Robert Herrick (poet)

Hesperides (1648)

I sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds and bowers,
Of April, May, of June and July-flowers;
I sing of May-poles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes,
Of bridegrooms, brides and of their bridal cakes;
I write of youth, of love, and have access
By these to sing of cleanly wantonness.
- 1. "The Argument of His Book"

I write of hell; I sing (and ever shall)
Of heaven, and hope to have it after all.
- 1. "The Argument of His Book"

To read my book the virgin shy
May blush while Brutus standeth by,
But when he's gone, read through what's writ,
And never stain a cheek for it.
- 4. "Another [to his Book]"

In sober mornings, do not thou rehearse
The holy incantation of a verse.
- 8. "When he Would Have his Verses Read"

When the rose reigns, and locks with ointments shine,
Let rigid Cato read these lines of mine.
- 8. "When he Would Have his Verses Read"

To get thine ends, lay bashfulness aside;
Who fears to ask doth teach to be deny'd.
- 12. "No Bashfulness in Begging"
  Compare: Qui timide rogat, docet negare (tr. "He who begs timidly courts a refusal"), Seneca, Hippolytus, ii, 593; "He comes too near that comes to be denied", Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, The Lady's Resolve

Is there no way to beget
In my limbs their former heat?
Æson had, as poets feign,
Baths that made him young again:
Find that medicine, if you can,
For your dry decrepit man
Who would fain his strength renew,
Were it but to pleasure you.
- 19. "To his Mistresses"

Love is a circle that doth restless move
In the same sweet eternity of love.
- 29. "Love, What It Is"

Small griefs find tongues: full casks are ever found
To give (if any, yet) but little sound.
Deep waters noiseless are; and this we know,
That chiding streams betray small depth below.
- 38. "To his Mistress Objecting to him Neither Toying or Talking"
  Compare: "Vessels never give so great a sound as when they are empty", John Jewell, Defense of the Apology for the Church of England

I have lost, and lately, these
Many dainty mistresses.
- 39. "Upon the Loss of his Mistresses"

When one is past, another care we have:
Thus woe succeeds a woe, as wave a wave.
- 48. "Sorrows Succeed"
  Compare: "One woe doth tread upon another’s heel, / So fast they follow", Shakespeare, Hamlet, act iv, sc. 7

Cherry-ripe, ripe, ripe, I cry,
Full and fair ones; come and buy.
If so be you ask me where
They do grow, I answer: There,
Where my Julia's lips do smile;
There's the land, or cherry-isle,
Whose plantations fully show
All the year where cherries grow.
- 53. "Cherry-Ripe"

Now is the time, when all the lights wax dim;
And thou, Anthea, must withdraw from him
Who was thy servant.
- 55. "To Anthea" ("Now is the Time")

For my embalming, sweetest, there will be
No spices wanting when I'm laid by thee.
- 55. "To Anthea" ("Now is the Time")

But, ah! if empty dreams so please,
Love give me more such nights as these.
- 56. "The Vision to Electra"
  Compare: "Jove send me more such afternoons as this", Marlowe, after Ovid, Amores, bk. 1, no. 5

Here we are all by day; by night we're hurl'd
By dreams, each one into a sev'ral world.
- 57. "Dreams"

Fight thou with shafts of silver and o'ercome,
When no force else can get the masterdom.
- 60. "Money Gets the Mastery"

So smooth, so sweet, so silv'ry is thy voice,
As, could they hear, the damn'd would make no noise,
But listen to thee, walking in thy chamber,
Melting melodious words to lutes of amber.
- 67. "Upon Julia's Voice"

All things decay with time: the forest sees
The growth and downfall of her aged trees;
That timber tall, which threescore lusters stood
The proud dictator of the state-like wood,—
I mean (the sovereign of all plants) the oak—
Droops, dies, and falls without the cleaver's stroke.
- 69. "All Things Decay and Die"

Give me a kiss, and to that kiss a score;
Then to that twenty add a hundred more:
A thousand to that hundred: so kiss on,
To make that thousand up a million.
Treble that million, and when that is done
Let's kiss afresh, as when we first begun.
- 74. "To Anthea" ("Ah, My Anthea!")
  Compare: Catullus, v, l. 7

Some ask'd me where the rubies grew,
And nothing I did say;
But with my finger pointed to
The lips of Julia.
- 75. "The Rock of Rubies, and the Quarry of Pearls"

