Saturday, December 12, 2009

To Anthea, who may command him Anything


Bid me to live, and I will live
...Thy Protestant to be;
Or bid me love, and I will give
...A loving heart to thee.

A heart as soft, a heart as kind,
...A heart as sound and free
As in the whole world thou canst find,
...That heart I'll give to thee.

Bid that heart stay, and it will stay
...To honour thy decree;
Or bid it languish quite away,
...And 't shall do so for thee. . .

Thou art my life, my love, my heart,
...The very eyes of me:
And hast command of every part
...To live and die for thee.

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)