There's always one! Four little girls the shadow of the Ballymun tower blocks [Dublin].: photo by Elinor or Reginald Wiltshire, 1969 (Wiltshire Photographic Collection, National Library of Ireland)
Robert Herrick: Corinna's Going a Maying
Get up, get up for shame, the Blooming Morne
Upon her wings presents the god unshorne.
See how Aurora throwes her faire
Fresh-quilted colours through the aire:
Get up, sweet-Slug-a-bed, and see
The Dew-bespangling Herbe and Tree.
Each Flower has wept, and bow'd toward the East,
Above an houre since; yet you not drest,
Nay! not so much as out of bed?
When all the Birds have Mattens seyd,
And sung their thankful Hymnes: 'tis sin,
Nay, profanation to keep in,
When as a thousand Virgins on this day,
Spring, sooner than the Lark, to fetch in May.
Rise; and put on your Foliage, and be seene
To come forth, like the Spring-time, fresh and greene;
And sweet as Flora. Take no care
For Jewels for your Gowne, or Haire:
Feare not; the leaves will strew
Gemms in abundance upon you:
Besides, the childhood of the Day has kept,
Against you come, some Orient Pearls unwept:
Come, and receive them while the light
Hangs on the Dew-locks of the night:
And Titan on the Eastern hill
Retires himselfe, or else stands still
Till you come forth. Wash, dresse, be briefe in praying:
Few Beads are best, when once we goe a Maying.
Come, my Corinna, come; and comming, marke
How each field turns a street; each street a Parke
Made green, and trimm'd with trees: see how
Devotion gives each House a Bough,
Or Branch: Each Porch, each doore, ere this,
An Arke a Tabernacle is
Made up of white-thorn neatly enterwove;
As if here were those cooler shades of love.
Can such delights be in the street,
And open fields, and we not see't?
Come, we'll abroad; and let's obay
The Proclamation made for May:
And sin no more, as we have done, by staying;
But my Corinna, come, let's goe a Maying.
There's not a budding Boy, or Girle, this day,
But is got up, and gone to bring in May.
A deale of Youth, ere this, is come
Back, and with White-thorn laden home.
Some have dispatcht their Cakes and Creame,
Before that we have left to dreame:
And some have wept, and woo'd, and plighted Troth,
And chose their Priest, ere we can cast off sloth:
Many a green-gown has been given;
Many a kisse, both odde and even:
Many a glance too has been sent
From out the eye, Loves Firmament:
Many a jest told of the Keyes betraying
This night, and Locks pickt, yet w'are not a Maying.
Come, let us goe, while we are in our prime;
And take the harmlesse follie of the time.
We shall grow old apace, and die
Before we know our liberty.
Our life is short; and our dayes run
As fast away as do's the Sunne:
And as a vapour, or a drop of raine
Once lost, can ne'r be found againe:
So when or you or I are made
A fable, song, or fleeting shade;
All love, all liking, all delight
Lies drown'd with us in endlesse night.
Then while time serves, and we are but decaying;
Come, my Corinna, come, let's goe a Maying.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): Corinna's going a Maying, from Hesperides, 1648
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): Corinna's going a Maying, from Hesperides, 1648
Bhainsrorgarh girl [Rajasthan, India]: photo by Rick Elkins, 29 April 2017
Robert Herrick: To the Maides to walke abroad
Come, sit we under yonder Tree,
Where merry as the Maids we'l be.
And as on Primroses we sit,
We'l venter, if we can, at wit;
And as on Primroses we sit,
We'l venter, if we can, at wit;
If not, at Draw-gloves we will play;
So spend some minutes of the day:
Or else spin out the thread of sands,
Playing at Questions and Commands:
Or tell what strange Tricks Love can do,
By quickly making one of two.
Thus we will sit and talke; but tell
No cruell truths of Philomell,
Or Phillis, whom hard Fate forc'd on,
To kill her selfe for Demophon.
But fables we'l relate; how Jove
Put on all shapes to get a Love:
As now a Satyr, then a Swan;
A Bull but then; and now a man.
Next, we will act, how young men wooe;
And sigh, and kiss, as Lovers do:
And talk of Brides; & who shall make
That wedding-smock, this Bridal-Cake;
That Dress, this Sprig, that Leaf, this Vine,
That smooth and silken Columbine.
This done, we'l draw lots, who shall buy
And guild the Baies and Rosemary;
What Posies for our wedding rings;
What Gloves we'l give, and Ribandings;
And smiling at our selves, decree
Who then the joyning Priest shall be;
What short sweet Prayers shall be said,
And how the Posset shall be made
With Cream of Lillies (not of Kine)
And Maiden's-blush, for spiced wine.
Thus, having talkt, we'l next commend
A kiss to each; and so we'l end.
So spend some minutes of the day:
Or else spin out the thread of sands,
Playing at Questions and Commands:
Or tell what strange Tricks Love can do,
By quickly making one of two.
Thus we will sit and talke; but tell
No cruell truths of Philomell,
Or Phillis, whom hard Fate forc'd on,
To kill her selfe for Demophon.
