AN EPITAPH UPON A CHILD by Robert Herrick
AN EPITAPH UPON A CHILD by Robert Herrick Virgins promised when I died, That they would each primrose-tide Duly, morn and evening, come, And with flowers dress my tomb. –Having promised, pay your debts Maids, and here strew violets. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic […]
AMBITION by Robert Herrick
AMBITION by Robert Herrick In man, ambition is the common’st thing; Each one by nature loves to be a king. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository of world poetry. Poetry Monster — the multilingual library of poetic […]
ALL THINGS DECAY AND DIE by Robert Herrick
ALL THINGS DECAY AND DIE by Robert Herrick All things decay with time: The forest sees The growth and down-fall of her aged trees; That timber tall, which three-score lustres stood The proud dictator of the state-like wood, I mean the sovereign of all plants, the oak, Droops, dies, and falls without the cleaver’s stroke. […]
A VOW TO VENUS by Robert Herrick
A VOW TO VENUS by Robert Herrick 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! ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository […]
A Thanksgiving to God for His House by Robert Herrick
A Thanksgiving to God for His House by Robert Herrick 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 soft and dry; Where Thou my chamber for to ward Hast set a guard Of harmless thoughts, to watch […]
A Ring Presented to Julia by Robert Herrick
A Ring Presented to Julia by Robert Herrick Julia, I bring To thee this Ring. Made for thy finger fit; To shew by this, That our love is (Or sho’d be) like to it. Close though it be, The joynt is free: So when Love’s yoke is on, It must not gall, Or fret at […]
A REQUEST TO THE GRACES by Robert Herrick
A REQUEST TO THE GRACES by Robert Herrick Ponder my words, if so that any be Known guilty here of incivility; Let what is graceless, discomposed, and rude, With sweetness, smoothness, softness be endued: Teach it to blush, to curtsey, lisp, and show Demure, but yet full of temptation, too. Numbers ne’er tickle, or but […]
A Pastoral Upon The Birth of Prince Charles: Presented to the King, and Set by Mr Nic. Laniere by Robert Herrick
A Pastoral Upon The Birth of Prince Charles: Presented to the King, and Set by Mr Nic. Laniere by Robert Herrick A PASTORAL UPON THE BIRTH OF PRINCE CHARLES: PRESENTED TO THE KING, AND SET BY MR NIC. LANIERE THE SPEAKERS: MIRTILLO, AMINTAS, AND AMARILLIS AMIN. Good day, Mirtillo. MIRT. And to you no less; […]
A PASTORAL SUNG TO THE KING by Robert Herrick
A PASTORAL SUNG TO THE KING by Robert Herrick MONTANO, SILVIO, AND MIRTILLO, SHEPHERDS 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 fail. SIL. None crowns the cup Of wassail now, or sets the quintel up: […]
A PARANAETICALL, OR ADVISIVE VERSETO HIS FRIEND, MR JOHN WICKS by Robert Herrick
A PARANAETICALL, OR ADVISIVE VERSETO HIS FRIEND, MR JOHN WICKS by Robert Herrick Is this a life, to break thy sleep, To rise as soon as day doth peep? To tire thy patient ox or ass By noon, and let thy good days pass, Not knowing this, that Jove decrees Some mirth, t’ adulce man’s […]
A PANEGYRIC TO SIR LEWIS PEMBERTON by Robert Herrick
A PANEGYRIC TO SIR LEWIS PEMBERTON by Robert Herrick Till I shall come again, let this suffice, I send my salt, my sacrifice To thee, thy lady, younglings, and as far As to thy Genius and thy Lar; To the worn threshold, porch, hall, parlour, kitchen, The fat-fed smoking temple, which in The wholesome savour […]
A New Year’s Gift, Sent To Sir Simeon Steward by Robert Herrick
A New Year’s Gift, Sent To Sir Simeon Steward by Robert Herrick No news of navies burnt at seas; No noise of late spawn’d tittyries; No closet plot or open vent, That frights men with a Parliament: No new device or late-found trick, To read by th’ stars the kingdom’s sick; No gin to catch […]
A MEDITATION FOR HIS MISTRESS by Robert Herrick
A MEDITATION FOR HIS MISTRESS by Robert Herrick You are a Tulip seen to-day, But, Dearest, of so short a stay, That where you grew, scarce man can say. You are a lovely July-flower; Yet one rude wind, or ruffling shower, Will force you hence, and in an hour. You are a sparkling Rose i’th’ […]
A MEAN IN OUR MEANS by Robert Herrick
A MEAN IN OUR MEANS by Robert Herrick 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 for ourselves to leave some frankince ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and […]
A Lyric to Mirth by Robert Herrick
