Analysis of To phillis, to love and live with him
Robert Herrick 1591 (London) – 1674 (Dean Prior)
TO PHILLIS, TO LOVE AND LIVE WITH HIM
Live, live with me, and thou shalt see
The pleasures I'll prepare for thee:
What sweets the country can afford
Shall bless thy bed, and bless thy board.
The soft sweet moss shall be thy bed,
With crawling woodbine over-spread:
By which the silver-shedding streams
Shall gently melt thee into dreams.
Thy clothing next, shall be a gown
Made of the fleeces' purest down.
The tongues of kids shall be thy meat;
Their milk thy drink; and thou shalt eat
The paste of filberts for thy bread
With cream of cowslips buttered:
Thy feasting-table shall be hills
With daisies spread, and daffadils;
Where thou shalt sit, and Red-breast by,
For meat, shall give thee melody.
I'll give thee chains and carcanets
Of primroses and violets.
A bag and bottle thou shalt have,
That richly wrought, and this as brave;
So that as either shall express
The wearer's no mean shepherdess.
At shearing-times, and yearly wakes,
When Themilis his pastime makes,
There thou shalt be; and be the wit,
Nay more, the feast, and grace of it.
On holydays, when virgins meet
To dance the heys with nimble feet,
Thou shalt come forth, and then appear
The Queen of Roses for that year.
And having danced ('bove all the best)
Carry the garland from the rest,
In wicker-baskets maids shall bring
To thee, my dearest shepherdling,
The blushing apple, bashful pear,
And shame-faced plum, all simp'ring there.
Walk in the groves, and thou shalt find
The name of Phillis in the rind
Of every straight and smooth-skin tree;
Where kissing that, I'll twice kiss thee.
To thee a sheep-hook I will send,
Be-prank'd with ribbands, to this end,
This, this alluring hook might be
Less for to catch a sheep, than me.
Thou shalt have possets, wassails fine,
Not made of ale, but spiced wine;
To make thy maids and self free mirth,
All sitting near the glitt'ring hearth.
Thou shalt have ribbands, roses, rings,
Gloves, garters, stockings, shoes, and strings
Of winning colours, that shall move
Others to lust, but me to love.
--These, nay, and more, thine own shall be,
If thou wilt love, and live with me.
Scheme | X AABBCCDDEEFFCXXAXAAXXXXAGGHHFFIIJJKKLLMMAANNAAOOXXPPXXAA |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110110111 11110111 01010111 11010101 11110111 01111111 1101101 11010101 11011011 11011101 11010101 01111111 11110111 01110111 111110 11010111 110101 11110111 11111100 111101 1100100 01010111 11010111 11110101 01111 11010101 11111 11110101 11010111 111101 11011101 11110101 01110111 01011101 10010101 01010111 111101 01010101 0111111 10010111 01110001 110010111 11011111 11011111 1111111 11010111 11110111 111111 1111111 11110111 1101011 1111101 11010101 1101111 10111111 11011111 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,044 |
Words | 369 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 56 |
Lines Amount | 57 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 814 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 184 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 101 Views
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"To phillis, to love and live with him" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31473/to-phillis%2C-to-love-and-live-with-him>.
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