But fables we'l relate; how Jove
Put on all shapes to get a Love:
As now a Satyr, then a Swan;
A Bull but then; and now a man.
Next, we will act, how young men wooe;
And sigh, and kiss, as Lovers do:
And talk of Brides; & who shall make
That wedding-smock, this Bridal-Cake;
That Dress, this Sprig, that Leaf, this Vine,
That smooth and silken Columbine.
This done, we'l draw lots, who shall buy
And guild the Baies and Rosemary;
What Posies for our wedding rings;
What Gloves we'l give, and Ribandings;
And smiling at our selves, decree
Who then the joyning Priest shall be;
What short sweet Prayers shall be said,
And how the Posset shall be made
With Cream of Lillies (not of Kine)
And Maiden's-blush, for spiced wine.
Thus, having talkt, we'l next commend
A kiss to each; and so we'l end.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): To the Maids to walke abroad, from Hesperides, 1648
Untitled [Hank, hen, LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, 29 April 2017
Santa Fe, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, April 2017
Santa Fe, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, April 2017
Santa Fe, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, April 2017
Santa Fe, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, April 2017
Santa Fe, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, April 2017
Santa Fe, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, April 2017
Santa Fe, New Mexico: photo by Jorge Guadalupe Lizárraga, April 2017
spring on the columbia [Astoria, Oregon]: photo by jody miller, 26 April 2017
spring on the columbia [Astoria, Oregon]: photo by jody miller, 26 April 2017
spring on the columbia [Astoria, Oregon]: photo by jody miller, 26 April 2017
just before the rain, havana: photo by jody miller, 1 April 2017
just before the rain, havana: photo by jody miller, 1 April 2017
just before the rain, havana: photo by jody miller, 1 April 2017
Robert Herrick: Her Legs
Slice, from Tom Clark's Once mimeo series, 1965: cover by Joe Brainard, 1965
Fain would I kiss my Julia's dainty Leg,
Which is as white and hair-less as an egge.
Which is as white and hair-less as an egge.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): Her Legs, from Hesperides, 1648
[Untitled]: photo by hajdu tamas, 30 April 2017
Robert Herrick: Silks
Women working on new silk (detail): Master Chang Hsüan, beginning of 12th century (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
When as in silks my Julia goes,
Then, then (me thinks) how sweetly flowes
That liquefaction of her clothes.
Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave Vibration each way free;
O how that glittering taketh me!
Then, then (me thinks) how sweetly flowes
That liquefaction of her clothes.
Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave Vibration each way free;
O how that glittering taketh me!
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): Upon Juiia's Clothes, from Hesperides, 1648
Berlin, Neukölln: photo by Lyd.ium, April 2017
Berlin, Neukölln: photo by Lyd.ium, April 2017
Robert Herrick: The comming of good luck
[Songkhla, Thailand]: photo by Sakulchai Sikitikul, 30 April 2017
[Songkhla, Thailand]: photo by Sakulchai Sikitikul, 30 April 2017
[Songkhla, Thailand]: photo by Sakulchai Sikitikul, 30 April 2017
So Good-luck came, and on my roofe did light,
Like noyse-lesse Snow; or as the dew of night:
Not all at once, but gently, as the trees
Are, by the Sun-beams, tickel'd by degrees.
Like noyse-lesse Snow; or as the dew of night:
Not all at once, but gently, as the trees
Are, by the Sun-beams, tickel'd by degrees.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): The comming of good luck from Hesperides, 1648
Chiang Rai, Thailand: photo by Job Jetichwan Chaowadee, 16 February 2017
Chiang Rai, Thailand: photo by Job Jetichwan Chaowadee, 16 February 2017
Chiang Rai, Thailand: photo by Job Jetichwan Chaowadee, 16 February 2017
Robert Herrick: Upon one Lillie, who marryed with a maid call'd Rose
Aronskelk / Arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica): photo by Calllie-Pop, 31 August 2005
What times of sweetnesse this faire day fore-shows,
When as the Lilly marries with the Rose!
What next is lookt for? but we all sho'd see
To spring from these a sweet Posterity.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): Upon one Lillie, who marryed with a maid call'd Rose, from Hesperides, 1648
Aronskelk / Arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica): photo by Calllie-Pop, 31 August 2005
Robert Herrick: To Groves
Paper Bark tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia), Australian native, Sao Paulo, Brazil: photo by mauroguarandi, 29 November 2009
Some Relique of a Saint doth weare:
Who for some sweet-hearts sake, did prove
The fire, and martyrdome of love.
Here is the Legend of those Saints
That di'd for love; and their complaints:
Their wounded hearts; and names we find
Encarv'd upon the Leaves and Rind.
