Robert Herrick.

1591-1674

255   Corinna’s going a-Maying

      GET up, get up for shame! The blooming morn
      Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.
      See how Aurora throws her fair
      Fresh-quilted colours through the air:
      Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see
      The dew bespangling herb and tree!
Each flower has wept and bow’d toward the east
Above an hour since, yet you not drest;
      Nay! not so much as out of bed?
      When all the birds have matins said
      And sung their thankful hymns, ’tis sin,
      Nay, profanation, to keep in,
Whereas a thousand virgins on this day
Spring sooner than the lark, to fetch in May.

Rise and put on your foliage, and be seen
To come forth, like the spring-time, fresh and green,
     And sweet as Flora. Take no care
     For jewels for your gown or hair:
     Fear not; the leaves will strew
     Gems in abundance upon you:
Besides, the childhood of the day has kept,
Against you come, some orient pearls unwept.
     Come, and receive them while the light
     Hangs on the dew-locks of the night:
     And Titan on the eastern hill
     Retires himself, or else stands still
Till you come forth! Wash, dress, be brief in praying:
Few beads¹ are best when once we go a-Maying.

Come, my Corinna, come; and coming, mark
How each field turns a street, each street a park,
     Made green and trimm’d with trees! see how
     Devotion gives each house a bough
     Or branch! each porch, each door, ere this,
     An ark, a tabernacle is,
Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove,
As if here were those cooler shades of love.
     Can such delights be in the street
     And open fields, and we not see’t?
     Come, we’ll abroad: and let’s obey
     The proclamation made for May,
And sin no more, as we have done, by staying;
But, my Corinna, come, let’s go a-Maying.

There’s not a budding boy or girl this day
But is got up and gone to bring in May.
      A deal of youth ere this is come
      Back, and with white-thorn laden home.
      Some have dispatch’d their cakes and cream,
      Before that we have left to dream:
And some have wept and woo’d, and plighted troth,
And chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth:
      Many a green-gown² has been given,
      Many a kiss, both odd and even:
      Many a glance, too, has been sent
      From out the eye, love’s firmament:
Many a jest told of the keys betraying
This night, and locks pick’d: yet we’re not a-Maying!

Come, let us go, while we are in our prime,
And take the harmless folly of the time!
     We shall grow old apace, and die
     Before we know our liberty.
     Our life is short, and our days run
     As fast away as does the sun.
And, as a vapour or a drop of rain,
Once lost, can ne’er be found again,
     So when or you or I are made
     A fable, song, or fleeting shade,
     All love, all liking, all delight
     Lies drown’d with us in endless night.
Then, while time serves, and we are but decaying,
Come, my Corinna, come, let’s go a-Maying.

256   To the Virgins, to make much of Time

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
   Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
   To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
   The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
   And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
   When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
   Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
   And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
   You may for ever tarry.