Putrefaction.

Putrefaction is the end
Of all that nature doth intend.

Robert Herrick

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.

Robert Herrick

The Rosemary Branch.

Robert Herrick, Simple Poetry

To The Nightingale And Robin Redbreast.

Robert Herrick, Simple Poetry

To The Most Virtuous Mistress Pot, Who Many Times Entertained Him.

Robert Herrick, Simple Poetry

Upon Shift.

Robert Herrick, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Evil.

Evil no nature hath; the loss of good
Is that which gives to sin a livelihood.

Robert Herrick

On Himself.

Some parts may perish, die thou canst not all:
The most of thee shall 'scape the funeral.

Robert Herrick

Upon Wrinkles

Wrinkles no more are, or no less,
Than beauty turn'd to sourness.

Robert Herrick

The End.

If well thou hast begun, go on fore-right;
It is the end that crowns us, not the fight.

Robert Herrick

All Things Decay And Die

All things decay with time: The forest sees
The growth and down-fall of her aged trees;
That timber tall, which three-score lustres stood
The proud dictator of the state-like wood,
I mean the sovereign of all plants, the oak,
Droops, dies, and falls without the cleaver's stroke.

Robert Herrick

Upon Craw.

Craw cracks in sirrop; and does stinking say,
Who can hold that, my friends, that will away?

Robert Herrick