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To Oenone

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

WHAT conscience, say, is it in thee,
   When I a heart had one,
To take away that heart from me,
   And to retain thy own?

For shame or pity now incline
   To play a loving part;
Either to send me kindly thine,
   Or give me back my heart.

Covet not both; but if thou dost
   Resolve to part with neither,
Why, yet to show that thou art just,
   Take me and mine together!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

22 sec read
337

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAX BCBC XDXD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 380
Words 75
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Full analysis for To Oenone »

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…

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