Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
Robert Herrick. 15911674266. To Anthea, who may command him Anything
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, | 5 |
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: | 10 |
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 | 15 |
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. | 20 |
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. |