Newspaper Poetry

Tag: Robert Herrick

  • Gather Ye Rosebuds

    From the Richmond Times Dispatch, August 8, 1915. By Robert Herrick.

    Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
        Old Time is still a-flying,
    And this same flower that smiles today
        Tomorrow may 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,
        Ye may forever tarry.

  • To the Willow Tree

    From The Birmingham Age Herald, May 24, 1914. By Robert Herrick.

    Thou art to all lost love the best,
        The only true plant found,
    Wherewith young men and maids distrest
        And left of love are crown’d.

    When once the lover’s rose is dead,
        Or laid aside forlorn,
    The willow garlands ‘bout the head
        Bedew’d with tears are worn.

    When with neglect, the lover’s bane,
        Poor maids rewarded be
    For their love lost, their only gain
        Is but a wreath from thee.

    And underneath thy cooling shade,
        When weary of the light,
    The love-spent youth and lovesick maid
        Come to weep out the night.