Some ask'd how pearls did grow, and where;
Then spoke I to my girl,
To part her lips, and show'd them there
The quarrelets of Pearl.
- 75. "The Rock of Rubies, and the Quarrie of Pearls"

A sweet disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness:
A lawn about the shoulders thrown
Into a fine distraction:
An erring lace which here and there
Enthralls the crimson stomacher:
A cuff neglectful, and thereby
Ribbons to flow confusedly:
A winning wave, deserving note,
In the tempestuous petticoat:
A careless shoe-string, in whose tie
I see a wild civility:
Do more bewitch me than when art
Is too precise in every part.
- 83. "Delight in Disorder"

But thou liv'st fearless; and thy face ne'er shows
Fortune when she comes or goes.
- 106. "A Country Life: To his Brother Mr. Tho. Herrick"

Hunger makes coarse meats delicates.
- 106. "A Country Life: To his Brother Mr. Tho. Herrick"

Wealth cannot make a life, but love.
- 106. "A Country Life: To his Brother Mr. Tho. Herrick"

When a daffodil I see,
Hanging down his head towards me,
Guess I may what I must be:
First, I shall decline my head;
Secondly, I shall be dead;
Lastly, safely buried.
- 107. "Divination by a Daffodil"

The warm soft side
Of the resigning, yet resisting bride.
- 128. "His Farewell to Sack"

The kiss of virgins, first fruits of the bed,
Soft speech, smooth touch, the lips, the maidenhead:
These and a thousand sweets could never be
So near or dear as thou wast once to me.
- 128. "His Farewell to Sack"

O thou, the drink of gods and angels! wine.
- 128. "His Farewell to Sack"

'Tis thou alone who, with thy mystic fan,
Work'st more than wisdom, art, or nature can
To rouse the sacred madness and awake
The frost-bound blood and spirits, and to make
Them frantic with thy raptures flashing through
The soul like lightning, and as active too.
- 128. "His Farewell to Sack"

'Tis not Apollo can, or those thrice three
Castalian sisters, sing, if wanting thee.
Horace, Anacreon, both had lost their fame,
Had'st thou not fill'd them with thy fire and flame.
- 128. "His Farewell to Sack"

Let others drink thee freely, and desire
Thee and their lips espous'd, while I admire
And love thee, but not taste thee. Let my muse
Fail of thy former helps, and only use
Her inadult'rate strength: what's done by me
Hereafter shall smell of the lamp, not thee.
- 128. "His Farewell to Sack"

A virgin's face she had; her dress
Was like a sprightly Spartaness.
- 142. "The Vision"

Her legs were such Diana shows
When, tucked up, she a-hunting goes;
With buskins shortened to descry
The happy dawning of her thigh.
- 142. "The Vision"

Which when I saw, I made access
To kiss that tempting nakedness
But she forbade me with a wand
Of myrtle she had in her hand
And, chiding me, said: Hence, remove,
Herrick, thou art too coarse to love.
- 142. "The Vision"

You say to me-wards your affection's strong;
Pray love me little, so you love me long.
- 143. "Love Me Little, Love Me Long"
  Compare: "Love me little, love me long", Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, act iv; "Me love you long time", 2 Live Crew, "Me So Horny" (sampled from the Stanley Kubrick film, Full Metal Jacket)

Sweet, be not proud of those two eyes
Which, starlike, sparkle in their skies;
Nor be you proud that you can see
All hearts your captives, yours yet free.
- 160. "To Dianeme"

Get up, get up for shame, the blooming morn
Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.
- 178. "Corinna's Going a-Maying"

See how Aurora throws her fair
Fresh-quilted colours through the air.
- 178. "Corinna's Going a-Maying"

Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see
The dew bespangling herb and tree.
- 178. "Corinna's Going a-Maying"
  Compare: "For May wol have no slogardye a-night", Chaucer, The Knight's Tale, l. 184

'Tis sin,
Nay, profanation to keep in.
- 178. "Corinna's Going a-Maying"

Rise and put on your foliage, and be seen
To come forth, like the spring-time, fresh and green.
- 178. "Corinna's Going a-Maying"

Many a green-gown has been given;
Many a kiss, both odd and even:
Many a glance too has been sent
From out the eye, love's firmament.
- 178. "Corinna's Going a-Maying"

