Poetry · 1877
A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick
A selection from the twelve hundred short poems Herrick published in 1648 as Hesperides, together with the devotional Noble Numbers that were printed with them. The best known are here — "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may", "Corinna's Going a-Maying", "To Daffodils", "Upon Julia's Clothes", "Cherry-Ripe" — among the epigrams, the country festivals, the fairy poems, the epitaphs, and the many short pieces addressed to women who may or may not have existed.
Herrick was a Devon parson ejected from his living under the Commonwealth and restored to it afterwards, and was almost entirely forgotten for a century and a half before the nineteenth century took him up again. This selection was made by Francis Turner Palgrave, editor of the Golden Treasury, and published in 1877 with his introduction.
This Bibliomancer edition presents the selection complete, with Palgrave's preface.
Contents
- Preface
- 1. The Argument of His Book
- 2. To His Muse
- 3. When He Would Have His Verses Read
- 4. To His Book
- 5. To His Book
- 6. To His Book
- 7. To Mistress Katharine Bradshaw, the Lovely, That Crowned Him with Laurel
- 8. To His Verses
- 9. Not Every Day Fit for Verse
- 10. His Prayer to Ben Jonson
- 11. His Request to Julia
- 12. To His Book
- 13. His Poetry His Pillar
- 14. To His Book
- 15. Upon Himself
- Idyllica
- 17. To Phillis, to Love and Live with Him
- 18. The Wassail
- 19. The Fairies
- 20. Ceremony Upon Candlemas Eve
- 21. Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve
- 22. The Ceremonies for Candlemas Day
- 23. Farewell Frost, or Welcome Spring
- 24. To the Maids, to Walk Abroad
- 25. Corina’s Going a Maying
- 26. The Maypole
- 27. The Wake
- 29. The Bride-Cake
- 30. The Old Wives’ Prayer
- 31. The Bell-Man
- 33. To the Genius of His House
- 33. His Grange, or Private Wealth
- 37. A Pastoral Sung to the King
- 38. To the Willow-Tree
- 39. The Fairy Temple; Or, Oberon’s Chapel
- 40. Oberon’s Feast
- 41. The Beggar to Mab, the Fairy Queen
- 42. The Hag
- 43. The Mad Maid’s Song
- 44. The Cheat of Cupid; Or, the Ungentle Guest
- 45. Upon Cupid
- 46. To Be Merry
- 47. Upon His Gray Hairs
- 48. An Hymn to the Muses
- 49. The Coming of Good Luck
- 50. His Content in the Country
- 51. His Return to London
- 52. His Desire
- 53. An Ode for Ben Jonson
- 56. The Invitation
- 57. To Sir Clipsby Crew
- 59. To His Peculiar Friend, Mr John Wicks
- 60. A Paranaeticall, or Advisive Verse to His Friend, Mr John Wicks
- 61. To His Honoured and Most Ingenious Friend Mr Charles Cotton
- 63. An Ode to Sir Clipsby Crew
- 64. A Panegyric to Sir Lewis Pemberton
- 65. All Things Decay and Die
- 66. To His Dying Brother, Master William Herrick
- 68. The Bad Season Makes the Poet Sad
- 69. On Himself
- 70. His Winding-Sheet
- 71. Anacreontic
- 72. To Laurels
- 73. On Himself
- 74. On Himself
- 75. To Robin Red-Breast
- 76. The Olive Branch
- 77. The Plaudite, or End of Life
- 78. To Groves
- 79. Mrs Eliz: Wheeler, Under the Name of the Lost Shepherdess
- 80. A Vow to Venus
- 81. Upon Love
- 82. Upon Julia’s Clothes
- 83. The Bracelet to Julia
- 84. Upon Julia’s Ribbon
- 85. To Julia
- 86. Art Above Nature: To Julia
- 87. Her Bed
- 88. The Rock of Rubies, and the Quarry of Pearls
- 89. The Parliament of Roses to Julia
- 90. Upon Julia’s Recovery
- 91. Upon Julia’s Hair Filled with Dew
- 92. Cherry Ripe
- 93. The Captive Bee; Or, the Little Filcher
- 94. Upon Roses
- 95. How His Soul Came Ensnared
- 96. Upon Julia’s Voice
- 97. The Night Piece: To Julia
- 98. His Covenant or Protestation to Julia
- 99. His Sailing from Julia
- 100. His Last Request to Julia
- 101. The Transfiguration
- 102. Love Dislikes Nothing
- 103. Upon Love
- 104. To Dianeme
- 105. To Perenna
- 106. To Oenone
- 107. To Electra
- 108. To Anthea, Who May Command Him Any Thing
- 109. Anthea’s Retractation
- 110. Love Lightly Pleased
- 111. To Dianeme
- 112. Upon Her Eyes
- 113. Upon Her Feet
