AN ODE TO SIR CLIPSEBY CREW.
by Robert Herrick


HERE we securely live and eat
              The cream of meat,
       And keep eternal fires,
By which we sit, and do divine
                    As wine
              And rage inspires.

If full we charm, then call upon
              Anacreon
       To grace the frantic thyrse ;
And having drunk, we raise a shout
                    Throughout
              To praise his verse.

Then cause we Horace to be read,
              Which sung, or said,
       A goblet to the brim
Of lyric wine, both swell'd and crown'd,
                    Around
              We quaff to him.

Thus, thus we live, and spend the hours
              In wine and flowers,
       And make the frolic year,
The month, the week, the instant day
                    To stay
              The longer here.

Come then, brave knight, and see the cell
              Wherein I dwell,
       And my enchantments too,
Which love and noble freedom is ;
                    And this
              Shall fetter you.

Take horse, and come, or be so kind
              To send your mind,
       Though but in numbers few,
And I shall think I have the heart,
                    Or part
              Of Clipseby Crew.


Securely, free from care.
Thyrse, a Bacchic staff.
Instant, oncoming.
Numbers, verses.


Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol I.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 248-250.


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