Would ye oil of
blossoms
get?
Robert Herrick - Hesperide and Noble Numbers
What offspring other men have got,
The how, where, when, I question not.
These are the children I have left,
Adopted some, none got by theft;
But all are touch'd, like lawful plate,
And no verse illegitimate.
_Touch'd_, tested.
682. DISTANCE BETTERS DIGNITIES.
Kings must not oft be seen by public eyes:
_State at a distance adds to dignities_.
683. HEALTH.
Health is no other, as the learned hold,
But a just measure both of heat and cold.
684. TO DIANEME. A CEREMONY IN GLOUCESTER.
I'll to thee a simnel bring,
'Gainst thou go'st a-mothering:
So that when she blesseth thee,
Half that blessing thou'lt give me.
_Simnel_, a cake, originally made of fine flour, eaten at Mid-Lent.
_A-mothering_, visiting relations in Mid-Lent, but see Note.
685. TO THE KING.
Give way, give way! now, now my Charles shines here
A public light, in this immensive sphere;
Some stars were fix'd before, but these are dim
Compar'd, in this my ample orb, to him.
Draw in your feeble fires, while that he
Appears but in his meaner majesty.
Where, if such glory flashes from his name,
Which is his shade, who can abide his flame!
_Princes, and such like public lights as these,
Must not be look'd on but at distances:
For, if we gaze on these brave lamps too near,
Our eyes they'll blind, or if not blind, they'll blear. _
_Immensive_, immeasurable.
686. THE FUNERAL RITES OF THE ROSE.
The rose was sick, and smiling died;
And, being to be sanctified,
About the bed there sighing stood
The sweet and flowery sisterhood.
Some hung the head, while some did bring,
To wash her, water from the spring.
Some laid her forth, while others wept,
But all a solemn fast there kept.
The holy sisters, some among,
The sacred dirge and trentall sung.
But ah! what sweets smelt everywhere,
As heaven had spent all perfumes there.
At last, when prayers for the dead
And rites were all accomplished,
They, weeping, spread a lawny loom
And clos'd her up, as in a tomb.
_Trentall_, a service for the dead.
687. THE RAINBOW, OR CURIOUS COVENANT.
Mine eyes, like clouds, were drizzling rain;
And as they thus did entertain
The gentle beams from Julia's sight
To mine eyes levell'd opposite,
O thing admir'd! there did appear
A curious rainbow smiling there;
Which was the covenant that she
No more would drown mine eyes or me.
688. THE LAST STROKE STRIKES SURE.
Though by well warding many blows we've pass'd,
_That stroke most fear'd is which is struck the last_.
689. FORTUNE.
Fortune's a blind profuser of her own,
Too much she gives to some, enough to none.
690. STOOL-BALL.
At stool-ball, Lucia, let us play
For sugar-cakes and wine:
Or for a tansy let us pay,
The loss, or thine, or mine.
If thou, my dear, a winner be
At trundling of the ball,
The wager thou shall have, and me,
And my misfortunes all.
But if, my sweetest, I shall get,
Then I desire but this:
That likewise I may pay the bet
And have for all a kiss.
_Stool-ball_, a game of ball played by girls.
_Tansy_, a cake made of eggs, cream, and herbs.
691. TO SAPPHO.
Let us now take time and play,
Love, and live here while we may;
Drink rich wine, and make good cheer,
While we have our being here;
For once dead and laid i' th' grave,
No return from thence we have.
692. ON POET PRAT. EPIG.
Prat he writes satires, but herein's the fault,
In no one satire there's a mite of salt.
693. UPON TUCK. EPIG.
At post and pair, or slam, Tom Tuck would play
This Christmas, but his want wherewith says nay.
_Post and pair, or slam_, old games of cards. Ben Jonson calls the
former a "thrifty and right worshipful game".
694. BITING OF BEGGARS.
Who, railing, drives the lazar from his door,
Instead of alms, sets dogs upon the poor.
695. THE MAY-POLE.
The May-pole is up!
Now give me the cup,
I'll drink to the garlands around it;
But first unto those
Whose hands did compose
The glory of flowers that crown'd it.
A health to my girls,
Whose husbands may earls
Or lords be, granting my wishes,
And when that ye wed
To the bridal bed,
Then multiply all like to fishes.
696. MEN MIND NO STATE IN SICKNESS.
That flow of gallants which approach
To kiss thy hand from out the coach;
That fleet of lackeys which do run
Before thy swift postillion;
Those strong-hoof'd mules which we behold
Rein'd in with purple, pearl, and gold,
And shod with silver, prove to be
The drawers of the axletree.
