Analysis of Orpheus

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



Orpheus he went, as poets tell,
To fetch Eurydice from hell;
And had her, but it was upon
This short, but strict condition;
Backward he should not look, while he
Led her through hell's obscurity.
But ah!  it happen'd, as he made
His passage through that dreadful shade,
Revolve he did his loving eye,
For gentle fear or jealousy;
And looking back, that look did sever
Him and Eurydice for ever.


Scheme AABCDDEEFDGG
Poetic Form
Metre 100111101 11111 01011101 1111010 10111111 10110100 11110111 11011101 01111101 11011100 010111110 101110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 391
Words 73
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 306
Words per stanza (avg) 72
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

22 sec read
316

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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