems (1567–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-thomas-campion/cherry-ripe.html, id L15990.
Form and metre
Cherry-Ripe is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABABCC faceA · blowB · placeA · flowB · buyC · cryC
- 2 ABABCC encloseA · rowB · showsA · snowB · buyC · cryC
- 3 ABABCC stillA · standB · killA · handB · nighC · cryC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There is a garden in her face | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where roses and white lilies blow; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A heavenly paradise is that place, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Wherein all pleasant fruits do flow: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| There cherries grow which none may buy | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Till ‘Cherry-ripe’ themselves do cry. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Those cherries fairly do enclose | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Of orient pearl a double row, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Which when her lovely laughter shows, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| They look like rose-buds fill’d with snow; | 8 | ········ |
| Yet them nor peer nor prince can buy | 8 | ········ |
| Till ‘Cherry-ripe’ themselves do cry. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Her eyes like angels watch them still; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her brows like bended bows do stand, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Threat’ning with piercing frowns to kill | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| All that attempt with eye or hand | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Those sacred cherries to come nigh, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Till ‘Cherry-ripe’ themselves do cry. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
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.