Analysis of Good precepts, or counsel

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



In all thy need, be thou possest
Still with a well prepared breast;
Nor let the shackles make thee sad;
Thou canst but have what others had.
And this for comfort thou must know,
Times that are ill won't still be so:
Clouds will not ever pour down rain;
A sullen day will clear again.
First, peals of thunder we must hear;
When lutes and harps shall stroke the ear.


Scheme AAAABBCDEE
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 0111111 1101011 11010111 11111101 01110111 11111111 11110111 01011101 11110111 11011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 363
Words 72
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 10
Lines Amount 10
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 283
Words per stanza (avg) 70
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

21 sec read
378

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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