So when or you or I are made
A fable, song, or fleeting shade,
All love, all liking, all delight
Lies drowned with us in endless night.
- 178. "Corinna's Going a-Maying"

Then while time serves, and we are but decaying,
Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.
- 178. "Corinna's Going a-Maying"

Soul of my life and fame!
Eternal lamp of love! whose radiant flame
Out-glares the heaven's Osiris, and thy gleams
Out-shine the splendour of his mid-day beams.
- 197. "The Welcome to Sack"

Welcome, maids-of-honour!
        You do bring
        In the spring,
And wait upon her. ...
Yet, though thus respected,
        By-and-by
        Ye do lie,
Poor girls, neglected.
- 205. "To Violets", sts. 1 and 4

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
- 208. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", st. 1
  Compare: "Gather the rose of love whilest yet is time", Spenser, The Faerie Queene, bk. ii, canto xii, st. 75; "Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds, before they be withered", Wisdom of Solomon, ii, 8; Pflücke Rosen, weil sie blühn (tr. "Gather roses while they bloom"), Gleim, Benutzung der Zeit

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
- 208. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", st. 2

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may go marry:
For having lost but once your prime
You may for ever tarry.
- 208. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", st. 4

Only a little more
I have to write,
Then I'll give o'er,
And bid the world good-night.
- 211. "His Poetry his Pillar", st. 1

O time that cut'st down all
And scarce leav'st here
Memorial
Of any men that were.
- 211. "His Poetry his Pillar", st. 3

What though the sea be calm? Trust to the shore,
Ships have been drown'd where late they danc'd before.
- 212. "Safety on the Shore"

Fall on me like a silent dew,
Or like those maiden showers
Which, by the peep of day, do strew
A baptism o’er the flowers.
- 227. "To Music, to becalm his Fever"

Art quickens nature; care will make a face;
Neglected beauty perisheth apace.
- 234. "Neglect"

Go, happy rose, and interwove
With other flowers, bind my love.
Tell her, too, she must not be
Longer flowing, longer free,
That so oft has fetter'd me.
- 238. "To the Rose: A Song", st. 1

Thou art a plant sprung up to wither never,
But like a laurel to grow green for ever.
- 240. "To his Book"

Before man's fall the rose was born,
St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;
But for man's fault then was the thorn
Without the fragrant rose-bud born;
But ne'er the rose without the thorn.
- 251. "The Rose" (pub. c. 1648)
  Compare: "Flower of all hue, and without thorn the rose", John Milton, Paradise Lost, book iv, l. 256; "Every rose has it's thorn", Poison, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"

God doth not promise here to man that He
Will free him quickly from his misery;
But in His own time, and when He thinks fit,
Then He will give a happy end to it.
- 252. "God's Time Must End Our Trouble"

Roses at first were white,
    Till they could not agree,
Whether my Sappho's breast
    Or they more white should be.
But, being vanquish'd quite,
    A blush their cheeks bespread;
Since which, believe the rest,
    The roses first came red.
- 258. "How Roses Came Red"

Bid me to live, and I will live
    Thy Protestant to be,
Or bid me love, and I will give
    A loving heart to thee.
A heart as soft, a heart as kind,
    A heart as sound and free
As in the whole world thou canst find,
    That heart I'll give to thee.
- 267. "To Anthea, Who May Command Him Anything", sts. 1 and 2

Bid me despair, and I'll despair,
    Under that cypress-tree;
Or bid me die, and I will dare
    E'en death, to die for thee.
Thou art my life, my love, my heart,
    The very eyes of me:
And hast command of every part
    To live and die for thee.
- 267. "To Anthea, Who May Command Him Anything", sts. 5 and 6

               Then come on, come on and yield
A savour like unto a blessed field
                              When the bedabbled morn
               Washes the golden ears of corn.
- 283. "A Nuptial Song or Epithalamy on Sir Clipseby Crew and his Lady", st. 2

Each must in virtue strive for to excel;
That man lives twice that lives the first life well.
- 298. "Virtue"

Of all our parts, the eyes express
The sweetest kind of bashfulness.
- 300. "Bashfulness"

Dead falls the cause if once the hand be mute;
But let that speak, the client gets the suit.
- 308. "Bribes and Gifts Get All"

If well thou hast begun, go on fore-right;
It is the end that crowns us, not the fight.
- 309. "The End"

Here she lies, a pretty bud,
Lately made of flesh and blood:
Who as soon fell fast asleep
As her little eyes did peep.
Give her strewings, but not stir
The earth that lightly covers her.
- 310. "Upon a Child that Died"

