Robert Herrick

"Shall I a daily beggar be,     For love's sake asking alms of thee?     Still shall I crave, and never get     A hope of my desired bit?     A"

"On with thy work, though thou be'st hardly press'd:     Labour is held up by the hope of rest."

"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"

"I do not love, nor can it be     Love will in vain spend shafts on me;     I did this godhead once defy,     Since which I freeze, but cannot f"

"When some shall say, Fair once my Silvia was,     Thou wilt complain, False now's thy looking-glass,     Which renders that quite tarnished whic"

"Julia, if I chance to die Ere I print my poetry, I most humbly thee desire To commit it to the fire: Better 'twere my book were dead, Than to liv"

"In this misfortune kings do most excel,     To hear the worst from men when they do well."

"With paste of almonds, Syb her hands doth scour;     Then gives it to the children to devour.     In cream she bathes her thighs, more soft than"

"One feeds on lard, and yet is lean,     And I but feasting with a bean     Grow fat and smooth. The reason is:     Jove prospers my meat more t"

"Let me sleep this night away,     Till the dawning of the day;     Then at th' opening of mine eyes     I, and all the world, shall rise."

"Justly our dearest Saviour may abhor us,     Who hath more suffered by us far, than for us."

"A man's transgressions God does then remit,     When man He makes a penitent for it."

"Here I myself might likewise die,     And utterly forgotten lie,     But that eternal poetry     Repullulation gives me here     Unto the thir"

"Man knows where first he ships himself; but he Never can tell where shall his landing be."

"For those my unbaptized rhymes, Writ in my wild unhallowed times, For every sentence, clause, and word, That's not inlaid with Thee, my Lord, Forg"

"Cob clouts his shoes, and, as the story tells,     His thumb nails par'd afford him sparrables."

"Tom shifts the trenchers; yet he never can     Endure that lukewarm name of serving-man:     Serve or not serve, let Tom do what he can,     He"

"On, as thou hast begun, brave youth, and get     The palm from Urbin, Titian, Tintoret,     Brugel and Coxu, and the works outdo     Of Holbein"

"How rich a man is all desire to know;     But none inquires if good he be or no."

"The body's salt the soul is; which when gone,     The flesh soon sucks in putrefaction."

"Happily I had a sight Of my dearest dear last night; Make her this day smile on me, And I'll roses give to thee!"

"Though long it be, years may repay the debt;     None loseth that which he in time may get."

"Speak, did the blood of Abel cry     To God for vengeance? Yes, say I,     Ev'n as the sprinkled blood called on     God for an expiation."

"Seest thou that cloud that rides in state,     Part ruby-like, part candidate?     It is no other than the bed     Where Venus sleeps half-smot"

"Though from without no foes at all we fear,     We shall be wounded by the clothes we wear."

"Doll, she so soon began the wanton trade,     She ne'er remembers that she was a maid."

"When I love, as some have told Love I shall, when I am old, O ye Graces!    make me fit For the welcoming of it! Clean my rooms, as temples be, T"

"Nis he makes verses; but the lines he writes     Serve but for matter to make paper kites."

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

"Permit mine eyes to see     Part, or the whole of Thee,     O happy place!     Where all have grace,     And garlands shar'd,     For their r"

"I do not love to wed,     Though I do like to woo;     And for a maidenhead     I'll beg and buy it too.     I'll praise and I'll approve"

"Slouch he packs up, and goes to several fairs,     And weekly markets for to sell his wares:     Meantime that he from place to place does roam,"

"Know when to speak; for many times it brings     Danger to give the best advice to kings."

"Men are suspicious, prone to discontent:     Subjects still loathe the present government."

"When Jill complains to Jack for want of meat,     Jack kisses Jill and bids her freely eat:     Jill says, Of what? says Jack, On that sweet kis"

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

"Nothing hard or harsh can prove     Unto those that truly love."

"In Den'shire Kersey Lusk, when he was dead,     Would shrouded be and therewith buried.     When his assigns asked him the reason why,     He s"

"Once on a Lord Mayor's Day, in Cheapside, when     Skulls could not well pass through that scum of men,     For quick despatch Skulls made no lo"

"Money thou ow'st me; prethee fix a day     For payment promis'd, though thou never pay:     Let it be Dooms-day; nay, take longer scope;     Pa"

"Bacchus, let me drink no more! Wild are seas that want a shore! When our drinking has no stint, There is no one pleasure in't. I have drank up for"

"Come sit we by the fire's side,     And roundly drink we here;     Till that we see our cheeks ale-dy'd     And noses tann'd with beer."

"By hours we all live here; in Heaven is known     No spring of time, or time's succession."

"As shews the air when with a rain-bow graced, So smiles that ribbon 'bout my Julia's waist; Or like Nay, 'tis that Zonulet of love, Wherein all ple"

"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"

"Who will not honour noble numbers, when     Verses out-live the bravest deeds of men?"

"No man such rare parts hath, that he can swim,     If favour or occasion help not him."

"Man may want land to live in; but for all Nature finds out some place for burial."

"Man is composed here of a twofold part; The first of nature, and the next of art; Art presupposes nature; nature, she Prepares the way for man's do"

"When I through all my many poems look,     And see yourself to beautify my book,     Methinks that only lustre doth appear     A light fulfilli"

"In prayer the lips ne'er act the winning part Without the sweet concurrence of the heart."

"God on our youth bestows but little ease;     But on our age most sweet indulgences."

"Chorus Sacerdotum. From the temple to your home     May a thousand blessings come!     And a sweet concurring stream     Of all joys to join wi"

"When I did go from thee I felt that smart     Which bodies do when souls from them depart.     Thou did'st not mind it; though thou then might's"

"1. Prepare for songs; He's come, He's come;             And be it sin here to be dumb,             And not with lutes to fill the room."

"God suffers not His saints and servants dear     To have continual pain or pleasure here;     But look how night succeeds the day, so He     Gi"

"How Love came in, I do not know, Whether by th'eye, or ear, or no; Or whether with the soul it came, At first, infused with the same; Whether in p"

"Sin leads the way, but as it goes, it feels     The following plague still treading on his heels."

"A man prepar'd against all ills to come,     That dares to dead the fire of martyrdom;     That sleeps at home, and sailing there at ease,"

"I'll do my best to win whene'er I woo:     That man loves not who is not zealous too."