Analysis of The wassail
Robert Herrick 1591 (London) – 1674 (Dean Prior)
Give way, give way, ye gates, and win
An easy blessing to your bin
And basket, by our entering in.
May both with manchet stand replete;
Your larders, too, so hung with meat,
That though a thousand, thousand eat,
Yet, ere twelve moons shall whirl about
Their silv'ry spheres, there's none may doubt
But more's sent in than was served out.
Next, may your dairies prosper so,
As that your pans no ebb may know;
But if they do, the more to flow,
Like to a solemn sober stream,
Bank'd all with lilies, and the cream
Of sweetest cowslips filling them.
Then may your plants be press'd with fruit,
Nor bee or hive you have be mute,
But sweetly sounding like a lute.
Last, may your harrows, shares, and ploughs,
Your stacks, your stocks, your sweetest mows,
All prosper by your virgin-vows.
--Alas! we bless, but see none here,
That brings us either ale or beer;
In a dry-house all things are near.
Let's leave a longer time to wait,
Where rust and cobwebs bind the gate;
And all live here with needy fate;
Where chimneys do for ever weep
For want of warmth, and stomachs keep
With noise the servants' eyes from sleep.
It is in vain to sing, or stay
Our free feet here, but we'll away:
Yet to the Lares this we'll say:
'The time will come when you'll be sad,
'And reckon this for fortune bad,
Scheme | AAA BBB CCC DDD EEX FFF GGG XHH III JJJ KKK LL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11111101 11010111 0101101000 1111101 1111111 11010101 11111101 1111111 11101111 11110101 11111111 11110111 11010101 11110001 1101101 11111111 11111111 11010101 1111101 11111101 11011101 01111111 11110111 00111111 11010111 1101101 01111101 11011101 11110101 11010111 11011111 101111101 1101111 01111111 01011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,258 |
Words | 242 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 82 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 20 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 116 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The wassail" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31416/the-wassail>.
Discuss this Robert Herrick poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In