Upon Spur.

Spur jingles now, and swears by no mean oaths,
He's double honour'd, since he's got gay clothes:
Most like his suit, and all commend the trim;
And thus they praise the sumpter, but not him:
As to the goddess, people did confer
Worship, and not to th' ass that carried her.

Robert Herrick

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

English

Suggested Poems

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

The Splendid Spur.

Not on the neck of prince or hound,
    Nor on a woman's finger twin'd,
May gold from the deriding ground
    Keep sacred that we sacred bind:
        Only the heel
        Of splendid steel
    Shall stand secure on sliding fate,
    When golden navies weep their freight.

The scarlet hat, the laurell'd stave
    Are measures, not the springs, of worth;
In a wife's lap, as in a grave,
    Man's airy notions mix with earth.
        Seek other spur
        Bravely to stir
    The dust in this loud world, and tread
    Alp-high among the whisp'ring dead.

Trust in thyself,--then spur amain:
    So shall Charybdis wear a grace,
    Grim Aetna laugh, the Libyan plain
    Take roses to her shrivell'd face.
        This orb--this...

Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

The Splendid Spur.

    Not on the neck of prince or hound,
    Nor on a woman's finger twin'd,
    May gold from the deriding ground
    Keep sacred that we sacred bind:
    Only the heel
    Of splendid steel
    Shall stand secure on sliding fate,
    When golden navies weep their freight.

    The scarlet hat, the laurell'd stave
    Are measures, not the springs, of worth;
    In a wife's lap, as in a grave,
    Man's airy notions mix with earth.
    Seek other spur
    Bravely to stir
    The dust in this loud world, and tread
    Alp-high among the whisp'ring dead.

    Trust in thyself,--then spur amain:
    So shall Charybdis wear a grace,
    Grim Aetna laugh, the Libyan plain
    Take roses to her shrivell'd face.
    This orb--this...

Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

Upon Spokes.

Spokes, when he sees a roasted pig, he swears
Nothing he loves on't but the chaps and ears:
But carve to him the fat flanks, and he shall
Rid these, and those, and part by part eat all.

Robert Herrick

Upon Spalt.

Of pushes Spalt has such a knotty race,
He needs a tucker for to burl his face.

Robert Herrick

Upon Spunge. Epig.

Spunge makes his boasts that he's the only man
Can hold of beer and ale an ocean;
Is this his glory? then his triumph's poor;
I know the tun of Heidleberg holds more.

Robert Herrick

Mr. Herrick: His Daughter's Dowry.

Ere I go hence and be no more
Seen to the world, I'll give the score
I owe unto a female child,
And that is this, a verse enstyled
My daughter's dowry; having which,
I'll leave thee then completely rich.
Instead of gold, pearl, rubies, bonds
Long forfeit, pawned diamonds
Or antique pledges, house or land,
I give thee this that shall withstand
The blow of ruin and of chance.
These hurt not thine inheritance,
For 'tis fee simple and no rent
Thou fortune ow'st for tenement.
However after times will praise,
This portion, my prophetic bays,
Cannot deliver up to th' rust,
Yet I keep peaceful in my dust.
As for thy birth and better seeds
(Those which must grow to virtuous deeds),
Thou didst derive from that old stem
(Love and mercy cherish th...

Robert Herrick