Fair daffodils, we weep to see
    You haste away so soon;
As yet the early rising sun
    Has not attain'd his noon. ...
            Stay, stay,
        Until the hasting day
            Has run
        But to the evensong;
And, having prayed together, we
        Will go with you along.
We have short time to stay, as you,
    We have as short a spring;
As quick a growth to meet decay,
    As you, or anything.
- 316. "To Daffodils"

It is an active flame that flies,
First, to the babies of the eyes.
- 329. "The Kiss: A Dialogue"

Fain would I kiss my Julia's dainty leg,
Which is as white and hairless as an egg.
- 349. "Her Legs"

Oft have I heard both youths and virgins say
Birds choose their mates, and couple too this day;
But by their flight I never can divine
When I shall couple with my valentine.
- 378. "To his Valentine on St. Valentine's Day"

Learn this of me, where'er thy lot doth fall,
Short lot or not, to be content with all.
- 396. "Lots to Be Liked"

Good-morrow to the day so fair,
Good-morning, sir, to you;
Good-morrow to mine own torn hair,
Bedabbled with the dew.
- 412. "The Mad Maid's Song", st. 1

For pity, sir, find out that bee
Which bore my love away.
I'll seek him in your bonnet brave,
I'll seek him in your eyes.
- 412. "The Mad Maid's Song", sts. 3 and 4

No marigolds yet closèd are,
No shadows great appear.
- 441. "To Daisies, Not to Shut too Soon", st. 2

Here a solemn fast we keep,
While all beauty lies asleep
Hush'd be all things—no noise here—
But the toning of a tear:
Or a sigh of such as bring
Cowslips for her covering.
- 450. "An Epitaph upon a Virgin"

The body sins not, 'tis the will
That makes the action, good or ill.
- 465. "The Parting Verse or Charge to his Supposed Wife when he Travelled"

Fair pledges of a fruitful tree,
    Why do ye fall so fast?
    Your date is not so past
But you may stay yet here a while,
    To blush and gently smile,
        And go at last.
- 467. "To Blossoms"

Like to These garden-glories, which here be
The flowery-sweet resemblances of thee.
- 522. "To His Kinswoman, Mistress Susanna Herrick"

    Her pretty feet
    Like snails did creep
    A little out, and then,
As if they playèd at Bo-Peep,
    Did soon draw in again.
- 527. "To Mistress Susanna Southwell" ("Upon Her Feet")
  Compare: "Her feet beneath her petticoat / Like little mice stole in and out"—Suckling, Ballad upon a Wedding, st. 8. "And the prettiest foot! Oh, if a man could but fasten his eyes to her feet, as they steal in and out, and play at bo-peep under her petticoats!"—Congreve, Love for Love, act I, sc. i

I do love I know not what,
Sometimes this and sometimes that.
- 585. "No Luck in Love", st. 1

He who has suffered shipwreck fears to sail
Upon the seas, though with a gentle gale.
- 601. "Shipwreck"

Who with a little cannot be content,
Endures an everlasting punishment.
- 606. "The Covetous Still Captives"

Let's live with that small pittance that we have;
Who covets more, is evermore a slave.
- 607. "The Covetous Still Captives"

But if that golden age would come again,
And Charles here rule, as he before did reign; ...
I should delight to have my curls half drown'd
In Tyrian dews, and head with roses crown'd;
And once more yet, ere I am laid out dead,
Knock at a star with my exalted head.
- 612. "The Bad Season Makes the Poet Sad"

Her eyes the glow-worm lend thee,
The shooting stars attend thee;
    And the elves also,
    Whose little eyes glow
Like the sparks of fire, befriend thee.
No Will-o'-th'-Wisp mislight thee,
    Nor snake or slow-worm bite thee;
But on, on thy way
    Not making a stay,
Since ghost there's none to affright thee.
- 619. "The Night-Piece, to Julia", sts. 1 and 2

The stars of the night
Will lend thee their light
Like tapers clear without number.
- 619. "The Night-Piece, to Julia", st. 3

What is a kiss? Why this, as some approve:
The sure, sweet cement, glue, and lime of love.
- 622. "A Kiss"

None pities him that's in the snare,
And, warned before, would not beware.
- 628. "Upon Love"

