English Poetry I: From Chaucer to Gray.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 213. To Anthea who may Command Him Any Thing |
| | | Robert Herrick (1591–1674) |
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| BID me to live, and I will live | |
| Thy Protestant to be: | |
| Or bid me love, and I will give | |
| A loving heart to thee. | |
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| A heart as soft, a heart as kind, | 5 |
| A heart as sound and free | |
| As in the whole world thou canst find, | |
| That heart I’ll give to thee. | |
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| Bid that heart stay, and it will stay, | |
| To honour thy decree: | 10 |
| Or bid it languish quite away, | |
| And ’t shall do so for thee. | |
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| Bid me to weep, and I will weep | |
| While I have eyes to see: | |
| And having none, yet I will keep | 15 |
| A heart to weep for thee. | |
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| Bid me despair, and I’ll despair, | |
| Under that cypress tree: | |
| Or bid me die, and I will dare | |
| E’en Death, to die for thee. | 20 |
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| Thou art my life, my love, my heart, | |
| The very eyes of me, | |
| And hast command of every part, | |
| To live and die for thee. | |
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