TO HIS
FAITHFUL
FRIEND, M.
Robert Herrick
POETRY PERPETUATES THE POET.
Here I myself might likewise die,
And utterly forgotten lie,
But that eternal poetry
Repullulation gives me here
Unto the thirtieth thousand year,
When all now dead shall reappear.
_Repullulation_, rejuvenescence.
_Thirtieth thousand year_, an allusion to the doctrine of the Platonic
year.
797. KISSES.
Give me the food that satisfies a guest:
Kisses are but dry banquets to a feast.
798. ORPHEUS.
Orpheus he went, as poets tell,
To fetch Eurydice from hell;
And had her; but it was upon
This short but strict condition:
Backward he should not look while he
Led her through hell's obscurity:
But ah! it happened, as he made
His passage through that dreadful shade,
Revolve he did his loving eye,
For gentle fear or jealousy;
And looking back, that look did sever
Him and Eurydice for ever.
803. TO SAPPHO.
Sappho, I will choose to go
Where the northern winds do blow
Endless ice and endless snow:
Rather than I once would see
But a winter's face in thee,
To benumb my hopes and me.
804.
TO HIS FAITHFUL FRIEND, M. JOHN CROFTS, CUP-BEARER TO THE KING.
For all thy many courtesies to me,
Nothing I have, my Crofts, to send to thee
For the requital, save this only one
Half of my just remuneration.
For since I've travell'd all this realm throughout
To seek and find some few immortals out
To circumspangle this my spacious sphere,
As lamps for everlasting shining here;
And having fix'd thee in mine orb a star,
Amongst the rest, both bright and singular,
The present age will tell the world thou art,
If not to th' whole, yet satisfi'd in part.
As for the rest, being too great a sum
Here to be paid, I'll pay't i' th' world to come.
805. THE BRIDE-CAKE.
This day, my Julia, thou must make
For Mistress Bride the wedding-cake:
Knead but the dough, and it will be
To paste of almonds turn'd by thee:
Or kiss it thou but once or twice,
And for the bride-cake there'll be spice.
806. TO BE MERRY.
Let's now take our time
While w'are in our prime,
And old, old age is afar off:
For the evil, evil days
Will come on apace,
Before we can be aware of.
807. BURIAL.
Man may want land to live in; but for all
Nature finds out some place for burial.
808. LENITY.
Here I myself might likewise die,
And utterly forgotten lie,
But that eternal poetry
Repullulation gives me here
Unto the thirtieth thousand year,
When all now dead shall reappear.
_Repullulation_, rejuvenescence.
_Thirtieth thousand year_, an allusion to the doctrine of the Platonic
year.
797. KISSES.
Give me the food that satisfies a guest:
Kisses are but dry banquets to a feast.
798. ORPHEUS.
Orpheus he went, as poets tell,
To fetch Eurydice from hell;
And had her; but it was upon
This short but strict condition:
Backward he should not look while he
Led her through hell's obscurity:
But ah! it happened, as he made
His passage through that dreadful shade,
Revolve he did his loving eye,
For gentle fear or jealousy;
And looking back, that look did sever
Him and Eurydice for ever.
803. TO SAPPHO.
Sappho, I will choose to go
Where the northern winds do blow
Endless ice and endless snow:
Rather than I once would see
But a winter's face in thee,
To benumb my hopes and me.
804.
TO HIS FAITHFUL FRIEND, M. JOHN CROFTS, CUP-BEARER TO THE KING.
For all thy many courtesies to me,
Nothing I have, my Crofts, to send to thee
For the requital, save this only one
Half of my just remuneration.
For since I've travell'd all this realm throughout
To seek and find some few immortals out
To circumspangle this my spacious sphere,
As lamps for everlasting shining here;
And having fix'd thee in mine orb a star,
Amongst the rest, both bright and singular,
The present age will tell the world thou art,
If not to th' whole, yet satisfi'd in part.
As for the rest, being too great a sum
Here to be paid, I'll pay't i' th' world to come.
805. THE BRIDE-CAKE.
This day, my Julia, thou must make
For Mistress Bride the wedding-cake:
Knead but the dough, and it will be
To paste of almonds turn'd by thee:
Or kiss it thou but once or twice,
And for the bride-cake there'll be spice.
806. TO BE MERRY.
Let's now take our time
While w'are in our prime,
And old, old age is afar off:
For the evil, evil days
Will come on apace,
Before we can be aware of.
807. BURIAL.
Man may want land to live in; but for all
Nature finds out some place for burial.
808. LENITY.
