Analysis of To blossoms

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



Fair pledges of a fruitful tree,
Why do ye fall so fast?
Your date is not so past,
But you may stay yet here a-while,
To blush and gently smile;
And go at last.

What, were ye born to be
An hour or half's delight;
And so to bid good-night?
'Twas pity Nature brought ye forth,
Merely to show your worth,
And lose you quite.

But you are lovely leaves, where we
May read how soon things have
Their end, though ne'er so brave:
And after they have shown their pride,
Like you, a-while;--they glide
Into the grave.


Scheme ABBCCB ADDXXD AXEFFE
Poetic Form
Metre 11010101 111111 111111 11111101 110101 0111 101111 1101101 011111 11010111 101111 0111 11110111 111111 111111 01011111 110111 0101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 498
Words 101
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 128
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
102

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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