Robert Herrick. A Conjuration To Electra.

A CONJURATION TO ELECTRA.
by Robert Herrick

BY those soft tods of wool
With which the air is full ;
By all those tinctures there,
That paint the hemisphere ;
By dews and drizzling rain
That swell the golden grain ;
By all those sweets that be
I' th' flowery nunnery ;
By silent nights, and the
Three forms of Hecate ;
By all aspects that bless
The sober sorceress,
While juice she strains, and pith
To make her philters with ;
By time that hastens on
Things to perfection ;
And by yourself, the best
Conjurement of the rest :
O my Electra ! be
In love with none, but me.

Tods of wool, literally, tod of wool = twenty-eight
pounds, here used of the fleecy clouds.
Tinctures, colours.
Three forms of Hecate, the Diva triformis of Hor.
Od. iii. 22. Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, Perse-
phone in the world below.
Aspects, i.e., of the planets.

Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol II.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 71-72.

to Works of Robert Herrick