Thy wife, thy children, and the state
Of Persian looms and antique plate;
All these, and more, shall then afford
No joy to thee, their sickly lord.
697. ADVERSITY.
Adversity hurts none, but only such
Whom whitest fortune dandled has too much.
698. WANT.
Need is no vice at all, though here it be
With men a loathed inconveniency.
699. GRIEF.
Sorrows divided amongst many, less
Discruciate a man in deep distress.
_Discruciate_, torture.
700. LOVE PALPABLE.
I press'd my Julia's lips, and in the kiss
Her soul and love were palpable in this.
701. NO ACTION HARD TO AFFECTION.
Nothing hard or harsh can prove
Unto those that truly love.
702. MEAN THINGS OVERCOME MIGHTY.
By the weak'st means things mighty are o'erthrown.
_He's lord of thy life who contemns his own_.
705. THE BRACELET OF PEARL: TO SILVIA.
I brake thy bracelet 'gainst my will,
And, wretched, I did see
Thee discomposed then, and still
Art discontent with me.
One gem was lost, and I will get
A richer pearl for thee,
Than ever, dearest Silvia, yet
Was drunk to Antony.
Or, for revenge, I'll tell thee what
Thou for the breach shall do;
First crack the strings, and after that
Cleave thou my heart in two.
706. HOW ROSES CAME RED.
'Tis said, as Cupid danc'd among
The gods he down the nectar flung,
Which on the white rose being shed
Made it for ever after red.
707. KINGS.
Men are not born kings, but are men renown'd;
Chose first, confirm'd next, and at last are crown'd.
708. FIRST WORK, AND THEN WAGES.
Preposterous is that order, when we run
To ask our wages ere our work be done.
_Preposterous_, lit. hind part before.
709. TEARS AND LAUGHTER.
Knew'st thou one month would take thy life away,
Thou'dst weep; but laugh, should it not last a day.
710. GLORY.
Glory no other thing is, Tully says,
Than a man's frequent fame spoke out with praise.
711. POSSESSIONS.
Those possessions short-liv'd are,
Into the which we come by war.
713. HIS RETURN TO LONDON.
From the dull confines of the drooping West
To see the day spring from the pregnant East,
Ravish'd in spirit I come, nay, more, I fly
To thee, bless'd place of my nativity!
Thus, thus with hallowed foot I touch the ground,
With thousand blessings by thy fortune crown'd.
O fruitful Genius! that bestowest here
An everlasting plenty, year by year.
O place! O people! Manners! fram'd to please
All nations, customs, kindreds, languages!
I am a free-born Roman; suffer, then,
That I amongst you live a citizen.
London my home is: though by hard fate sent
Into a long and irksome banishment;
Yet since call'd back; henceforward let me be,
O native country, repossess'd by thee!
For, rather than I'll to the West return,
I'll beg of thee first here to have mine urn.
Weak I am grown, and must in short time fall;
Give thou my sacred relics burial.
714. NOT EVERY DAY FIT FOR VERSE.
'Tis not ev'ry day that I
Fitted am to prophesy;
No; but when the spirit fills
The fantastic pannicles
Full of fire, then I write
As the godhead doth indite.
Thus enrag'd, my lines are hurled,
Like the Sybil's, through the world.
Look how next the holy fire
Either slakes, or doth retire;
So the fancy cools, till when
That brave spirit comes again.
_Fantastic pannicles_, brain cells of the imagination.
_Sybil's_, the oracles of the Cumæan Sybil were written on leaves,
which the wind blew about her cave. --Virg. Æn. iv.
715. POVERTY THE GREATEST PACK.
To mortal men great loads allotted be,
_But of all packs, no pack like poverty_.
716. A BUCOLIC, OR DISCOURSE OF NEATHERDS.
1. Come, blitheful neatherds, let us lay
A wager who the best shall play,
Of thee or I, the roundelay
That fits the business of the day.
_Chor. _ And Lalage the judge shall be,
To give the prize to thee, or me.
2. Content, begin, and I will bet
A heifer smooth, and black as jet,
In every part alike complete,
And wanton as a kid as yet.
_Chor. _ And Lalage, with cow-like eyes,
Shall be disposeress of the prize.
1. Against thy heifer, I will here
Lay to thy stake a lusty steer
With gilded horns, and burnish'd clear.
