Analysis of To primroses filled with morning dew

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



Why do ye weep, sweet babes?  can tears
Speak grief in you,
Who were but born
just as the modest morn
Teem'd her refreshing dew?
Alas, you have not known that shower
That mars a flower,
Nor felt th' unkind
Breath of a blasting wind,
Nor are ye worn with years;
Or warp'd as we,
Who think it strange to see,
Such pretty flowers, like to orphans young,
To speak by tears, before ye have a tongue.

Speak, whimp'ring younglings, and make known
The reason why
Ye droop and weep;
Is it for want of sleep,
Or childish lullaby?
Or that ye have not seen as yet
The violet?
Or brought a kiss
From that Sweet-heart, to this?
--No, no, this sorrow shown
By your tears shed,
Would have this lecture read,
That things of greatest, so of meanest worth,
Conceived with grief are, and with tears brought forth.


Scheme XABBACCDDXEEFF GHIIHXXJJGKKXX
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 1101 1011 110101 100101 011111110 11010 111101 110101 111111 1111 111111 1101011101 1111011101 111011 0101 1101 111111 11010 11111111 0100 1101 111111 111101 1111 111101 1111011101 0111101111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 774
Words 151
Sentences 8
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 14, 14
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 304
Words per stanza (avg) 75
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
93

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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