A Lyric to Mirth by Robert Herrick While the milder fates consent, Let’s enjoy our merriment : Drink, and dance, and pipe, and play ; Kiss our dollies night and day : Crowned with clusters of the vine, Let us sit, and quaff our wine. Call on Bacchus, chant his praise ; Shake the thyrse, […]
A HYMN TO VENUS AND CUPID by Robert Herrick
A HYMN TO VENUS AND CUPID by Robert Herrick 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, Taste her lips, so overlaid With love’s sirop, that I may In your temple, when I […]
A HYMN TO THE GRACES by Robert Herrick
A HYMN TO THE GRACES by Robert Herrick 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, To entertain that deity; Give me words wherewith to woo, Suppling and successful too; Winning postures; […]
A Hymn to Love by Robert Herrick
A Hymn to Love by Robert Herrick I will confess With cheerfulness, Love is a thing so likes me, That, let her lay On me all day, I’ll kiss the hand that strikes me. I will not, I, Now blubb’ring cry, It, ah! too late repents me That I did fall To love at all– […]
A HYMN TO BACCHUS by Robert Herrick
A HYMN TO BACCHUS by Robert Herrick 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 to please Thee, that great cup, Hercules. Urge no more; and there shall be Daffadils giv’n up to […]
A Dialogue Betwixt Himself and Mistress Eliza Wheeler, under the Name of Amarillis by Robert Herrick
A Dialogue Betwixt Himself and Mistress Eliza Wheeler, under the Name of Amarillis by Robert Herrick My dearest Love, since thou wilt go, And leave me here behind thee; For love or pity, let me know The place where I may find thee. AMARIL. In country meadows, pearl’d with dew, And set about with lilies; […]
A COUNTRY LIFE:TO HIS BROTHER, MR THOMAS HERRICK by Robert Herrick
A COUNTRY LIFE:TO HIS BROTHER, MR THOMAS HERRICK by Robert Herrick 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 sweet simplicity; And it to know and practise, with intent To grow the sooner innocent; By studying to […]
A Conjuration To Electra by Robert Herrick
A Conjuration To Electra by Robert Herrick 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 swell the golden grain; By all those sweets that be I’ the flowery nunnery; By silent nights, and the Three forms […]
A Christmas Carol, Sung to the King in the Presence at White-Hall by Robert Herrick
A Christmas Carol, Sung to the King in the Presence at White-Hall by Robert Herrick Chorus. What sweeter music can we bring, Than a Carol, for to sing The Birth of this our heavenly King? Awake the Voice! Awake the String! Heart, Ear, and Eye, and every thing Awake! the while the active Finger Runs […]
A Child’s Grace by Robert Herrick
A Child’s Grace by Robert Herrick 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 meat and on us all. Amen. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, […]
A CANTICLE TO APOLLO by Robert Herrick
A CANTICLE TO APOLLO by Robert Herrick Play, Phoebus, on thy lute, And we will sit all mute; By listening to thy lyre, That sets all ears on fire. Hark, hark! the God does play! And as he leads the way Through heaven, the very spheres, As men, turn all to ears! ————— The End […]
A Bucolic Betwixt Two; Lacon and Thyrsis by Robert Herrick
A Bucolic Betwixt Two; Lacon and Thyrsis by Robert Herrick LACON. For a kiss or two, confess, What doth cause this pensiveness, Thou most lovely neat-herdess? Why so lonely on the hill? Why thy pipe by thee so still, That erewhile was heard so shrill? Tell me, do thy kine now fail To fulfil the […]
To A Young Lady. On Her Recovery From A Fever by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Why need I say, Louisa dear! How glad I am to see you here, A lovely convalescent; Risen from the bed of pain and fear, And feverish heat incessant. The sunny showers, the dappled sky, The little birds that warble high, Their vernal loves commencing, Will better welcome you than I With their sweet influencing. […]
Written In Early Youth. The Time,–An Autumnal Evening by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
O thou wild fancy, check thy wing! No more Those thin white flakes, those purple clouds explore! Nor there with happy spirits speed thy light Bathed in rich amber-glowing floods of light; Nor in yon gleam, where slow descends the day, With western peasants hail the morning ray! Ah! rather bid the perished pleasures move, […]
