Poem by Robert Herrick

When He Would Have His Verses Read

In sober mornings, do not thou rehearse
The holy incantation of a verse;
But when that men have both well drunk and fed,
Let my enchantments then be sung or read.
When laurel spirts i'th' fire, and when the hearth
Smiles to itself, and gilds the roof with mirth;
When up the thyrse is rais'd, and when the sound
Of sacred orgies flies, a round, a round.
When the rose reigns, and locks with ointments shine,
Let rigid Cato read these lines of mine.

1. To the Rose
2. The Funeral Rites of the Rose
3. The Succession of the Four Sweet Months
4. The Shower of Blossoms
5. Upon a Painted Gentlewoman

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