Barley-Break; Or, Last In Hell

We two are last in hell; what may we fear
To be tormented or kept pris'ners here
Alas!if kissing be of plagues the worst,
We'll wish in hell we had been last and first.

Robert Herrick

Robert Herrick was a 17th-century English lyric poet and cleric. He is known for his book of poems, "Hesperides," which includes the carpe diem poem "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." His works are noted for their clarity, simplicity, and musical quality. Herrick was also a vicar of Dean Prior in Devon, despite being ejected during the English Civil War and later reinstated.

Robert Herrick

His Confession.

Robert Herrick, Simple Poetry

The Recompense.

Robert Herrick, Simple Poetry

Adversity.

Robert Herrick, Simple Poetry

To Perenna.

Robert Herrick, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Hell.

Hell is the place where whipping-cheer abounds,
But no one jailer there to wash the wounds.

Robert Herrick

The Last Stroke Strikes Sure.

Though by well warding many blows we've pass'd,
That stroke most fear'd is which is struck the last.

Robert Herrick

Doomsday.

Let not that day God's friends and servants scare;
The bench is then their place, and not the bar.

Robert Herrick

Hell.

Hell is no other but a soundless pit,
Where no one beam of comfort peeps in it.

Robert Herrick

Death Ends All Woe.

Time is the bound of things; where'er we go
Fate gives a meeting, Death's the end of woe.

Robert Herrick

Upon The Troublesome Times.

O times most bad,
Without the scope
Of hope
Of better to be had!

Where shall I go,
Or whither run
To shun
This public overthrow?

No places are,
This I am sure,
Secure
In this our wasting war.

Some storms we've past,
Yet we must all
Down fall,
And perish at the last.

Robert Herrick