Robert Herrick

"To the Right Honourable Mildmay, Earl of Westmoreland Come, sons of summer, by whose toil We are the lords of wine and oil; By whose tough labours"

"My Lucia in the dew did go,     And prettily bedabbled so,     Her clothes held up, she showed withal     Her decent legs, clean, long, and sma"

"These summer-birds did with thy master stay     The times of warmth, but then they flew away,     Leaving their poet, being now grown old,"

"Ye pretty housewives, would ye know     The work that I would put ye to?     This, this it should be: for to spin     A lawn for me, so fine an"

"To print our poems, the propulsive cause     Is fame - the breath of popular applause."

"Thou shalt not all die; for while Love's fire shines     Upon his altar, men shall read thy lines;     And learn'd musicians shall, to honour He"

"If I dare write to you, my lord, who are     Of your own self a public theatre,     And, sitting, see the wiles, ways, walks of wit,     And gi"

"When all birds else do of their music fail, Money's the still-sweet-singing nightingale!"

"Bungy does fast; looks pale; puts sackcloth on;     Not out of conscience, or religion:     Or that this younker keeps so strict a Lent,     Fe"

"Center is known weak-sighted, and he sells     To others store of helpful spectacles.     Why wears he none? Because we may suppose,     Where"

"Man may at first transgress, but next do well:     Vice doth in some but lodge a while, not dwell."

"By time and counsel do the best we can,     Th' event is never in the power of man."

"Ponder my words, if so that any be Known guilty here of incivility; Let what is graceless, discomposed, and rude, With sweetness, smoothness, softn"

"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 tur"

"You have beheld a smiling rose When virgins' hands have drawn O'er it a cobweb-lawn: And here, you see, this lily shows, Tomb'd in a crystal stone"

"To him who longs unto his Christ to go,     Celerity even itself is slow."

"I will confess With cheerfulness, Love is a thing so likes me, That, let her lay On me all day, I'll kiss the hand that strikes me. I will not,"

"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;"

"I make no haste to have my numbers read:     Seldom comes glory till a man be dead."

"I brake thy bracelet 'gainst my will,     And, wretched, I did see     Thee discomposed then, and still     Art discontent with me.     One g"

"In numbers, and but these few, I sing thy birth, oh JESU! Thou pretty Baby, born here, With sup'rabundant scorn here; Who for thy princely port he"

"Dear God,     If Thy smart rod     Here did not make me sorry,     I should not be     With Thine or Thee     In Thy eternal glory."

"God's said to dwell there, wheresoever He     Puts down some prints of His high Majesty;     As when to man He comes, and there doth place"

"Let us now take time and play,     Love, and live here while we may;     Drink rich wine, and make good cheer,     While we have our being here"

"Of four teeth only Bridget was possest;     Two she spat out, a cough forced out the rest."

"Stately goddess, do thou please,     Who are chief at marriages,     But to dress the bridal bed     When my love and I shall wed;     And a p"

"Hard are the two first stairs unto a crown:     Which got, the third bids him a king come down."

"Cupid as he lay among Roses, by a Bee was stung. Whereupon in anger flying To his Mother, said thus crying; Help! O help! your Boy's a dying. And"

"Let kings command and do the best they may,     The saucy subjects still will bear the sway."

"Roses, you can never die,     Since the place wherein ye lie,     Heat and moisture mix'd are so     As to make ye ever grow."

"Have ye beheld (with much delight) A red rose peeping through a white? Or else a cherry (double graced) Within a lily? Centre placed? Or ever mark"

"Suffer thy legs, but not thy tongue to walk:     God, the Most Wise, is sparing of His talk."

"God makes not good men wantons, but doth bring     Them to the field, and, there, to skirmishing.     With trials those, with terrors these He p"

"To safeguard man from wrongs, there nothing must     Be truer to him than a wise distrust.     And to thyself be best this sentence known:"

"Faith is a thing that's four-square; let it fall     This way or that, it not declines at all."

"No man so well a kingdom rules as he     Who hath himself obeyed the sovereignty."

"Why walks Nick Flimsey like a malcontent!     Is it because his money all is spent?     No, but because the dingthrift now is poor,     And kno"

"The strength of baptism that's within,     It saves the soul by drowning sin."

"I saw a fly within a bead     Of amber cleanly buried;     The urn was little, but the room     More rich than Cleopatra's tomb."

"Abundant plagues I late have had,     Yet none of these have made me sad:     For why? My Saviour with the sense     Of suff'ring gives me pati"

"To sup with thee thou didst me home invite, And mad'st a promise that mine appetite Should meet and tire, on such lautitious meat, The like not Hel"

"Come down and dance ye in the toil     Of pleasures to a heat;     But if to moisture, let the oil     Of roses be your sweat.     Not only t"

"Here we securely live, and eat The cream of meat; And keep eternal fires, By which we sit, and do divine, As wine And rage inspires. If full, w"

"'Tis not the walls or purple that defends     A prince from foes, but 'tis his fort of friends."

"Men are not born kings, but are men renown'd;     Chose first, confirm'd next, and at last are crown'd."

"Wherever Nodes does in the summer come,     He prays his harvest may be well brought home.     What store of corn has careful Nodes, think you,"

"I'll to thee a simnel bring,     'Gainst thou go'st a-mothering:     So that when she blesseth thee,     Half that blessing thou'lt give me."

"Open thy gates To him who weeping waits, And might come in, But that held back by sin. Let mercy be So kind, to set me free, And I will straight"

"Virgins, time-past, known were these,     Troubled with green-sicknesses:     Turn'd to flowers, still the hue,     Sickly girls, they bear of"

"Maids' nays are nothing, they are shy     But to desire what they deny."

"Why so slowly do you move     To the centre of your love?     On your niceness though we wait,     Yet the hours say 'tis late:     Coyness ta"

"What made that mirth last night? the neighbours say,     That Bran the baker did his breech beray:     I rather think, though they may speak the"

"Princes and fav'rites are most dear, while they     By giving and receiving hold the play;     But the relation then of both grows poor,     Wh"

"'Tis but a dog-like madness in bad kings,     For to delight in wounds and murderings:     As some plants prosper best by cuts and blows,     S"

"Go thou forth, my book, though late,     Yet be timely fortunate.     It may chance good luck may send     Thee a kinsman or a friend,     Tha"

"Be the mistress of my choice, Clean in manners, clear in voice; Be she witty, more than wise, Pure enough, though not precise; Be she showing in h"

"Thou, thou that bear'st the sway,     With whom the sea-nymphs play;     And Venus, every way:     When I embrace thy knee,     And make short"

"Truth is best found out by the time and eyes;     Falsehood wins credit by uncertainties."

"Love and the Graces evermore do wait     Upon the man that is a potentate."

"Am I despised, because you say; And I dare swear, that I am gray? Know, Lady, you have but your day! And time will come when you shall wear Such f"