To Anthea, who may Command him Anything

To Anthea, who may Command him Anything

Original Text
Robert Herrick, Hesperides (London: for John Williams and F. Eglesfield to be sold by Thomas Hunt, 1648), of which a section called "His Noble Numbers: or, his Pious Pieces" has a separate title-page dated 1647. Facs. edn. Menston: Scolar, 1969. PR 3512 H4 1648A ROBA
1Bid me to live, and I will live
3Or bid me love, and I will give
4      A loving heart to thee.
5A heart as soft, a heart as kind,
6      A heart as sound and free,
7As in the whole world thou canst find,
8      That heart I'll give to thee.
9Bid that heart stay, and it will stay,
10      To honour thy decree;
11Or bid it languish quite away,
12      And 't shall do so for thee.
13Bid me to weep, and I will weep,
14      While I have eyes to see;
15And having none, yet I will keep
16      A heart to weep for thee.
17Bid me despair, and I'll despair,
18      Under that cypress tree;
19Or bid me die, and I will dare
20      E'en death, to die for thee.
21Thou art my life, my love, my heart,
22      The very eyes of me;
23And hast command of every part,
24      To live and die for thee.

Notes

2] protestant: one who protests devotion, suitor. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1648
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
3RP 1.201.
Rhyme