_Chor. _ Why, then, begin, and let us hear
The soft, the sweet, the mellow note
That gently purls from either's oat.
2. The stakes are laid: let's now apply
Each one to make his melody.
_Lal. _ The equal umpire shall be I,
Who'll hear, and so judge righteously.
_Chor. _ Much time is spent in prate; begin,
And sooner play, the sooner win.
[_1 Neatherd plays_
2. That's sweetly touch'd, I must confess,
Thou art a man of worthiness;
But hark how I can now express
My love unto my neatherdess. [_He sings_
_Chor. _ A sugar'd note! and sound as sweet
As kine when they at milking meet.
1. Now for to win thy heifer fair,
I'll strike thee such a nimble air
That thou shalt say thyself 'tis rare,
And title me without compare.
_Chor. _ Lay by a while your pipes, and rest,
Since both have here deserved best.
2. To get thy steerling, once again
I'll play thee such another strain
That thou shalt swear my pipe does reign
Over thine oat as sovereign. [_He sings_
_Chor. _ And Lalage shall tell by this,
Whose now the prize and wager is.
1. Give me the prize. 2. The day is mine.
1. Not so; my pipe has silenc'd thine:
And hadst thou wager'd twenty kine,
They were mine own. _Lal. _ In love combine.
_Chor. _ And lay ye down your pipes together,
As weary, not o'ercome by either.
_And lay_ ye _down your pipes_. The original edition reads _And lay_
we _down_ our _pipes_.
717. TRUE SAFETY.
'Tis not the walls or purple that defends
A prince from foes, but 'tis his fort of friends.
718. A PROGNOSTIC.
As many laws and lawyers do express
Nought but a kingdom's ill-affectedness;
Even so, those streets and houses do but show
Store of diseases where physicians flow.
719. UPON JULIA'S SWEAT.
Would ye oil of blossoms get?
Take it from my Julia's sweat:
Oil of lilies and of spike?
From her moisture take the like.
Let her breathe, or let her blow,
All rich spices thence will flow.
_Spike_, lavender.
720. PROOF TO NO PURPOSE.
You see this gentle stream that glides,
Shov'd on by quick-succeeding tides;
Try if this sober stream you can
Follow to th' wilder ocean;
And see if there it keeps unspent
In that congesting element.
Next, from that world of waters, then
By pores and caverns back again
Induct that inadult'rate same
Stream to the spring from whence it came.
This with a wonder when ye do,
As easy, and else easier too,
Then may ye recollect the grains
Of my particular remains,
After a thousand lusters hurl'd
By ruffling winds about the world.
721. FAME.
_'Tis still observ'd that fame ne'er sings
The order, but the sum of things. _
722. BY USE COMES EASINESS.
Oft bend the bow, and thou with ease shalt do
What others can't with all their strength put to.
723. TO THE GENIUS OF HIS HOUSE.
Command the roof, great Genius, and from thence
Into this house pour down thy influence,
That through each room a golden pipe may run
Of living water by thy benison.
Fulfill the larders, and with strengthening bread
Be evermore these bins replenished.
Next, like a bishop consecrate my ground,
That lucky fairies here may dance their round;
And after that, lay down some silver pence
The master's charge and care to recompense.
Charm then the chambers, make the beds for ease,
More than for peevish, pining sicknesses.
Fix the foundation fast, and let the roof
Grow old with time but yet keep weather-proof.
724. HIS GRANGE, OR PRIVATE WEALTH.
Though clock,
To tell how night draws hence, I've none,
A cock
I have to sing how day draws on.
I have
A maid, my Prew, by good luck sent
To save
That little Fates me gave or lent.
A hen
I keep, which creeking day by day,
Tells when
She goes her long white egg to lay.
A goose
I have, which with a jealous ear
Lets loose
Her tongue to tell that danger's near.
A lamb
I keep, tame, with my morsels fed,
Whose dam
An orphan left him, lately dead.
A cat
I keep that plays about my house,
Grown fat
With eating many a miching mouse.
To these
A Tracy[A] I do keep whereby
I please
The more my rural privacy;
Which are
But toys to give my heart some ease;
Where care
None is, slight things do lightly please.
_My Prew_, Prudence Baldwin.
_Creeking_, clucking.
_Miching_, skulking.
[A] His spaniel. (Note in the original edition. )
725. GOOD PRECEPTS OR COUNSEL.
In all thy need be thou possess'd
Still with a well-prepared breast;
Nor let the shackles make thee sad;
Thou canst but have what others had.