Go to your banquet then, but use delight,
So as to rise still with an appetite.
Love is a thing most nice, and must be fed
To such a height, but never surfeited.
What is beyond the mean is ever ill:
'Tis best to feed Love, but not overfill.
- 633. "Connubii Flores, or The Well-Wishes at Weddings"

Let wealth come in by comely thrift
And not by any sordid shift;
            'Tis haste
            Makes waste:
        Extremes have still their fault:
The softest fire makes the sweetest malt:
Who grips too hard the dry and slippery sand
Holds none at all, or little in his hand.
- 633. "Connubii Flores, or The Well-Wishes at Weddings"

Here a pretty baby lies
Sung asleep with lullabies;
Pray be silent, and not stir
Th' easy earth that covers her.
- 640. "Upon a Child"

            A cat
I keep that plays about my house,
            Grown fat
With eating many a miching mouse.
            To these
A Tracy I do keep whereby
            I please
The more my rural privacy;
            Which are
But toys to give my heart some ease;
            Where care
None is, slight things do lightly please.
- 724. "His Grange, or Private Wealth"
  Note: Tracy = His spaniel

A little saint best fits a little shrine,
A little prop best fits a little vine:
As my small cruse best fits my little wine.
- 733. "A Ternary of Littles, upon a Pipkin of Jelly sent to a Lady", st. 1

Hast thou attempted greatness? then go on:
Back-turning slackens resolution.
- 747. "Regression Spoils Resolution"

If little labour, little are our gains:
Man's fortunes are according to his pains.
- 752. "No Pains, No Gains"

Of both our fortunes good and bad we find
Prosperity more searching of the mind:
Felicity flies o'er the wall and fence,
While misery keeps in with patience.
- 765. "Felicity Knows No Fence"

Whenas in silks my Julia goes,
Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows
The liquefaction of her clothes.
Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave vibration each way free;
O how that glittering taketh me!
- 779. "Upon Julia's Clothes"

In things a moderation keep:
Kings ought to shear, not skin their sheep.
- 780. "Moderation"

Come, bring with a noise,
My merry, merry boys,
The Christmas log to the firing.
- 784. "Ceremonies for Christmas", st. 1

That happiness does still the longest thrive,
Where joys and griefs have turns alternative.
- 792. "Happiness"

I saw a fly within a bead
Of amber cleanly burièd;
The urn was little, but the room
More rich than Cleopatra's tomb.
- 817. "The Amber Bead" (pub. c. 1648)
  Compare: "Whence we see spiders, flies, or ants entombed and preserved forever in amber, a more than royal tomb", Francis Bacon, Historia Vitæ et Mortis; Sylva Sylvarum, cent. i, exper. 100

Here she lies, in bed of spice,
Fair as Eve in Paradise:
For her beauty it was such
Poets could not praise too much.
Virgins, come, and in a ring
Her supremest requiem sing;
Then depart, but see ye tread
Lightly, lightly, o'er the dead.
- 838. "Upon a Maid"

The readiness of doing doth express
No other but the doer's willingness.
- 845. "Readiness"

When words we want, Love teacheth to indite;
And what we blush to speak, she bids us write.
- 846. "Writing"

'Twixt kings and tyrants there's this difference known:
Kings seek their subjects' good, tyrants their own.
- 861. "Kings and Tyrants"

Night makes no difference 'twixt the priest and clerk;
Joan as my lady is as good i' th' dark.
- 864. "No Difference i' th' Dark"

Thus times do shift; each thing his turn does hold:
New things succeed, as former things grow old.
- 892. "Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve"

We credit most our sight; one eye doth please
Our trust far more than ten ear-witnesses.
- 904. "The Eyes before the Ears"

We such clusters had
As made us nobly wild, not mad;
And yet each verse of thine
Out-did the meat, out-did the frolic wine.
- 911. "Ode for Ben Jonson" ("An Ode for Him")

Men are suspicious, prone to discontent:
Subjects still loathe the present government.
- 921. "Present Government Grievous"

Praise they that will times past; I joy to see
Myself now live: this age best pleaseth me.
- 927. "The Present Time Best Pleaseth"

No, not Jove
Himself, at one time, can be wise and love.
- 936. "To Silvia"
  Compare: "To be wise and eke to love, / Is granted scarce to gods above", Spenser, Shepheardes Calender. March

Despair takes heart, when there's no hope to speed:
The coward then takes arms and does the deed.
- 999. "Fear Gets Force"

Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt;
Nothing's so hard but search will find it out.
- 1008. "Seek and Find"
  Compare: Nil tam difficilest quin quærendo investigari possiet (tr. "Nothing is so difficult but that it may be found out by seeking"), Terence, Heauton timoroumenos, iv, 2, 8

'Twixt truth and error there's this difference known;
Error is fruitful, truth is only one.
- 1031. "Truth and Error"

Know when to speak; for many times it brings
Danger to give the best advice to kings.
- 1037. "Caution in Counsel"

Love's of itself too sweet; the best of all
Is, when love's honey has a dash of gall.
- 1084. "Another on Love"

Against diseases here the strongest fence
Is the defensive virtue, abstinence.
- 1117. "Abstinence"

When fear admits no hope of safety, then
Necessity makes dastards valiant men.
- 1118. "No Danger to Men Desperate"

Let moderation on thy passions wait;
Who loves too much, too much the lov'd will hate.
- 1038. "Moderation"

Like will to like, each creature loves his kind;
Chaste words proceed still from a bashful mind.
- 1043. "Like Loves His Like"

Noble Numbers

'Tis hard to find God, but to comprehend
Him, as He is, is labour without end.
- 8. "God Not to Be Comprehended"

In prayer the lips ne'er act the winning part,
Without the sweet concurrence of the heart.
- 35. "The Heart"

In the hour of my distress,
When temptations me oppress,
And when I my sins confess,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!
- 41. "His Litany to the Holy Spirit", st. 1

When the artless doctor sees
No one hope, but of his fees,
And his skill runs on the lees,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!
When his potion and his pill
Has, or none, or little skill,
Meet for nothing, but to kill;
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!
- 41. "His Litany to the Holy Spirit", sts. 4 and 5

Lord, Thou hast given me a cell
            Wherein to dwell;
A little house, whose humble roof
            Is weather-proof;
Under the spars of which I lie
            Both soft and dry.
- 47. "A Thanksgiving to God for his House"

A little buttery, and therein
            A little bin
Which keeps my little loaf of bread
            Unclipt, unflead.
Some brittle sticks of thorn or briar
            Make me a fire,
Close by whose living coal I sit,
            And glow like it.
- 47. "A Thanksgiving to God for his House"

If anything delight me for to print
My book, 'tis this: that Thou, my God, art in't.
- 61. "To God"

Temptations hurt not, though they have access:
Satan o'ercomes none, but by willingness.
- 79. "Temptations"

Here a little child I stand
Heaving up my either hand.
Cold as paddocks though they be,
Here I lift them up to Thee,
For a benison to fall
On our meat, and on us all. Amen.
- 95. "A Child's Grace" ("Another Grace for a Child")

Hell is no other but a soundless pit,
Where no one beam of comfort peeps in it.
- 117. "Hell"

In that whiter island, where
Things are evermore sincere;
Candour here, and lustre there
Delighting.
- 128. "The White Island: or, Place of the Best", st. 3

To work a wonder, God would have her shown
At once a bud and yet a rose full-blown.
- 183. "The Virgin Mary"

Appendix

Poems deemed "coarser" or "somewhat pointless" by Pollard

I dreamt this mortal part of mine
Was metamorphos'd to a vine.
- 41. "The Vine"

Methought, her long small legs and thighs
I with my tendrils did surprise;
Her belly, buttocks, and her waist
By my soft nerv'lets were embrac'd.
- 41. "The Vine"

But when I crept with leaves to hide
Those parts, which maids keep unespy'd,
Such fleeting pleasures there I took,
That with the fancy I awoke;
And found, ah me! this flesh of mine
More like a stock than like a vine.
- 41. "The Vine"

Disputed

There is a lady sweet and kind,
Was never face so pleased my mind;
I did but see her passing by,
And yet I love her till I die.
- Anonymous. Ascribed to Herrick in the Scottish Student's Song-Book. Found on back of leaf 53 of Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, in Latin verse by Thomas Naogeorgus, and Englished by Barnabe Googe. Printed 1570. See Notes and Queries, s. ix, x, 427. Lines from Bullen, Elizabethan Song-books, p. 31. Reprinted from Thomas Ford's Music of Sundry Kinds (1607)

Robert Herrick (poet)

Quotes

Hesperides (1648)

Noble Numbers

Appendix

Disputed

Quotes about Herrick

External links

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