Analysis of His poetry his pillar

Robert Herrick 1591 (London) – 1674 (Dean Prior)



Only a little more
I have to write:
Then I'll give o'er,
And bid the world good-night.

'Tis but a flying minute,
That I must stay,
Or linger in it:
And then I must away.

O Time, that cut'st down all,
And scarce leav'st here
Memorial
Of any men that were;

--How many lie forgot
In vaults beneath,
And piece-meal rot
Without a fame in death?

Behold this living stone
I rear for me,
Ne'er to be thrown
Down, envious Time, by thee.

Pillars let some set up
If so they please;
Here is my hope,
And my Pyramides.


Scheme XABA XCXC XXXB DXDX EFEF XGXG
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 100101 1111 11110 010111 1101010 1111 11001 011101 1111111 0111 0100 110110 110101 0101 0111 010101 011101 1111 1111 1100111 101111 1111 1111 011
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 490
Words 101
Sentences 6
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 16
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 63
Words per stanza (avg) 17
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
56

Robert Herrick

Robert Herrick was born in London, England, in 1591. He was apprenticed to a goldsmith (his uncle, Sir William), but went to Cambridge, at St John's, in 1613. He was ordained at Peterborough in 1623 and became chaplain to the Duke of Buckingham a few years later. "Hesperides" - a collection of 1200 lyrical poems - was published in 1648 and it remained his magnum opus. Herrick died in 1674, aged 83. more…

All Robert Herrick poems | Robert Herrick Books

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