And this for comfort thou must know
Times that are ill won't still be so.
Clouds will not ever pour down rain;
_A sullen day will clear again_.
First peals of thunder we must hear,
Then lutes and harps shall stroke the ear.
726. MONEY MAKES THE MIRTH.
When all birds else do of their music fail,
Money's the still sweet-singing nightingale.
727. UP TAILS ALL.
Begin with a kiss,
Go on too with this;
And thus, thus, thus let us smother
Our lips for awhile,
But let's not beguile
Our hope of one for the other.
This play, be assur'd,
Long enough has endur'd,
Since more and more is exacted;
For Love he doth call
For his _uptails all_;
And that's the part to be acted.
_Uptails all_, the refrain of a song beginning "Fly Merry News": see
Note.
729. UPON LUCIA DABBLED IN THE DEW.
My Lucia in the dew did go,
And prettily bedabbled so,
Her clothes held up, she showed withal
Her decent legs, clean, long, and small.
I follow'd after to descry
Part of the nak'd sincerity;
But still the envious scene between
Denied the mask I would have seen.
_Decent_, in the Latin sense, comely; _sincerity_, purity.
_Scene_, a curtain or "drop-scene".
_Mask_, a play.
730. CHARON AND PHILOMEL; A DIALOGUE SUNG.
_Ph. _ Charon! O gentle Charon! let me woo thee
By tears and pity now to come unto me.
_Ch. _ What voice so sweet and charming do I hear?
Say what thou art. _Ph. _ I prithee first draw near.
_Ch. _ A sound I hear, but nothing yet can see;
Speak, where thou art. _Ph. _ O Charon pity me!
I am a bird, and though no name I tell,
My warbling note will say I'm Philomel.
_Ch. _ What's that to me? I waft nor fish or fowls,
Nor beasts, fond thing, but only human souls.
_Ph. _ Alas for me! _Ch. _ Shame on thy witching note
That made me thus hoist sail and bring my boat:
But I'll return; what mischief brought thee hither?
_Ph. _ A deal of love and much, much grief together.
_Ch. _ What's thy request? _Ph. _ That since she's now beneath
Who fed my life, I'll follow her in death.
_Ch. _ And is that all? I'm gone. _Ph. _ By love I pray thee.
_Ch. _ Talk not of love; all pray, but few souls pay me.
_Ph. _ I'll give thee vows and tears. _Ch. _ Can tears pay scores
For mending sails, for patching boat and oars?
_Ph. _ I'll beg a penny, or I'll sing so long
Till thou shalt say I've paid thee with a song.
_Ch. _ Why then begin; and all the while we make
Our slothful passage o'er the Stygian Lake,
Thou and I'll sing to make these dull shades merry,
Who else with tears would doubtless drown my ferry.
_Fond_, foolish.
_She's now beneath_, her mother Zeuxippe?
733. A TERNARY OF LITTLES, UPON A PIPKIN OF JELLY SENT TO A LADY.
A little saint best fits a little shrine,
A little prop best fits a little vine:
As my small cruse best fits my little wine.
A little seed best fits a little soil,
A little trade best fits a little toil:
As my small jar best fits my little oil.
A little bin best fits a little bread,
A little garland fits a little head:
As my small stuff best fits my little shed.
A little hearth best fits a little fire,
A little chapel fits a little choir:
As my small bell best fits my little spire.
A little stream best fits a little boat,
A little lead best fits a little float:
As my small pipe best fits my little note.
A little meat best fits a little belly,
As sweetly, lady, give me leave to tell ye,
This little pipkin fits this little jelly.
734. UPON THE ROSES IN JULIA'S BOSOM.
Thrice happy roses, so much grac'd to have
Within the bosom of my love your grave.
Die when ye will, your sepulchre is known,
Your grave her bosom is, the lawn the stone.
735. MAIDS' NAYS ARE NOTHING.
Maids' nays are nothing, they are shy
But to desire what they deny.
736. THE SMELL OF THE SACRIFICE.
The gods require the thighs
Of beeves for sacrifice;
Which roasted, we the steam
Must sacrifice to them,
Who though they do not eat,
Yet love the smell of meat.
737. LOVERS: HOW THEY COME AND PART.
A gyges' ring they bear about them still,
To be, and not seen when and where they will.
They tread on clouds, and though they sometimes fall,
They fall like dew, but make no noise at all.
So silently they one to th' other come,
As colours steal into the pear or plum,
And air-like, leave no pression to be seen
Where'er they met or parting place has been.
