Robert Herrick

"Prigg, when he comes to houses, oft doth use,     Rather than fail, to steal from thence old shoes:     Sound or unsound be they, or rent or who"

"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!"

"Let us, though late, at last, my Silvia, wed; And loving lie in one devoted bed. Thy watch may stand, my minutes fly post haste; No sound calls bac"

"Scobble for whoredom whips his wife and cries He'll slit her nose; but blubbering she replies, "Good sir, make no more cuts i' th' outward skin, On"

"Gold I've none, for use or show,     Neither silver to bestow     At my death; but this much know;     That each lyric here shall be     Of my"

"God's hands are round and smooth, that gifts may fall     Freely from them and hold none back at all."

"To bread and water none is poor;     And having these, what need of more?     Though much from out the cess be spent,     Nature with little is"

"I dreamed we both were in a bed     Of roses, almost smothered:     The warmth and sweetness had me there     Made lovingly familiar,     But"

"When I a verse shall make, Know I have pray'd thee, For old religion's sake, Saint Ben to aid me. Make the way smooth for me, When I, thy Herric"

"Two things do make society to stand:     The first commerce is, and the next command."

"Among these tempests great and manifold     My ship has here one only anchor-hold;     That is my hope, which if that slip, I'm one     Wildere"

"Discreet and prudent we that discord call     That either profits, or not hurts at all."

"Come, Anthea, let us two Go to feast, as others do: Tarts and custards, creams and cakes, Are the junkets still at wakes; Unto which the tribes re"

"Sweet, be not proud of those two eyes, Which, star-like, sparkle in their skies; Nor be you proud, that you can see All hearts your captives, yours"

"When I consider, dearest, thou dost stay But here awhile, to languish and decay; Like to these garden glories, which here be The flowery-sweet rese"

"Store of courage to me grant,     Now I'm turn'd a combatant;     Help me, so that I my shield,     Fighting, lose not in the field.     That'"

"Come, bring your sampler, and with art Draw in't a wounded heart, And dropping here and there; Not that I think that any dart Can make your's blee"

"From this bleeding hand of mine, Take this sprig of Eglantine: Which, though sweet unto your smell, Yet the fretful briar will tell, He who plucks"

"The mountains of the Scriptures are, some say,     Moses, and Jesus, called Joshua:     The prophets, mountains of the Old are meant,     Th' a"

"Let others look for pearl and gold, Tissues, or tabbies manifold: One only lock of that sweet hay Whereon the blessed Baby lay, Or one poor swaddl"

"Burr is a smell-feast, and a man alone,     That, where meat is, will be a hanger on."

"Want is a softer wax, that takes thereon, This, that, and every base impression,"

"Luggs, by the condemnation of the Bench,     Was lately whipt for lying with a wench.     Thus pains and pleasures turn by turn succeed:     He"

"Biancha, let Me pay the debt I owe thee for a kiss Thou lend'st to me; And I to thee Will render ten for this. If thou wilt say, Ten will not"

"If well the dice run, let's applaud the cast:     The happy fortune will not always last."

"To join with them who here confer     Gifts to my Saviour's sepulchre,     Devotion bids me hither bring     Somewhat for my thank-offering."

"If wounds in clothes Cuts calls his rags, 'tis clear     His linings are the matter running there."

"Roses at first were white,     Till they could not agree,     Whether my Sappho's breast     Or they more white should be.     But, being van"

"Ah, Bianca! now I see     It is noon and past with me:     In a while it will strike one;     Then, Bianca, I am gone.     Some effusions let"

"She wept upon her cheeks, and weeping so,     She seem'd to quench love's fire that there did glow."

"Go hence, and with this parting kiss,     Which joins two souls, remember this:     Though thou be'st young, kind, soft, and fair     And may's"

"God hath this world for many made, 'tis true:     But He hath made the World to Come for few."

"When once the sin has fully acted been,     Then is the horror of the trespass seen."

"Look upon Sappho's lip, and you will swear     There is a love-like leaven rising there."

"Other men's sins we ever bear in mind;     None sees the fardell of his faults behind."

"No question but Doll's cheeks would soon roast dry,     Were they not basted by her either eye."

"Let but thy voice engender with the string,     And angels will be born while thou dost sing."

"Julia and I did lately sit, playing for sport at cherry-pit; She threw; I cast; and, having thrown I got the pit, she got the stone."

"Skurf by his nine-bones swears, and well he may:     All know a fellon eat the tenth away."

"This   crosstree   here                   Doth    Jesus      bear,                   Who   sweet'ned   first                   Th"

"Wanton wenches do not bring For my hairs black colouring: For my locks, girls, let 'em be Grey or white, all's one to me."

"Praise, they that will, times past: I joy to see Myself now live; this age best pleaseth me!"

"Tell that brave man, fain thou would'st have access     To kiss his hands, but that for fearfulness;     Or else because th'art like a modest br"

"Never my book's perfection did appear     Till I had got the name of Villars here:     Now 'tis so full that when therein I look     I see a cl"

"Lulls swears he is all heart; but you'll suppose     By his proboscis that he is all nose."

"Skrew lives by shifts; yet swears by no small oaths     For all his shifts he cannot shift his clothes."

"Should I not put on blacks, when each one here     Comes with his cypress and devotes a tear?     Should I not grieve, my Lawes, when every lute"

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

"I'm free from thee; and thou no more shalt hear     My puling pipe to beat against thine ear.     Farewell my shackles, though of pearl they be;"

"Is this a fast, to keep         The larder lean?             And clean     From fat of veals and sheep?     Is it to quit the dish         O"

"Feacie, some say, doth wash her clothes i' th' lie     That sharply trickles from her either eye.     The laundresses, they envy her good-luck,"

"After the feast, my Shapcot, see     The fairy court I give to thee;     Where we'll present our Oberon, led     Half-tipsy to the fairy bed,"

"When as Leander young was drown'd     No heart by Love receiv'd a wound,     But on a rock himself sat by,     There weeping sup'rabundantly."

"In this little Urne is laid Prewdence Baldwin (once my maid) From whose happy spark here let Spring the purple violet."

"O years!    and age!    farewell: Behold I go, Where I do know Infinity to dwell. And these mine eyes shall see All times, how they Are lost i'"

"Part of the work remains; one part is past:     And here my ship rides, having anchor cast."

"Humble we must be, if to heaven we go:     High is the roof there; but the gate is low:     Whene'er thou speak'st, look with a lowly eye:"

"Though frankincense the deities require,     We must not give all to the hallow'd fire.     Such be our gifts, and such be our expense,     As"

"When I behold Thee, almost slain,         With one and all parts full of pain:         When I Thy gentle heart do see         Pierced throu"

"Pardon my trespass, Silvia! I confess My kiss out-went the bounds of shamefacedness: None is discreet at all times; no, not Jove Himself, at one ti"