Analysis of His Wish To God

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



I would to God, that mine old age might have
Before my last, but here a living grave;
Some one poor almshouse, there to lie, or stir,
Ghost-like, as in my meaner sepulchre;
A little piggin, and a pipkin by,
To hold things fitting my necessity,
Which, rightly us'd, both in their time and place,
Might me excite to fore, and after, grace.
Thy cross, my Christ, fix'd 'fore mine eyes should be,
Not to adore that, but to worship Thee.
So here the remnant of my days I'd spend,
Reading Thy bible, and my book; so end.


Scheme ABCCDEFFEEGG
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111111 0111110101 111111111 11101101 010100101 1111010100 1101101101 1101110101 1111111111 1101111101 1101011111 1011001111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 511
Words 100
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 386
Words per stanza (avg) 98
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
40

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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