Analysis of His winding-sheet
Robert Herrick 1591 (London) – 1674 (Dean Prior)
Come thou, who art the wine and wit
Of all I've writ;
The grace, the glory, and the best
Piece of the rest;
Thou art of what I did intend
The All, and End;
And what was made, was made to meet.
Thee, thee my sheet.
Come then, and be to my chaste side
Both bed and bride.
We two, as reliques left, will have
One rest, one grave;
And, hugging close, we need not fear
Lust entering here,
Where all desires are dead or cold,
As is the mould;
And all affections are forgot,
Or trouble not.
Here, here the slaves and prisoners be
From shackles free;
And weeping widows, long opprest,
Do here find rest.
The wronged client ends his laws
Here, and his cause;
Here those long suits of Chancery lie
Quiet, or die;
And all Star-chamber bills do cease,
Or hold their peace.
Here needs no court for our Request
Where all are best;
All wise, all equal, and all just
Alike i'th' dust.
Nor need we here to fear the frown
Of court or crown;
Where fortune bears no sway o'er things,
There all are kings.
In this securer place we'll keep,
As lull'd asleep;
Or for a little time we'll lie,
As robes laid by,
To be another day re-worn,
Turn'd, but not torn;
Or like old testaments engrost,
Lock'd up, not lost;
And for a-while lie here conceal'd,
To be reveal'd
Next, at that great Platonic year,
And then meet here.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFGHIJJKKLLABMNOOPPBBQQRRSSTTOOUUAVWWHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 1111 01010001 1101 11111101 0101 01111111 1111 11011111 1101 1111111 1111 01011111 11001 110101111 1101 01010101 1101 110101001 1101 0101011 1111 0110111 1011 111111001 1011 01110111 1111 111111001 1111 11110011 011111 11111101 1111 110111101 1111 011111 1101 11010111 1111 11010111 1111 1111001 1111 01011101 1101 11110101 0111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,255 |
Words | 250 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 48 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 977 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 248 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 142 Views
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"His winding-sheet" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31318/his-winding-sheet>.
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