To Anthea, who may command him Anything

Robert Herrick 1591 (London) – 1674 (Dean Prior)



BID me to live, and I will live
   Thy Protestant to be;
Or bid me love, and I will give
   A loving heart to thee.

A heart as soft, a heart as kind,
   A heart as sound and free
As in the whole world thou canst find,
   That heart I'll give to thee.

Bid that heart stay, and it will stay
   To honour thy decree:
Or bid it languish quite away,
   And 't shall do so for thee.

Bid me to weep, and I will weep
   While I have eyes to see:
And, having none, yet will I keep
   A heart to weep for thee.

Bid me despair, and I'll despair
   Under that cypress-tree:
Or bid me die, and I will dare
   E'en death to die for thee.

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.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 12, 2023

47 sec read
98

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA BABA CACA DADA EAEA FAFA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 751
Words 155
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Robert Herrick

Robert Herrick was born in London, England, in 1591. He was apprenticed to a goldsmith (his uncle, Sir William), but went to Cambridge, at St John's, in 1613. He was ordained at Peterborough in 1623 and became chaplain to the Duke of Buckingham a few years later. "Hesperides" - a collection of 1200 lyrical poems - was published in 1648 and it remained his magnum opus. Herrick died in 1674, aged 83. more…

All Robert Herrick poems | Robert Herrick Books

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