Analysis of Upon time

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



Time was upon
The wing, to fly away;
And I call'd on
Him but awhile to stay;
But he'd be gone,
For aught that I could say.

He held out then
A writing, as he went,
And ask'd me, when
False man would be content
To pay again
What God and Nature lent.

An hour-glass,
In which were sands but few,
As he did pass,
He shew'd,--and told me too
Mine end near was;--
And so away he flew.


Scheme ABABXB CDCDCD EFEFXF
Poetic Form
Metre 1101 011101 0111 110111 1111 111111 1111 010111 0111 111110 1101 110101 1101 010111 1111 110111 1111 010111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 368
Words 83
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 15
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

26 sec read
355

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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