Analysis of To his sweet saviour

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



Night hath no wings to him that cannot sleep;
And Time seems then not for to fly, but creep;
Slowly her chariot drives, as if that she
Had broke her wheel, or crack'd her axletree.
Just so it is with me, who list'ning, pray
The winds to blow the tedious night away,
That I might see the cheerful peeping day.
Sick is my heart; O Saviour!  do Thou please
To make my bed soft in my sicknesses;
Lighten my candle, so that I beneath
Sleep not for ever in the vaults of death;
Let me thy voice betimes i' th' morning hear;
Call, and I'll come; say Thou the when and where:
Draw me but first, and after Thee I'll run,
And make no one stop till my race be done.


Scheme AABCCDDEEFGCCHH
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1111111101 0111111111 10010011111 11011101 1111111111 01110100101 1111010101 111111111 11111011 1011011101 1111000111 11111111101 1011110101 1111010111 0111111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 648
Words 133
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 495
Words per stanza (avg) 132
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 22, 2023

41 sec read
54

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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