TO THE KING AND QUEEN UPON
THEIR UNHAPPY DISTANCES.

by Robert Herrick

WOE, woe to them, who, by a ball of strife,
Do, and have parted here a man and wife :
CHARLES the best husband, while MARIA strives
To be, and is, the very best of wives,
Like streams, you are divorc'd ; but 'twill come when
These eyes of mine shall see you mix again.
Thus speaks the oak here ; C. and M. shall meet,
Treading on amber, with their silver-feet,
Nor will't be long ere this accomplish'd be :
The words found true, C. M., remember me.


Oak, the prophetic tree.
Sir Anthony van Dyck. Charles I on Horseback. c. 1635.
Sir Anthony van Dyck.
Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France.
c. 1635. From Web Gallery of Art.


Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol I.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 29.


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Copyright ©1998-2007 Anniina Jokinen. All Rights Reserved.
Created by Anniina Jokinen on October 9, 1998. Last updated on January 18, 2007.