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Maids' nays are nothing, they are shyBut to desire what they deny.
Robert Herrick
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Robert Herrick was a 17th-century English lyric poet and cleric. He is known for his book of poems, "Hesperides," which includes the carpe diem poem "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." His works are noted for their clarity, simplicity, and musical quality. Herrick was also a vicar of Dean Prior in Devon, despite being ejected during the English Civil War and later reinstated.
English
Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.
Pardon.
Robert Herrick, Simple Poetry
Stool-Ball.
Pains Without Profit.
Upon Pievish. Epig.
To Violets
Welcome, maids of honour,You do bringIn the Spring;And wait upon her.She has virgins many,Fresh and fair;Yet you areMore sweet than any.You're the maiden posies;And so graced,To be placed'Fore damask roses.Yet, though thus respected,By and byYe do lie,Poor girls, neglected.
No Loathsomeness In Love.
What I fancy I approve,No dislike there is in love.Be my mistress short or tall,And distorted therewithal:Be she likewise one of thoseThat an acre hath of nose:Be her forehead and her eyesFull of incongruities:Be her cheeks so shallow tooAs to show her tongue wag through;Be her lips ill hung or set,And her grinders black as jet:Has she thin hair, hath she none,She's to me a paragon.
Upon A Crooked Maid.
Crooked you are, but that dislikes not me:So you be straight where virgins straight should be.
To A Maid.
You say, you love me! that I thus must prove:It that you lie, then I will swear you love.
Love Dislikes Nothing
Whatsoever thing I see,Rich or poor although it be,'Tis a mistress unto me.Be my girl or fair or brown,Does she smile, or does she frown;Still I write a sweet-heart down.Be she rough, or smooth of skin;When I touch, I then beginFor to let affection in.Be she bald, or does she wearLocks incurl'd of other hair;I shall find enchantment there.Be she whole, or be she rent,So my fancy be content,She's to me most excellent.Be she fat, or be she lean;Be she sluttish, be she clean;I'm a man for every scene.