Robert Herrick

"Broomsted a lameness got by cold and beer:     And to the bath went, to be cured there:     His feet were helped, and left his crutch behind;"

"Water, water I desire,     Here's a house of flesh on fire;     Ope the fountains and the springs,     And come all to bucketings:     What ye"

"Look in my book, and herein see     Life endless signed to thee and me.     We o'er the tombs and fates shall fly;     While other generations"

"Words beget anger; anger brings forth blows;     Blows make of dearest friends immortal foes.     For which prevention, sociate, let there be"

"Spenke has a strong breath, yet short prayers saith;     Not out of want of breath, but want of faith."

"Welcome, maids of honour, You do bring In the Spring; And wait upon her. She has virgins many, Fresh and fair; Yet you are More sweet than any"

"Guess cuts his shoes, and limping, goes about     To have men think he's troubled with the gout;     But 'tis no gout, believe it, but hard beer"

"By those soft tods of wool With which the air is full; By all those tinctures there, That paint the hemisphere; By dews and drizzling rain That s"

"Thrice, and above, blest, my soul's half, art thou, In thy both last and better vow; Could'st leave the city, for exchange, to see The country's sw"

"That prince takes soon enough the victor's room     Who first provides not to be overcome."

"Cuffe comes to church much: but he keeps his bed     Those Sundays only whenas briefs are read.     This makes Cuffe dull; and troubles him the"

"'Twas Csar's saying: Kings no less conquerors are     By their wise counsel, than they be by war."

"Next is your lot, fair, to be number'd one,     Here, in my book's canonisation:     Late you come in; but you a saint shall be,     In chief,"

"No man comes late unto that place from whence     Never man yet had a regredience."

"Grow up in beauty, as thou dost begin,     And be of all admired, Tomasin."

"Be bold, my Book, nor be abash'd, or fear      The cutting thumb-nail, or the brow severe;      But by the Muses swear, all here is good,"

"Noonday and midnight shall at once be seen:     Trees, at one time, shall be both sere and green:     Fire and water shall together lie     In"

"Old Widow Shopter, whensoe'er she cries,     Lets drip a certain gravy from her eyes."

"All are not ill plots that do sometimes fail;     Nor those false vows which ofttimes don't prevail."

"Our bastard children are but like to plate     Made by the coiners--illegitimate."

"'Tis not ev'ry day that I Fitted am to prophesy: No, but when the spirit fills The fantastic pannicles, Full of fire, then I write As the Godhead"

"When fear admits no hope of safety, then     Necessity makes dastards valiant men."

"Thou art to all lost love the best, The only true plant found, Wherewith young men and maids distrest And left of love, are crown'd. When once th"

"I abhor the slimy kiss,     Which to me most loathsome is.     Those lips please me which are placed     Close, but not too strictly laced:"

"Thy sooty godhead I desire     Still to be ready with thy fire;     That should my book despised be,     Acceptance it might find of thee."

"God, as He is most holy known,     So He is said to be most one."

"THE APPARITION OF HIS, MISTRESS, CALLING HIM TO ELYSIUM DESUNT NONNULLA Come then, and like two doves with silvery wings, Let our souls fly to t"

"'Tis a known principle in war,     The eyes be first that conquered are."

"Dear Perenna, prithee come     And with smallage dress my tomb:     Add a cypress sprig thereto,     With a tear, and so Adieu."

"Anthea, I am going hence With some small stock of innocence; But yet those blessed gates I see Withstanding entrance unto me; To pray for me do th"

"Sound teeth has Lucy, pure as pearl, and small,     With mellow lips, and luscious therewithal."

"The only comfort of my life     Is, that I never yet had wife;     Nor will hereafter; since I know     Who weds, o'er-buys his weal with woe"

"Let's live in haste; use pleasures while we may; Could life return, 'twould never lose a day."

"Though hourly comforts from the gods we see, No life is yet life-proof from misery."

"Grubs loves his wife and children, while that they     Can live by love, or else grow fat by play;     But when they call or cry on Grubs for me"

"Why do ye weep, sweet babes? can tears Speak grief in you, Who were but born just as the modest morn Teem'd her refreshing dew? Alas, you have no"

"Paske, though his debt be due upon the day     Demands no money by a craving way;     For why, says he, all debts and their arrears     Have re"

"Gryll eats, but ne'er says grace; to speak the truth,     Gryll either keeps his breath to cool his broth,     Or else, because Gryll's roast do"

"In man, ambition is the common'st thing; Each one by nature loves to be a king."

"Bright tulips, we do know     You had your coming hither,     And fading-time does show     That ye must quickly wither.     Your sisterhoods"

"Mon. Bad are the times. Sil. And worse than they are we.     Mon. Troth, bad are both; worse fruit and ill the tree:     The feast of shepherds"

"Lilies will languish; violets look ill;     Sickly the primrose; pale the daffodil;     That gallant tulip will hang down his head,     Like to"

"As wearied pilgrims, once possest     Of long'd-for lodging, go to rest,     So I, now having rid my way,     Fix here my button'd staff and st"

"To paint the fiend, Pink would the devil see;     And so he may, if he'll be rul'd by me;     Let but Pink's face i' th' looking-glass be shown,"

"Bring me my rosebuds, drawer, come;     So, while I thus sit crown'd,     I'll drink the aged Ccubum,     Until the roof turn round."

"For my neighbour I'll not know,     Whether high he builds or no:     Only this I'll look upon,     Firm be my foundation.     Sound or unsoun"

"Little you are, for woman's sake be proud;     For my sake next, though little, be not loud."

"Rapine has yet took nought from me;     But if it please my God I be     Brought at the last to th' utmost bit,     God make me thankful still"

"I will confess         With cheerfulness,     Love is a thing so likes me,         That let her lay         On me all day,     I'll kiss"

"Let all chaste matrons, when they chance to see     My num'rous issue, praise and pity me:     Praise me for having such a fruitful womb,     P"

"After thy labour take thine ease,     Here with the sweet Pierides.     But if so be that men will not     Give thee the laurel crown for lot;"

"Temptations hurt not, though they have access:     Satan o'ercomes none, but by willingness."

"To my revenge, and to her desperate fears, Fly, thou made bubble of my sighs and tears! In the wild air, when thou hast roll'd about, And, like a b"

"For civil, clean, and circumcised wit,     And for the comely carriage of it,     Thou art the man, the only man best known,     Mark'd for the"

"I saw about her spotless wrist,     Of blackest silk, a curious twist;     Which, circumvolving gently, there     Enthrall'd her arm as prisone"

"So long you did not sing or touch your lute,     We knew 'twas flesh and blood that there sat mute.     But when your playing and your voice cam"

"Paul, he began ill, but he ended well;     Judas began well, but he foully fell:     In godliness not the beginnings so     Much as the ends ar"

"Since shed or cottage I have none, I sing the more, that thou hast one; To whose glad threshold, and free door I may a Poet come, though poor; And"

"Maggot frequents those houses of good-cheer,     Talks most, eats most, of all the feeders there.     He raves through lean, he rages through th"

"Sea-born goddess, let me be By thy son thus graced, and thee, That whene'er I woo, I find Virgins coy, but not unkind. Let me, when I kiss a maid,"