Fain would I kiss my Julia's dainty leg,
Which is as white and hairless as an egg.
Which is as white and hairless as an egg.
Robert Herrick
A HYMN TO VENUS AND CUPID.
Sea-born goddess, let me be
By thy son thus grac'd 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 syrup, that I may,
In your temple when I pray,
Kiss the altar and confess
There's in love no bitterness.
347. ON JULIA'S PICTURE.
How am I ravish'd! when I do but see
The painter's art in thy sciography?
If so, how much more shall I dote thereon
When once he gives it incarnation?
_Sciography_, the profile or section of a building.
348. HER BED.
See'st thou that cloud as silver clear,
Plump, soft, and swelling everywhere?
'Tis Julia's bed, and she sleeps there.
349. HER LEGS.
Fain would I kiss my Julia's dainty leg,
Which is as white and hairless as an egg.
350. UPON HER ALMS.
See how the poor do waiting stand
For the expansion of thy hand.
A wafer dol'd by thee will swell
Thousands to feed by miracle.
351. REWARDS.
Still to our gains our chief respect is had;
Reward it is that makes us good or bad.
352. NOTHING NEW.
Nothing is new; we walk where others went;
There's no vice now but has his precedent.
353. THE RAINBOW.
Look how the rainbow doth appear
But in one only hemisphere;
So likewise after our decease
No more is seen the arch of peace.
That cov'nant's here, the under-bow,
That nothing shoots but war and woe.
354.
Sea-born goddess, let me be
By thy son thus grac'd 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 syrup, that I may,
In your temple when I pray,
Kiss the altar and confess
There's in love no bitterness.
347. ON JULIA'S PICTURE.
How am I ravish'd! when I do but see
The painter's art in thy sciography?
If so, how much more shall I dote thereon
When once he gives it incarnation?
_Sciography_, the profile or section of a building.
348. HER BED.
See'st thou that cloud as silver clear,
Plump, soft, and swelling everywhere?
'Tis Julia's bed, and she sleeps there.
349. HER LEGS.
Fain would I kiss my Julia's dainty leg,
Which is as white and hairless as an egg.
350. UPON HER ALMS.
See how the poor do waiting stand
For the expansion of thy hand.
A wafer dol'd by thee will swell
Thousands to feed by miracle.
351. REWARDS.
Still to our gains our chief respect is had;
Reward it is that makes us good or bad.
352. NOTHING NEW.
Nothing is new; we walk where others went;
There's no vice now but has his precedent.
353. THE RAINBOW.
Look how the rainbow doth appear
But in one only hemisphere;
So likewise after our decease
No more is seen the arch of peace.
That cov'nant's here, the under-bow,
That nothing shoots but war and woe.
354.