| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | To His Saviour, a Child: A Present by a Child | | By Robert Herrick (1591–1674) |
| | | GO, pretty child, and bear this flower | |
| Unto thy little Saviour; | |
| And tell Him, by that bud now blown, | |
| He is the Rose of Sharon known. | |
| When thou hast said so, stick it there | 5 |
| Upon His bib or stomacher; | |
| And tell Him for good handsel, 1 too, | |
| That thou hast brought a whistle new, | |
| Made of a clean straight oaten reed, | |
| To charm His cries at time of need. | 10 |
| Tell Him, for coral, thou hast none, | |
| But if thou hadst, He should have one; | |
| But poor thou art, and known to be | |
| Even as moneyless as He. | |
| Lastly, if thou canst win a kiss | 15 |
| From those mellifluous lips of His; | |
| Then never take a second one, | |
| To spoil the first impression. | |
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