Life poems
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The Dirge Of Jephthah's Daughter:sung By The Virgins
© Robert Herrick
O thou, the wonder of all days!
O paragon, and pearl of praise!
O Virgin-martyr, ever blest
Above the rest
Of all the maiden-train! We come,
And bring fresh strewings to thy tomb.
A Country Life:to His Brother, Mr Thomas Herrick
© 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;
Life Is The Body's Light
© Robert Herrick
Life is the body's light; which, once declining,
Those crimson clouds i' th' cheeks and lips leave shining:-
Those counter-changed tabbies in the air,
The sun once set, all of one colour are:
So, when death comes, fresh tinctures lose their place,
And dismal darkness then doth smutch the face.
His Sailing From Julia
© Robert Herrick
When that day comes, whose evening says I'm gone
Unto that watery desolation;
Devoutly to thy Closet-gods then pray,
That my wing'd ship may meet no Remora.
To His Dying Brother, Master William Herrick
© Robert Herrick
Life of my life, take not so soon thy flight,
But stay the time till we have bade good-night.
Thou hast both wind and tide with thee; thy way
As soon dispatch'd is by the night as day.
Tears And Laughter
© Robert Herrick
Knew'st thou one month would take thy life away,
Thou'dst weep; but laugh, should it not last a day.
The Parcae; Or, Three Dainty Destinies:the Armilet
© Robert Herrick
Three lovely sisters working were,
As they were closely set,
Of soft and dainty maiden-hair,
A curious Armilet.
An Ode to Master Endymion Porter, Upon His Brother's Death
© Robert Herrick
Not all thy flushing suns are set,
Herrick, as yet ;
Nor doth this far-drawn hemisphere
Frown and look sullen ev'rywhere.
His Meditation Upon Death
© Robert Herrick
BE those few hours, which I have yet to spend,
Blest with the meditation of my end;
Though they be few in number, I'm content;
If otherwise, I stand indifferent,
Miseries
© Robert Herrick
Though hourly comforts from the gods we see,
No life is yet life-proof from misery.
Loss From The Least
© Robert Herrick
Great men by small means oft are overthrown;
He's lord of thy life, who contemns his own.
The Changes: To Corinna
© Robert Herrick
Be not proud, but now incline
Your soft ear to discipline;
You have changes in your life,
Sometimes peace, and sometimes strife;
A Christmas Carol, Sung to the King in the Presence at White-Hall
© Robert Herrick
Voice 1:
Dark and dull night, fly hence away,
And give the honor to this Day,
That sees December turn'd to May.
To Youth
© Robert Herrick
Drink wine, and live here blitheful while ye may;
The morrow's life too late is; Live to-day.
The Country Life:
© Robert Herrick
TO THE HONOURED MR ENDYMION PORTER, GROOM OF
THE BED-CHAMBER TO HIS MAJESTYSweet country life, to such unknown,
Whose lives are others', not their own!
But serving courts and cities, be
The Hour-glass
© Robert Herrick
That hour-glass which there you see
With water fill'd, sirs, credit me,
The humour was, as I have read,
But lovers' tears incrystalled.
To Live Freely
© Robert Herrick
Let's live in haste; use pleasures while we may;
Could life return, 'twould never lose a day.
To Anthea, Who May Command Him Anything
© Robert Herrick
Bid me to live, and I will live
Thy Protestant to be;
Or bid me love, and I will give
A loving heart to thee.
To Daisies, Not To Shut So Soon
© Robert Herrick
Shut not so soon; the dull-eyed night
Has not as yet begun
To make a seizure on the light,
Or to seal up the sun.
Corinna's Going A-Maying
© Robert Herrick
Get up, get up for shame! the blooming morn
Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.
See how Aurora throws her fair
Fresh-quilted colours through the air!
