Robert Herrick Quotes

Bid me to love, and I will give a loving heart to thee.

No pains. No gains

No, not Jove
Himselfe, at one time, can be wise and love.

Temptations hurt not, though they have accesse; Satan o'ercomes none but by willingnesse.

Oft have I heard both youths and virgins say,
Birds chuse their mates and couple too this day:
But by their flight I never can devine
When I shall couple with my valentine.

Before man's fall the rose was born,St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;But for man's fault then was the thornWithout the fragrant rose-bud born; But ne'er the rose without the thorn.

In things a moderation keep; Kings ought to shear, not skin, their sheep.

It takes great wit and interest and energy to be happy. The pursuit of happiness is a great activity. One must be open and alive. It is the greatest feat man has to accomplish.

Thou art my life, my love, my heart,
The very eyes of me:
And hast command of every part
To live and die for thee.

Things are evermore sincere; / Candor here, and lustre there / Delighting.

Happy is the bride that the sun shines on.

Feed him ye must, whose food fills you.
And that this pleasure is like raine,
Not sent ye for to drowne your paine,
But for to make it spring againe.

God doth not promise here to man that HeWill free him quickly from his misery;But in His own time, and when He thinks fit,Then He will give a happy end to it.

Welcome, maids of honor, You doe bring In the spring, And wait upon her.

Well I sup and well I dine,
When I drink my frolic wine.

Thus times do shift, each thing his turn does hold; New things succeed, as former things grow old.

To the Virgins, To Make much of Time
Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he is to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while you may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.

In prayer the lips ne'er act the winning part, Without the sweet concurrence of the heart.

Bid me despair, and I'll despair,Under that cypress tree;Or bid me die, and I will dareE'en Death, to die for thee.

Seldom comes Glory till a man be dead.

I'll write, because I'll give - You critics means to live; For should I not supply - The cause, the effect would die

Love is a circle that doth restless move
In the same sweet eternity of love.

It is the end that crowns us, not the fight.

Here a little child I stand, Heaving up my either hand; Cold as paddocks though they be, Here I lift them up to Thee, for a benison to fall on our meat, and on us all. Amen.

But ne'er the rose without the thorn.

Give house-room to the best; 'tis never known
Verture and pleasure both to dwell in one.

It is an active flame that fliesFirst to the babies in the eyes.

Know when to speak - for many times it brings danger, to give the best advice to kings.

I dare not ask a kiss;
I dare not beg a smile;
Lest having that or this,
I might grow proud the while.
No, no, the utmost share
Of my desire shall be
Only to kiss that air,
That lately kissed thee.

Here we are all, by day; by night, we're hurled
By dreams, each one, into a several world.

Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave vibration each way free,
O how that glittering taketh me!

Art quickens nature; care will make a face; Neglected beauty perisheth apace.

He who has suffered shipwreck, fears to sail Upon the seas, though with a gentle gale.

Go to your banquet then, but use delight
So as to rise still with an appetite.

When one is past, another care we have; Thus woe succeeds a woe, as wave a wave.

Lord, 'tis Thy plenty-dropping hand
That soils my land,
And giv'st me for my bushel sowne
Twice ten for one.
All this, and better, Thou dost send
Me, to this end,
That I should render, for my part,
A thankful heart.

The first act's doubtful, but we say, it is the last commends the play.

When a daffadill I see, Hanging down his head towards me, Guess I may, what I must be: First, I shall decline my head; Secondly, I shall be dead: Lastly, safely buryed.

Some would know
Why I so
Long still doe tarry,
And ask why
Here that I
Live, and not marry?
Thus I those
Doe oppose;
What man would be here,
Slave to Thrall,
If at all
He could live free here?

Love is maintain'd by wealth: when all is spent,
Adversity then breeds the discontent.

Whatever comes, let's be content withal; Among God's blessings there is not one small.

Praise they that will times past, I joy to see My selfe now live: this age best pleaseth mee.

Buying, possessing, accumulating
this is not worldliness. But doing this in the love of it, with no love of God paramount
doing it so that thoughts of eternity and God are an intrusion
doing it so that one's spirit is secularized in the process; this is worldliness.

Who with a little cannot be content, endures an everlasting punishment.

What is a kiss? Why this, as some approve: The sure, sweet cement, glue, and lime of love.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun.

Drink wine, and live here blitheful while ye may;
The morrow's life too late is; live to-day.

Let wealth come in by comely thrift,
And not by any sordid shift;
'T is haste
Makes waste;
Extremes have still their fault.
Who gripes too hard the dry and slipp'ry sand,
Holds none at all, or little, in his hand.

Humble we must be, if to heaven we go; High is the roof there, but the gate is low.

Wealth cannot make a life, but Love.

In the hour of my distress, When temptations me oppress, And when I my sins confess, Sweet Spirit, comfort me.

Necessity makes dastards valiant men.

Learn this of me, where'er thy lot doth fall,
Short lot, or not, to be content with all.

What though the sea be calm? trust to the shore, Ships have been drown'd, where late they danc'd before.

Our present tears here, not our present laughter
Are but the handsells of our joys hereafter.

So when or you or I are made A fable, song, or fleeting shade; All love, all liking, all delight Lies drowned with us in endless night. Then while time serves, and we are but decaying; Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a Maying.

None pities him that is in the snare, who warned before, would not beware.

Hast thou attempted greatnesse? Then go on; Back-turning slackens resolution.

The person lives twice who lives the first life well.

Let my muse
Fail of thy former helps, and only use
Her inadulterate strength. What's done by me
Hereafter shall smell of the lamp, not thee.

T is the will that makes the action good or ill.

When words we want, love teacheth to indite;
And what we blush to speak, she bids us write.

He loves his bonds who, when the first are broke, Submits his neck into a second yoke.

When the tempter me pursueth
With the sins of all my youth,
And half damns me with untruth,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt. Nothing's so hard but search will find it out.

And as this round (ring) is nowhere found to flaw, or else to sever. So let our love as endless prove and pure as gold forever.

That age is best which is the first
When youth and blood are warmer.

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.

Tears are the noble language of the eye.