Analysis of Ceremonies for candlemas eve
Robert Herrick 1591 (London) – 1674 (Dean Prior)
Down with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the misletoe;
Instead of holly, now up-raise
The greener box, for show.
The holly hitherto did sway;
Let box now domineer,
Until the dancing Easter-day,
Or Easter's eve appear.
Then youthful box, which now hath grace
Your houses to renew,
Grown old, surrender must his place
Unto the crisped yew.
When yew is out, then birch comes in,
And many flowers beside,
Both of a fresh and fragrant kin,
To honour Whitsuntide.
Green rushes then, and sweetest bents,
With cooler oaken boughs,
Come in for comely ornaments,
To re-adorn the house.
Thus times do shift; each thing his turn does hold;
New things succeed, as former things grow old.
Scheme | ABAX XCBC DEDE FBFB AXXXBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101001 1101 01110111 010111 0101111 11101 01010101 11101 11011111 110101 11010111 10011 11111110 0101001 11010101 111 11010101 11011 10110100 110101 1111111111 1101110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 663 |
Words | 119 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 6 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 106 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 174 Views
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"Ceremonies for candlemas eve" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31279/ceremonies-for-candlemas-eve>.
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