A canticle to apollo

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



Play, Phoebus, on thy lute,
And we will sit all mute;
By listening to thy lyre,
That sets all ears on fire.

Hark, hark!  the God does play!
And as he leads the way
Through heaven, the very spheres,
As men, turn all to ears!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

14 sec read
132

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAXX BBCC
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 224
Words 47
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 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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