Call for the Robin-redbreast and the Wren

Webster, John (1580 - 1632)

Original Text

John Webster, The White Devil (London, 1612); facs. edn. (Menston: Scolar Press, 1970). PR 3184 W5 1970 Victoria College Library

1Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren,

2Since o'er shady groves they hover

3And with leaves and flowers do cover

4The friendless bodies of unburied men.

5Call unto his funeral dole

6The ant, the field-mouse, and the mole,

7To rear him hillocks that shall keep him warm

8And, when gay tombs are robb'd, sustain no harm;

9But keep the wolf far thence, that's foe to men,

10For with his nails he'll dig them up again.

Publication Start Year

1612

RPO poem Editors

N. J. Endicott

RPO Edition

2RP.1.246; RPO 1996-2000.

Rhyme