| Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903. | | | | To his Conscience | | By Robert Herrick (1591–1674) |
| | | CAN I not sin, but thou wilt be | |
| My private protonotary? 1 | |
| Can I not woo thee to pass by | |
| A short and sweet iniquity? | |
| I’ll cast a mist and cloud upon | 5 |
| My delicate transgression, | |
| So utter dark as that no eye | |
| Shall see the hugg’d impiety; | |
| Gifts blind the wise, and bribes do please | |
| And wind all other witnesses; | 10 |
| And wilt not thou with gold be ti’d | |
| To lay thy pen and ink aside? | |
| It will not be. And, therefore, now, | |
| For times to come I’ll make this vow, | |
| From aberrations to live free; | 15 |
| So I’ll not fear the Judge or thee. | |
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