His Prayer To Ben Jonson

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



When I a verse shall make,
Know I have pray'd thee,
For old religion's sake,
Saint Ben to aid me.

Make the way smooth for me,
When I, thy Herrick,
Honouring thee, on my knee
Offer my lyric.

Candles I'll give to thee,
And a new altar,
And thou, Saint Ben, shalt be
Writ in my psalter.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

18 sec read
92

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB BCBC BDBD
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 280
Words 59
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

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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