Robert Herrick

"Stay while ye will, or go, And leave no scent behind ye: Yet trust me, I shall know The place where I may find ye. Within my Lucia's cheek, (Who"

"So Good-Luck came, and on my roof did light, Like noiseless snow, or as the dew of night; Not all at once, but gently, as the trees Are by the sun-"

"Where others love and praise my verses, still     Thy long black thumb-nail marks them out for ill:     A fellon take it, or some whitflaw come"

"Unto Pastillus rank Gorgonius came     To have a tooth twitched out of's native frame;     Drawn was his tooth, but stank so, that some say,"

"Judith has cast her old skin and got new,     And walks fresh varnish'd to the public view;     Foul Judith was and foul she will be known"

"1. Come, blitheful neatherds, let us lay             A wager who the best shall play,             Of thee or I, the roundelay             That"

"God has His whips here to a twofold end:     The bad to punish, and the good t' amend."

"Make haste away, and let one be A friendly patron unto thee; Lest, rapt from hence, I see thee lie Torn for the use of pastery; Or see thy injured"

"Welcome! but yet no entrance, till we bless     First you, then you, and both for white success.     Profane no porch, young man and maid, for f"

"When what is lov'd is present, love doth spring;     But being absent, love lies languishing."

"God then confounds man's face when He not bears     The vows of those who are petitioners."

"All things are open to these two events,     Or to rewards, or else to punishments."

"Angry if Irene be     But a minute's life with me:     Such a fire I espy     Walking in and out her eye,     As at once I freeze and fry."

"Would ye have fresh cheese and cream?     Julia's breast can give you them:     And, if more, each nipple cries:     To your cream here's straw"

"Confession twofold is, as Austin says,     The first of sin is, and the next of praise.     If ill it goes with thee, thy faults confess:     I"

"Thousands each day pass by, which we,     Once past and gone, no more shall see."

"Maidens tell me I am old;     Let me in my glass behold     Whether smooth or not I be,     Or if hair remains to me.     Well, or be't or be'"

"Christ, when He hung the dreadful cross upon,     Had, as it were, a dereliction     In this regard, in those great terrors He     Had no one b"

"That there's a God we all do know,     But what God is we cannot show."

"Rare are thy cheeks, Susanna, which do show     Ripe cherries smiling, while that others blow."

"We blame, nay, we despise her pains     That wets her garden when it rains:     But when the drought has dried the knot,     Then let her use t"

"The May-pole is up, Now give me the cup; I'll drink to the garlands around it; But first unto those Whose hands did compose The glory of flowers"

"When we 'gainst Satan stoutly fight, the more     He tears and tugs us than he did before;     Neglecting once to cast a frown on those     Who"

"To find that tree of life whose fruits did feed     And leaves did heal all sick of human seed:     To find Bethesda and an angel there     Sti"

"God He refuseth no man, but makes way     For all that now come or hereafter may."

"The sup'rabundance of my store,     That is the portion of the poor:     Wheat, barley, rye, or oats; what is't     But He takes toll of? all t"

"Mine eyes, like clouds, were drizzling rain;     And as they thus did entertain     The gentle beams from Julia's sight     To mine eyes levell"

"A little saint best fits a little shrine,     A little prop best fits a little vine:     As my small cruse best fits my little wine.     A lit"

"Her pretty feet Like snails did creep A little out, and then, As if they played at Bo-peep, Did soon draw in again."

"Though clock, To tell how night draws hence, I've none, A cock I have to sing how day draws on: I have A maid, my Prue, by good luck sent, To sa"

"The seeds of treason choke up as they spring:     He acts the crime that gives it cherishing."

"Tumble me down, and I will sit     Upon my ruins, smiling yet;     Tear me to tatters, yet I'll be     Patient in my necessity.     Laugh at m"

"I can but name thee, and methinks I call     All that have been, or are canonical     For love and bounty to come near, and see     Their many"

"I sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds, and bowers, Of April, May, of June, and July flowers. I sing of May-poles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes, Of br"

"The eggs of pheasants wry-nosed Tooly sells,     But ne'er so much as licks the speckled shells:     Only, if one prove addled, that he eats"

"Jove may afford us thousands of reliefs,     Since man expos'd is to a world of griefs."

"Labour we must, and labour hard     I' th' forum here, or vineyard."

"Night hides our thefts, all faults then pardon'd be;     All are alike fair when no spots we see.     Lais and Lucrece in the night-time are"

"Brown bread Tom Penny eats, and must of right,     Because his stock will not hold out for white."

"Herr. Come and let's in solemn wise             Both address to sacrifice:             Old religion first commands             That we wash our"

"Honour to you who sit Near to the well of wit, And drink your fill of it! Glory and worship be To you, sweet Maids, thrice three, Who still insp"

"Lungs, as some say, ne'er sets him down to eat     But that his breath does fly-blow all the meat."

"God, who's in heaven, will hear from thence;     If not to th' sound, yet to the sense."

"Lord, Thou hast given me a cell Wherein to dwell; An little house, whose humble roof Is weather-proof; Under the spars of which I lie     Both so"

"Whene'er I go, or whatsoe'er befalls     Me in mine age, or foreign funerals,     This blessing I will leave thee, ere I go:     Prosper thy ba"

"Sin is an act so free, that if we shall     Say 'tis not free, 'tis then no sin at all."

"The repetition of the name made known     No other than Christ's full affection."

"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"

"Now, if you love me, tell me,     For as I will not sell ye,     So not one cross to buy thee     I'll give, if thou deny me."

"Hog has a place i' the' kitchen, and his share,     The flimsy livers and blue gizzards are."

"If felt and heard, unseen, thou dost me please;     If seen, thou lik'st me, Deb, in none of these."

"Mudge every morning to the postern comes,     His teeth all out, to rinse and wash his gums."

"How dull and dead are books that cannot show     A prince of Pembroke, and that Pembroke you!     You who are high born, and a lord no less"

"God hides from man the reck'ning day, that he     May fear it ever for uncertainty;     That being ignorant of that one, he may     Expect the"

"AMIN. Good day, Mirtillo.    MIRT. And to you no less; And all fair signs lead on our shepherdess. AMAR. With all white luck to you.    MIRT. But sa"

"When others gain much by the present cast,     The cobblers' getting time is at the last."

"God can't be wrathful: but we may conclude     Wrathful He may be by similitude:     God's wrathful said to be, when He doth do     That withou"

"A willow garland thou did'st send     Perfum'd, last day, to me,     Which did but only this portend -     I was forsook by thee.     Since s"

"He who commends the vanquished, speaks the power     And glorifies the worthy conqueror."

"When one is past, another care we have:     Thus woe succeeds a woe, as wave a wave."