Analysis of To his lovely mistresses

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



One night i'th' year, my dearest Beauties, come,
And bring those dew-drink-offerings to my tomb;
When thence ye see my reverend ghost to rise,
And there to lick th' effused sacrifice,
Though paleness be the livery that I wear,
Look ye not wan or colourless for fear.
Trust me, I will not hurt ye, or once show
The least grim look, or cast a frown on you;
Nor shall the tapers, when I'm there, burn blue.
This I may do, perhaps, as I glide by,--
Cast on my girls a glance, and loving eye;
Or fold mine arms, and sigh, because I've lost
The world so soon, and in it, you the most:
--Than these, no fears more on your fancies fall,
Though then I smile, and speak no words at all.


Scheme ABCDEFGHHIIJKLL
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 111111110101 01111100111 11111100111 011111110 1110100111 11111111 1111111111 0111110111 1101011111 1111011111 1111010101 1111010111 0111001101 1111111101 1111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 670
Words 135
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 505
Words per stanza (avg) 132
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

41 sec read
88

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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