Fire, Famine, And Slaughter : A War Eclogue by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Scene a desolate Tract in la Vendee. Famine is discovered lying on the ground; to her enter Fire and Slaughter. Fam. Sister! sisters! who sent you here? Slau. [to Fire.] I will whisper it in her ear. Fire. No! no! no! Spirits hear what spirits tell: ‘Twill make a holiday in Hell. No! no! […]
Fancy In Nubibus, Or The Poet In The Clouds by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
O! it is pleasant with a heart at ease, Just after sunset, or by moonlight skies, To make the shifting clouds be what you please, Or let the easily persuaded eyes Own each quaint likeness issuing from the mould Of a friend’s fancy; or with head bent low And cheek aslant see rivers flow of […]
Epitaph On An Infant. by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Its balmy lips the infant blest Relaxing from its mother’s breast, How sweet it heaves the happy sigh Of innocent satiety! And such my infant’s latest sigh! Oh tell, rude stone! the passer by, That here the pretty babe doth lie, Death sang to sleep with Lullaby. ————— The End And that’s the End of […]
To A Young Lady. On Her Recovery From A Fever by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Why need I say, Louisa dear! How glad I am to see you here, A lovely convalescent; Risen from the bed of pain and fear, And feverish heat incessant. The sunny showers, the dappled sky, The little birds that warble high, Their vernal loves commencing, Will better welcome you than I With their sweet influencing. […]
Written In Early Youth. The Time,–An Autumnal Evening by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
O thou wild fancy, check thy wing! No more Those thin white flakes, those purple clouds explore! Nor there with happy spirits speed thy light Bathed in rich amber-glowing floods of light; Nor in yon gleam, where slow descends the day, With western peasants hail the morning ray! Ah! rather bid the perished pleasures move, […]
The Lime-tree Bower my Prison by Samuel Coleridge
Well, they are gone, and here must I remain, This lime-tree bower my prison! I have lost Beauties and feelings, such as would have been Most sweet to my remembrance even when age Had dimm’d mine eyes to blindness! They, meanwhile, Friends, whom I never more may meet again, On springy heath, along the hill-top […]
Psyche by Samuel Coleridge
The butterfly the ancient Grecians made The soul’s fair emblem, and its only name– But of the soul, escaped the slavish trade Of mortal life !–For in this earthly frame Ours is the reptile’s lot, much toil, much blame, Manifold motions making little speed, And to deform and kill the things whereon we feed. ————— […]
Brockley Coomb by Samuel Coleridge
Lines composed while climbing the left ascent of Brockley Coomb, May 1795 With many a pause and oft reverted eye I climb the Coomb’s ascent: sweet songsters near Warble in shade their wild-wood melody: Far off the unvarying Cuckoo soothes my ear. Up scour the startling stragglers of the flock That on green plots o’er […]
As some vast Tropic tree, itself a wood (fragment) by Samuel Coleridge
As some vast Tropic tree, itself a wood, That crests its Head with clouds, beneath the flood Feeds its deep roots, and with the bulging flank Of its wide base controls the fronting bank, (By the slant current’s pressure scoop’d away The fronting bank becomes a foam-piled bay) High in the Fork the uncouth Idol […]
Constancy To An Ideal Object by Samuel Coleridge
Since all, that beat about in Nature’s range, Or veer or vanish ; why should’st thou remain The only constant in a world of change, O yearning THOUGHT ! that liv’st but in the brain ? Call to the HOURS, that in the distance play, The faery people of the future day– — Fond THOUGHT […]
A Tombless Epitaph by Samuel Coleridge
‘Tis true, Idoloclastes Satyrane ! (So call him, for so mingling blame with praise, And smiles with anxious looks, his earliest friends, Masking his birth-name, wont to character His wild-wood fancy and impetuous zeal,) ‘Tis true that, passionate for ancient truths, And honouring with religious love the Great Of elder times, he hated to excess, […]
Cologne by Samuel Coleridge
In K?hln, a town of monks and bones, And pavements fang’d with murderous stones And rags, and hags, and hideous wenches ; I counted two and seventy stenches, All well defined, and several stinks ! Ye Nymphs that reign o’er sewers and sinks, The river Rhine, it is well known, Doth wash your city of […]