Robert Herrick

"I dreamt, last night, Thou didst transfuse     Oil from Thy jar into my cruse;     And pouring still Thy wealthy store,     The vessel full did"

"The gods require the thighs     Of beeves for sacrifice;     Which roasted, we the steam     Must sacrifice to them,     Who though they do no"

"As Julia once a-slumb'ring lay, It chanced a bee did fly that way, After a dew, or dew-like shower, To tipple freely in a flower; For some rich fl"

"Rare is the voice itself: but when we sing To th' lute or viol, then 'tis ravishing."

"Tread, sirs, as lightly as ye can     Upon the grave of this old man.     Twice forty, bating but one year     And thrice three weeks, he lived"

"Give me the food that satisfies a guest:     Kisses are but dry banquets to a feast."

"Breathe, Julia, breathe, and I'll protest,     Nay more, I'll deeply swear,     That all the spices of the east     Are circumfused there."

"Thou sent'st to me a true love-knot, but I     Returned a ring of jimmals to imply     Thy love had one knot, mine a triple tie."

"Love on a day, wise poets tell,     Some time in wrangling spent,     Whether the violets should excel,     Or she, in sweetest scent.     Bu"

"Besides us two, i' th' temple here's not one     To make up now a congregation.     Let's to the altar of perfumes then go,     And say short p"

"Sapho, I will choose to go Where the northern winds do blow Endless ice, and endless snow; Rather than I once would see But a winter's face in the"

"Put on thy holy filletings, and so     To th' temple with the sober midwife go.     Attended thus, in a most solemn wise,     By those who serv"

"Suspicion, discontent, and strife     Come in for dowry with a wife."

"Whose head, befringed with bescattered tresses,     Shows like Apollo's when the morn he dresses,[B]     Or like Aurora when with pearl she sets"

"Woe, woe to them, who, by a ball of strife,     Do, and have parted here a man and wife:     CHARLES the best husband, while MARIA strives"

"Of both our fortunes good and bad we find     Prosperity more searching of the mind:     Felicity flies o'er the wall and fence,     While mise"

"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;"

"A sweet disorder in the dress     Kindles in clothes a wantonness;     A lawn about the shoulders thrown     Into a fine distraction;     An e"

"One night i'th' year, my dearest Beauties, come, And bring those dew-drink-offerings to my tomb; When thence ye see my reverend ghost to rise, And"

"Sweet Bridget blush'd, and therewithal     Fresh blossoms from her cheeks did fall.     I thought at first 'twas but a dream,     Till after I"

"Old Parson Beanes hunts six days of the week, And on the seventh, he has his notes to seek. Six days he hollows so much breath away That on the sev"

"Eeles winds and turns, and cheats and steals; yet Eeles     Driving these sharking trades, is out at heels."

"What need we marry women, when     Without their use we may have men,     And such as will in short time be     For murder fit, or mutiny?"

"Conformity gives comeliness to things:     And equal shares exclude all murmurings."

"God, as the learned Damascene doth write,     A sea of substance is, indefinite."

"Trigg having turn'd his suit, he struts in state,     And tells the world he's now regenerate."

"Good speed, for I this day     Betimes my matins say:     Because I do     Begin to woo,     Sweet-singing lark,     Be thou the clerk,"

"Trust me, ladies, I will do     Nothing to distemper you;     If I any fret or vex,     Men they shall be, not your sex."

"Farewell thou thing, time past so known, so dear     To me as blood to life and spirit; near,     Nay, thou more near than kindred, friend, man,"

"Spunge makes his boasts that he's the only man     Can hold of beer and ale an ocean;     Is this his glory? then his triumph's poor;     I kno"

"Handsome you are, and proper you will be     Despite of all your infortunity:     Live long and lovely, but yet grow no less     In that your o"

"Born I was to be old, And for to die here; After that, in the mould Long for to lie here. But before that day comes, Still I be bousing; For I k"

"Holy water come and bring;     Cast in salt, for seasoning:     Set the brush for sprinkling:     Sacred spittle bring ye hither;     Meal and"

"Love is a circle, that doth restless move In the same sweet eternity of Love."

"No more shall I, since I am driven hence,     Devote to thee my grains of frankincense;     No more shall I from mantle-trees hang down,     To"

"Truth by her own simplicity is known, Falsehood by varnish and vermilion."

"I ask'd thee oft what poets thou hast read, And lik'st the best?    Still thou repli'st, The dead. I shall, ere long, with green turfs cover'd be;"