The watch

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



Man is a watch, wound up at first, but never
Wound up again; Once down, he's down for ever.
The watch once down, all motions then do cease;
The man's pulse stopt, all passions sleep in peace.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 17, 2023

12 sec read
51

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 196
Words 39
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 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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