An Ode of the Birth of our Saviour by Robert Herrick
In numbers, and but these few, I sing thy birth, oh JESU! Thou pretty Baby, born here, With sup’rabundant scorn here; Who for thy princely port here, Hadst for thy place Of birth, a base Out-stable for thy court here. Instead of neat enclosures Of interwoven osiers; Instead of fragrant posies Of daffadils and roses, […]
AN ODE FOR BEN JONSON by Robert Herrick
AN ODE FOR BEN JONSON by Robert Herrick Ah Ben! Say how or when Shall we, thy guests, Meet at those lyric feasts, Made at the Sun, The Dog, the Triple Tun; Where we such clusters had, As made us nobly wild, not mad? And yet each verse of thine Out-did the meat, out-did the […]
AN HYMN TO THE MUSES by Robert Herrick
AN HYMN TO THE MUSES by Robert Herrick 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 inspire me; And teach me how to sing Unto the lyric string, My measures ravishing! Then, while I […]
An Epitaph Upon A Virgin by Robert Herrick
An Epitaph Upon A Virgin by Robert Herrick Here a solemn fast we keep, While all beauty lies asleep; Hushed be all things, no noise here, But the toning of a tear, Or the sigh of such as bring Cowslips for her covering. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, […]
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 […]
Under Cover of Night by Robert Desnos
Under Cover of Night by Robert Desnos To slip into your shadow under cover of night. To follow your footsteps, your shadow at the window. That shadow at the window is you and no one else; it’s you. Do not open that window behind whose curtains you’re moving. Shut your eyes. I’d like to shut […]
The Voice of Robert Desnos by Robert Desnos
The Voice of Robert Desnos by Robert Desnos So like a flower and a current of air the flow of water fleeting shadows the smile glimpsed at midnight this excellent evening so like every joy and every sadness it is the midnight past lifting its naked body above belfries and poplars I call to me […]
The Ring of Stars by Robert Desnos
The Ring of Stars by Robert Desnos In order to make a star with five branches Where six would have been the same A circle must first be drawn In order to make a star with five branches … A ring! One did not take so many precuations In order to make a tree from […]
Sleep Spaces by Robert Desnos
Sleep Spaces by Robert Desnos In the night there are of course the seven wonders of the world and the greatness tragedy and enchantment. Forests collide with legendary creatures hiding in thickets. There is you. In the night there are the walker’s footsteps the murderer’s the town policeman’s light from the street lamp and the […]
No, Love Is Not Dead by Robert Desnos
No, Love Is Not Dead by Robert Desnos No, love is not dead in this heart these eyes and this mouth that announced the start of its own funeral. Listen, I’ve had enough of the picturesque, the colorful and the charming. I love love, its tenderness and cruelty. My love has only one name, one […]
Lying Down by Robert Desnos
Lying Down by Robert Desnos To the right, the sky, to the left, the sea. And before your eyes, the grass and its flowers. A cloud, the road, follows its vertical way Parallel to the plumb line of the horizon, Parallel to the rider. The horse races towards its imminent fall And the other climbs […]
Long Long Ago by Robert Desnos
Long Long Ago by Robert Desnos Long long ago I went through the castle of leaves Yellowing slowly in the moss And far away barnacles clung desperately to rocks in the sea Your memory better still your tender presence was there too Transparent and mine Nothing had changed but everything had aged at the same […]
If You Only Knew by Robert Desnos
If You Only Knew by Robert Desnos Far from me and like the stars, the sea and all the trappings of poetic myth, Far from me but here all the same without your knowing, Far from me and even more silent because I imagine you endlessly. Far from me, my lovely mirage and eternal dream, […]
Identity of Images by Robert Desnos
Identity of Images by Robert Desnos I am fighting furiously with animals and bottles In a short time perhaps ten hours have passed one after another The beautiful swimmer who was afraid of coral wakes this morning Coral crowned with holly knocks on her door Ah! coal again always coal I conjure you coal tutelary […]
Fairy Tale by Robert Desnos
Fairy Tale by Robert Desnos Many times upon a time There was a man who loved a woman. Many times upon a time There was a woman who loved a man. Many times upon a time There was a man and there was a woman Who did not love the ones who loved them. Once […]