Give way, give way to me, who come
Scorch't with the selfe-same martyrdome:
And have deserv'd as much (Love knowes)
As to be canoniz'd 'mongst those,
Whose deeds, and deaths here written are
Within your Greenie-Kalendar:
By all those Virgins Fillets hung
Upon your Boughs, and Requiems sung
For Saints and Soules departed hence,
(Here honour'd still with Frankincense)
By all those teares that have been shed,
As a Drink-offering, to the dead:
By all those True-love-knots, that be
With Motto's carv'd on every tree,
By sweet S. Phillis; pity me:
By deare S. Iphis; and the rest,
Of all those other Saints now blest;
Me, me, forsaken, here admit
Among your Mirtles to be writ:
That my poore name may have the glory
To live remembred in your story.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): To Groves, from Hesperides, 1648
Paperbark Tree: photo by Joel Bramley, 5 April 2013
Paper Bark Tree, Point Loma, California: photo by Lee Edwin Coursey, 13 April 2008
Paperbark Maple, Mendocino Botanical Gardens: photo by jidarius, 13 May 2010
Paper Bark Birch: photo by Aubrey Guymn, 16 December 2005
Robert Herrick: Memorials of the Obscure
Grave on the high plains, Dawson County, Texas: photo by Russell Lee, March 1940 (Farm Security Administration Collection, Library of Congress)
Upon a Child. An Epitaph
But borne, and like a short Delight,
I glided by my Parents sight.
That done, the harder Fates deny'd
My longer stay, and so I dy'd.
Upon a child
Here a pretty Baby lies
Sung asleep with Lullabies:
Pray be silent, and not stirre
Th'easie earth that covers her.
Upon Prew his Maid
In this little urne is laid
Prewdence Baldwin (once my maid)
From whose happy spark here let
Spring the purple Violet.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): Upon a Child. An Epitaph; Upon a Child; Upon Prew his Maid, from Hesperides, 1648
But borne, and like a short Delight,
I glided by my Parents sight.
That done, the harder Fates deny'd
My longer stay, and so I dy'd.
Upon a child
Here a pretty Baby lies
Sung asleep with Lullabies:
Pray be silent, and not stirre
Th'easie earth that covers her.
Upon Prew his Maid
In this little urne is laid
Prewdence Baldwin (once my maid)
From whose happy spark here let
Spring the purple Violet.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674): Upon a Child. An Epitaph; Upon a Child; Upon Prew his Maid, from Hesperides, 1648
Grave in the cemetery at Santa Rita, New Mexico. Santa Rita is a copper mining town, inhabitants mostly Mexican: photo by Russell Lee, April 1940 (Farm Security Administration Collection, Library of Congress)
Decorated graves in cemetery at New Roads, Louisiana on All Saints' Day, with chickens eating the flowers: photo by Russell Lee, November 1938 (Farm Security Administration Collection, Library of Congress)
Maytime
Sawmill 2 [Larvik]: photo by astrid westvang, 17 April 2017
Sawmill 2 [Larvik]: photo by astrid westvang, 17 April 2017
Sawmill 2 [Larvik]: photo by astrid westvang, 17 April 2017
Arirang Mass games, Pyongyang. The Grand Mass Gymnastic and Artistic Performance Arirang, held in the Rungrado May Day Stadium, in Pyongyang, North Korea.: photo by Stefan Schinning, 8 September 2012
Arirang Mass games, Pyongyang. The Grand Mass Gymnastic and Artistic Performance Arirang, held in the Rungrado May Day Stadium, in Pyongyang, North Korea.: photo by Stefan Schinning, 8 September 2012
Arirang Mass games, Pyongyang. The Grand Mass Gymnastic and Artistic Performance Arirang, held in the Rungrado May Day Stadium, in Pyongyang, North Korea.: photo by Stefan Schinning, 8 September 2012
Woodland: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 16 May 2013
Woodland: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 16 May 2013
Woodland: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 16 May 2013
Entering Woodland: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 16 May 2013
The wanderer over Brazil, the red kite: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 11 May 2013
The wanderer over Brazil, the red kite: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 11 May 2013
The wanderer over Brazil, the red kite: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 11 May 2013
The clouds and the sky, Belramar: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 22 November 2013
May Day, Pedras Blancas: children, dogs, kites: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 1 May 2013
May Day, Pedras Blancas: children, dogs, kites: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 1 May 2013
May Day, Pedras Blancas: children, dogs, kites: image by Tadeusz Deregowski, 1 May 2013
As promised, comrades. May Day picnic ready! @NC_DSA @DemSocialists: image via mazel tov cocktail @existentialpink, 30 April 2017
Competing cakes here at the @NC_DSA May Day picnic #eattherich: image via mazel tov cocktail @existentialpink, 30 April 2017
Going to smash capitalism today. #eattherich #mayday #maydaypicnic: image via NCPiedmont DSA @NC_DSA, 30 April 2017
The poster for #antifa #MayDay 2017 in Copenhagen, Denmark: image via Capulcu b9AcE @b9AcE, 30 April 2017
4 comments:
Tom, Great to see these Herrick poems on May Day, and all this living color . . . so there's still some hope out there in the world,
today of all days . . .
Bob the Herrick ticks!
The Fall: Hit the North, 1988
Crispy Ambulance live, Manchester 1978
Thanks, friends.
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