_Gyges' ring_, which made the wearer invisible.
738. TO WOMEN, TO HIDE THEIR TEETH IF THEY BE ROTTEN OR RUSTY.
Close keep your lips, if that you mean
To be accounted inside clean:
For if you cleave them we shall see
There in your teeth much leprosy.
739. IN PRAISE OF WOMEN.
O Jupiter, should I speak ill
Of woman-kind, first die I will;
Since that I know, 'mong all the rest
Of creatures, woman is the best.
740. THE APRON OF FLOWERS.
To gather flowers Sappha went,
And homeward she did bring
Within her lawny continent
The treasure of the spring.
She smiling blush'd, and blushing smil'd,
And sweetly blushing thus,
She look'd as she'd been got with child
By young Favonius.
Her apron gave, as she did pass,
An odour more divine,
More pleasing, too, than ever was
The lap of Proserpine.
_Continent_, anything that holds, here the bosom of her dress.
741. THE CANDOUR OF JULIA'S TEETH.
White as Zenobia's teeth, the which the girls
Of Rome did wear for their most precious pearls.
_Zenobia_, Queen of Palmyra, conquered by the Romans, A. D. 273.
742. UPON HER WEEPING.
She wept upon her cheeks, and weeping so,
She seem'd to quench love's fire that there did glow.
743. ANOTHER UPON HER WEEPING.
She by the river sat, and sitting there,
She wept, and made it deeper by a tear.
744. DELAY.
Break off delay, since we but read of one
That ever prospered by cunctation.
_Cunctation_, delay: the word is suggested by the name of Fabius
Cunctator, the conqueror of the Carthaginians, addressed by Virg.
(Æn. vi. 846) as "Unus qui nobis cunctando restituis rem".
745. TO SIR JOHN BERKLEY, GOVERNOR OF EXETER.
Stand forth, brave man, since fate has made thee here
The Hector over aged Exeter,
Who for a long, sad time has weeping stood
Like a poor lady lost in widowhood,
But fears not now to see her safety sold,
As other towns and cities were, for gold
By those ignoble births which shame the stem
That gave progermination unto them:
Whose restless ghosts shall hear their children sing,
"Our sires betrayed their country and their king".
True, if this city seven times rounded was
With rock, and seven times circumflank'd with brass,
Yet if thou wert not, Berkley, loyal proof,
The senators, down tumbling with the roof,
Would into prais'd, but pitied, ruins fall,
Leaving no show where stood the capitol.
But thou art just and itchless, and dost please
Thy Genius with two strengthening buttresses,
Faith and affection, which will never slip
To weaken this thy great dictatorship.
_Progermination_, budding out.
_Itchless_, _i. e. _, with no itch for bribes.
746. TO ELECTRA. LOVE LOOKS FOR LOVE.
Love love begets, then never be
Unsoft to him who's smooth to thee.
Tigers and bears, I've heard some say,
For proffer'd love will love repay:
None are so harsh, but if they find
Softness in others, will be kind;
Affection will affection move,
Then you must like because I love.
747. REGRESSION SPOILS RESOLUTION.
Hast thou attempted greatness? then go on:
Back-turning slackens resolution.
748. CONTENTION.
Discreet and prudent we that discord call
That either profits, or not hurts at all.
749. CONSULTATION.
Consult ere thou begin'st; that done, go on
With all wise speed for execution.
_Consult_, take counsel. The word and the epigram are suggested by
Sallust's "Nam et, prius quam incipias, consulto, et ubi
consulueris, mature facto opus est," Cat. i.
750. LOVE DISLIKES NOTHING.
Whatsoever thing I see,
Rich or poor although it be;
'Tis a mistress unto me.
Be my girl or fair or brown,
Does she smile or does she frown,
Still I write a sweetheart down.
Be she rough or smooth of skin;
When I touch I then begin
For to let affection in.
Be she bald, or does she wear
Locks incurl'd of other hair,
I shall find enchantment there.
Be she whole, or be she rent,
So my fancy be content,
She's to me most excellent.
Be she fat, or be she lean,
Be she sluttish, be she clean,
I'm a man for ev'ry scene.
751. OUR OWN SINS UNSEEN.
Other men's sins we ever bear in mind;
_None sees the fardell of his faults behind_.
_Fardell_, bundle.
752. NO PAINS, NO GAINS.
If little labour, little are our gains:
Man's fortunes are according to his pains.