- 114. Upon a Delaying Lady
- 116. To His Mistress, Objecting to Him Neither Toying or Talking
- 117. Impossibilities: To His Friend
- 118. The Bubble: A Song
- 119. Delight in Disorder
- 120. To Silvia
- 121. To Silvia to Wed
- 122. Barley-Break; Or, Last in Hell
- 123. On a Perfumed Lady
- 125. A Conjuration: To Electra
- 126. To Sapho
- 127. Of Love: A Sonnet
- 128. To Dianeme
- 129. To Dianeme
- 130. Kissing Usury
- 131. Upon the Loss of His Mistresses
- 132. The Wounded Heart
- 133. His Mistress to Him at His Farewell
- 134. Crutches
- 135. To Anthea
- 136. To Anthea
- 137. To His Lovely Mistresses
- 138. To Perilla
- 139. A Meditation for His Mistress
- 140. To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
- 141. Posting to Printing
- 142. His Loss
- 143. Things Mortal Still Mutable
- 144. No Man Without Money
- 145. The Present Time Best Pleaseth
- 146. Want
- 147. Satisfaction for Sufferings
- 148. Writing
- 149. The Definition of Beauty
- 150. A Mean in Our Means
- 151. Money Makes the Mirth
- 152. Tears and Laughter
- 153. Upon Tears
- 154. On Love
- 155. Peace Not Permanent
- 156. Pardons
- 157. Truth and Error
- 158. Wit Punished Prospers Most
- 159. Burial
- 160. No Pains, No Gains
- 161. To Youth
- 162. To Enjoy the Time
- 163. Felicity Quick of Flight
- 164. Mirth
- 165. The Heart
- 166. Love, What It Is
- 167. Dreams
- 168. Ambition
- 169. Safety on the Shore
- 170. Upon a Painted Gentlewoman
- 171. Upon Wrinkles
- 172. Casualties
- 173. To Live Freely
- 174. Nothing Free-Cost
- 175. Man’s Dying-Place Uncertain
- 176. Loss from the Least
- 177. Poverty and Riches
- 178. Upon Man
- 179. Purposes
- 180. Four Things Make Us Happy Here
- 181. The Watch
- 182. Upon the Detracter
- 183. On Himself
- 184. I Call and I Call
- 185. The Succession of the Four Sweet Months
- 186. To Blossoms
- 187. The Shower of Blossoms
- 188. To the Rose: Song
- 189. The Funeral Rites of the Rose
- 191. To Carnations: A Song
- 192. To Pansies
- 193. How Pansies or Hearts-Ease Came First
- 194. Why Flowers Change Colour
- 195. The Primrose
- 196. To Primroses Filled with Morning Dew
- 197. To Daisies, Not to Shut So Soon
- 198. To Daffadils
- 199. To Violets
- 200. The Apron of Flowers
- 201. The Lily in a Crystal
- 202. To Meadows
- 203. To a Gentlewoman, Objecting to Him His Gray Hairs
- 204. The Changes: To Corinna
- 205. Upon Mrs Eliz. Wheeler, Under the Name of Amarillis
- 206. No Fault in Women
- 207. The Bag of the Bee
- 209. To the Water-Nymphs Drinking at the Fountain
- 210. How Springs Came First
- 211. To the Handsome Mistress Grace Potter
- 212. A Hymn to the Graces
- 213. A Hymn to Love
- 215. Lovers How They Come and Part
- 216. The Kiss: A Dialogue
- 217. Comfort to a Youth That Had Lost His Love
- 218. Orpheus
- 219. A Request to the Graces
- 220. A Hymn to Venus and Cupid
- 221. To Bacchus: A Canticle
- 222. A Hymn to Bacchus
- 223. A Canticle to Apollo
- 224. To Music, to Becalm a Sweet Sick Youth
- 225. To Music: A Song
- 226. Soft Music
- 227. To Music
- 228. The Voice and Viol
- 229. To Music, to Becalm His Fever
- 230. A Thanksgiving to God, for His House
- 231. Matins, or Morning Prayer
- 232. Good Precepts, or Counsel
- 233. Pray and Prosper
- 234. The Bell-Man
- 235. Upon Time
- 236. Men Mind No State in Sickness
- 237. Life Is the Body’s Light
- 238. To the Lady Crewe, Upon the Death of Her Child
- 239. Upon a Child That Died
- 240. Upon a Child
- 241. An Epitaph Upon a Child
- 242. An Epitaph Upon a Virgin
- 243. Upon a Maid
- 245. The Widows’ Tears; Or, Dirge of Dorcas
- 246. Upon His Sister-in-Law, Mistress Elizabeth Herrick
- 247. To His Kinswoman, Mistress Susanna Herrick
- 248. On Himself
- 249. His Wish to Privacy
- 250. To His Paternal Country
- 251. Cock-Crow
- 252. To His Conscience
- 253. To Heaven
- 254. An Ode of the Birth of Our Saviour
- 256. Grace for a Child
- 257. His Litany, to the Holy Spirit
- 258. To Death
- 259. To His Sweet Saviour
- 260. Eternity
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