Devoutly to thy Closet-gods then pray,That my wing’d ship may meet no Remora.Those deities which circum-walk the seas,And look upon our dreadful passages,Will from all dangers re-deliver me,For one drink-offering poured out by thee,Mercy and Truth live with thee! and forbear,In my short absence, to unsluice a tear;But yet for love’s-sake, let thy lips do…
Tears and terrors are our themes,Reciting:But when once from hence we fly,More and more approaching nighUnto young eternity,UnitingIn that whiter Island, whereThings are evermore sincere:Candour here, and lustre there,Delighting:–There no monstrous fancies shallOut of hell an horror call,To create, or cause at allAffrighting.There, in calm and cooling sleep,We our eyes shall never steep,But eternal watch…
Sweet country life, to such unknown,Whose lives are others’, not their own!But serving courts and cities, beLess happy, less enjoying thee.Thou never plough’st the ocean’s foamTo seek and bring rough pepper home:Nor to the Eastern Ind dost roveTo bring from thence the scorched clove:Nor, with the loss of thy loved rest,Bring’st home the ingot from…
Then after her comes smiling May,In a more rich and sweet array;Next enters June, and brings us moreGems than those two that went before;Then, lastly, July comes, and sheMore wealth brings in than all those three.
For with the flow’ry earthThe golden pomp is come.The golden pomp is come;For now each tree does wear,Made of her pap and gum,Rich beads of amber here.Now reigns the rose, and nowTh’ Arabian dew besmearsMy uncontrolled browAnd my retorted hairs.Homer, this health to thee,In sack of such a kindThat it would make thee seeThough thou…
Your date is not so past,But you may stay yet here a-while,To blush and gently smile;And go at last.What, were ye born to beAn hour or half’s delight;And so to bid good-night?‘Twas pity Nature brought ye forth,Merely to show your worth,And lose you quite.But you are lovely leaves, where weMay read how soon things haveTheir…
For love or pity, let me knowThe place where I may find thee.AMARIL. In country meadows, pearl’d with dew,And set about with lilies;There, filling maunds with cowslips, youMay find your Amarillis.HER. What have the meads to do with thee,Or with thy youthful hours?Live thou at court, where thou mayst beThe queen of men, not flowers.Let…
As yet the early-rising sunHas not attain’d his noon.Stay, stay,Until the hasting dayHas runBut to the even-song;And, having pray’d together, weWill go with you along.We have short time to stay, as you,We have as short a spring;As quick a growth to meet decay,As you, or anything.We dieAs your hours do, and dryAway,Like to the summer’s…
Thou shalt not all die; for while Love’s fire shinesUpon his altar, men shall read thy lines;And learn’d musicians shall, to honour Herrick’sFame, and his name, both set and sing his lyrics.To his book’s end this last line he’d have placed:–Jocund his Muse was, but his Life was chaste.
For her beauty, it was such,Poets could not praise too much.Virgins come, and in a ringHer supremest REQUIEM sing;Then depart, but see ye treadLightly, lightly o’er the dead.
