Robert Herrick. Upon Love. (VII)

UPON LOVE. (VII)
by Robert Herrick

A CRYSTAL vial Cupid brought,
Which had a juice in it ;
Of which who drank, he said no thought
Of love he should admit.

I, greedy of the prize, did drink,
And emptied soon the glass ;
Which burnt me so, that I do think
The fire of hell it was.

Give me my earthen cups again,
The crystal I contemn ;
Which, though enchas'd with pearls, contain
A deadly draught in them.

And thou, O Cupid ! come not to
My threshold, since I see,
For all I have, or else can do,
Thou still wilt cozen me.

Guido Reni. Drinking Bacchus. c.1623.
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.

Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol II.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 24.

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