Robert Herrick

"When man is punish'd, he is plagued still,     Not for the fault of nature, but of will."

"I begin to wane in sight;     Shortly I shall bid good-night:     Then no gazing more about,     When the tapers once are out."

"Break off delay, since we but read of one     That ever prospered by cunctation."

"Evil no nature hath; the loss of good     Is that which gives to sin a livelihood."

"Charm me asleep, and melt me so With thy delicious numbers; That being ravish'd, hence I go Away in easy slumbers. Ease my sick head, And make my"

"Whither, mad maiden, wilt thou roam? Far safer 'twere to stay at home; Where thou mayst sit, and piping, please The poor and private cottages. Sin"

"Virgins promised when I died, That they would each primrose-tide Duly, morn and evening, come, And with flowers dress my tomb. Having promised, pa"

"Tears quickly dry, griefs will in time decay:     A clear will come after a cloudy day."

"Those garments lasting evermore,     Are works of mercy to the poor,     Which neither tettar, time, or moth     Shall fray that silk or fret t"

"Science puffs up, says Gut, when either pease     Make him thus swell, or windy cabbages."

"A crystal vial Cupid brought, Which had a juice in it: Of which who drank, he said, no thought Of Love he should admit. I, greedy of the prize, d"

"Apollo sings, his harp resounds: give room,     For now behold the golden pomp is come,     Thy pomp of plays which thousands come to see     W"

"Glass, out of deep, and out of desp'rate want,     Turn'd from a Papist here a Predicant.     A vicarage at last Tom Glass got here,     Just u"

"Weigh me the fire; or canst thou find     A way to measure out the wind;     Distinguish all those floods that are     Mix'd in that watery the"

"Give me a man that is not dull, When all the world with rifts is full; But unamazed dares clearly sing, When as the roof's a-tottering; And though"

"When that day comes, whose evening says I'm gone Unto that watery desolation; Devoutly to thy Closet-gods then pray, That my wing'd ship may meet n"

"This day, my Julia, thou must make For Mistress Bride the wedding-cake: Knead but the dough, and it will be To paste of almonds turn'd by thee; Or"

"The fire of hell this strange condition hath,     To burn, not shine, as learned Basil saith."

"To fetch me wine my Lucia went,     Bearing a crystal continent:     But, making haste, it came to pass     She brake in two the purer glass,"

"While the milder fates consent, Let's enjoy our merriment : Drink, and dance, and pipe, and play ; Kiss our dollies night and day : Crowned with c"

"Although our suffering meet with no relief,     An equal mind is the best sauce for grief."

"All has been plunder'd from me but my wit: Fortune herself can lay no claim to it."

"Let's strive to be the best; the gods, we know it,     Pillars and men, hate an indifferent poet."

"Old Widow Prouse, to do her neighbours evil,     Would give, some say, her soul unto the devil.     Well, when she's kill'd that pig, goose, coc"

"Examples lead us, and we likely see;     Such as the prince is, will his people be."

"Fly hence, pale care, no more remember     Past sorrows with the fled December,     But let each pleasant cheek appear     Smooth as the childh"

"The publisher's freak, by which Herrick's three chief Fairy poems ("The Fairy Temple; or, Oberon's Chapel," "Oberon's Feast," and "Oberon's Palace") a"

"These springs were maidens once that loved, But lost to that they most approved: My story tells, by Love they were Turn'd to these springs which we"

"In the hope of ease to come,     Let's endure one martyrdom."

"If men can say that beauty dies,     Marbles will swear that here it lies.     If, reader, then thou canst forbear     In public loss to shed a"

"End.    Ah! Lycidas, come tell me why     Thy whilom merry oat     By thee doth so neglected lie,     And never purls a note?     I prithee s"

"God still rewards us more than our desert;     But when He strikes, He quarter-acts His part."

"Why I tie about thy wrist, Julia, this silken twist; For what other reason 'tis But to show thee how, in part, Thou my pretty captive art? But th"

"Those ills that mortal men endure     So long, are capable of cure,     As they of freedom may be sure;     But, that denied, a grief, though s"

"Love and myself, believe me, on a day     At childish push-pin, for our sport, did play;     I put, he pushed, and, heedless of my skin,     Lo"

"Some ask'd me where the Rubies grew: And nothing I did say, But with my finger pointed to The lips of Julia. Some ask'd how Pearls did grow, and w"

"When to a house I come, and see     The Genius wasteful, more than free:     The servants thumbless, yet to eat     With lawless tooth the flou"

"Thou hast made many houses for the dead;     When my lot calls me to be buried,     For love or pity, prithee let there be     I' th' churchyar"

"A long life's-day I've taken pains     For very little, or no gains;     The evening's come, here now I'll stop,     And work no more, but shut"

"Glasco had none, but now some teeth has got;     Which though they fur, will neither ache or rot.     Six teeth he has, whereof twice two are kn"

"A just man's like a rock that turns the wrath     Of all the raging waves into a froth."

"Preposterous is that government, and rude,     When kings obey the wilder multitude."

"Ye have been fresh and green, Ye have been fill'd with flowers; And ye the walks have been Where maids have spent their hours. You have beheld ho"

"White though ye be, yet, lilies, know,     From the first ye were not so;     But I'll tell ye     What befell ye:     Cupid and his mother la"

"While fates permit us, let's be merry; Pass all we must the fatal ferry; And this our life, too, whirls away, With the rotation of the day."

"If meat the gods give, I the steam     High-towering will devote to them,     Whose easy natures like it well,     If we the roast have, they t"

"So looks Anthea, when in bed she lies     O'ercome or half betray'd by tiffanies,     Like to a twilight, or that simpering dawn     That roses"

"What offspring other men have got,     The how, where, when, I question not.     These are the children I have left,     Adopted some, none got"

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

"Among disasters that dissension brings,     This not the least is, which belongs to kings:     If wars go well, each for a part lays claim;"

"Dew sate on Julia's hair, And spangled too, Like leaves that laden are With trembling dew; Or glitter'd to my sight, As when the beams Have thei"

"Gubbs calls his children kitlings: and would bound,     Some say, for joy, to see those kitlings drown'd."

"Care keeps the conquest; 'tis no less renown     To keep a city than to win a town."

"God's grace deserves here to be daily fed     That, thus increased, it might be perfected."

"Bind me but to thee with thine hair,     And quickly I shall be     Made by that fetter or that snare     A bondman unto thee.     Or if thou"

"Under a lawn, than skies more clear, Some ruffled Roses nestling were, And snugging there, they seem'd to lie As in a flowery nunnery; They blush'"

"First, may the hand of bounty bring     Into the daily offering     Of full provision such a store,     Till that the cook cries: Bring no more"

"When times are troubled, then forbear; but speak     When a clear day out of a cloud does break."

"God when He's angry here with anyone,     His wrath is free from perturbation;     And when we think His looks are sour and grim,     The alter"

"At post and pair, or slam, Tom Tuck would play     This Christmas, but his want wherewith says nay."