Quotes from book
Hesperides

Name: Hesperides
Author: Robert Herrick

Hesperides is a book of poetry published in 1648 by English Cavalier poet Robert Herrick. This collection of 1200 of his lyrical poems, his magnum opus was published under his direction, establishing his reputation. It is replete with carpe diem sentiments. The title refers to the Hesperides, nymphs of the evening in Greek mythology. Hesperides includes "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", which features the famous lines:

“Some asked me where the rubies grew,
And nothing I did say;
But with my finger pointed to
The lips of Julia.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"The Rock of Rubies, and the Quarrie of Pearls".
Hesperides (1648)

“Fair daffadills, we weep to see
You haste away so soon:
As yet the early rising sun
Has not attained his noon.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"To Daffadills".
Hesperides (1648)

“If well thou hast begun, go on fore-right
It is the end that crowns us, not the fight.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"The End".
Hesperides (1648)

“Before man's fall the rose was born,
St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;
But for man's fault then was the thorn
Without the fragrant rose-bud born; But ne'er the rose without the thorn.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"The Rose" (published c. 1648). Compare: "Flower of all hue, and without thorn the rose", John Milton, Paradise Lost, book iv. line 256.; "Every rose has it's thorn", Poison, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn".
Hesperides (1648)

“Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt;
Nothing's so hard but search will find it out.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"Seek and Find". Compare: "Nil tam difficilest quin quærendo investigari possiet" (transalted as "Nothing is so difficult but that it may be found out by seeking"), Terence, Heautontimoroumenos, iv. 2, 8.
Hesperides (1648)

“So when or you or I are made
A fable, song, or fleeting shade,
All love, all liking, all delight
Lies drowned with us in endless night.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"Corinna's Going A-Maying".
Hesperides (1648)

“A sweet disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"Delight in Disorder".
Hesperides (1648)

“Bid me despair, and I'll despair,
Under that cypress tree;
Or bid me die, and I will dare
E'en Death, to die for thee.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

" To Anthea, st. 5 http://www.bartleby.com/106/96.html". <br class="br">Hesperides (1648)

“Some asked how pearls did grow, and where?
Then spoke I to my girl
To part her lips, and showed them there
The quarelets of pearl.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"The Rock of Rubies, and the Quarrie of Pearls".
Hesperides (1648)

“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.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

" To Anthea, st. 1 http://www.bartleby.com/106/96.html". <br class="br">Hesperides (1648)

“Her pretty feet, like snails, did creep
A little out, and then,
As if they playèd at bo-peep,
Did soon draw in again.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"To Mistress Susanna Southwell". Compare: "Her feet beneath her petticoat / Like little mice stole in and out", Sir John Suckling, "Ballad upon a Wedding".
Hesperides (1648)

“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying,
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.”

Robert Herrick book Hesperides

"To the Virgins to Make Much of Time". Compare: "Gather the rose of love whilest yet is time", Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book ii. canto xii. stanza 75. ; "Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds, before they be withered", Wisdom of Solomon, ii. 8.
Hesperides (1648)
Context: Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying,
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow 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.