THE SCARE-FIRE.
by Robert Herrick


WATER, water I desire,
Here's a house of flesh on fire ;
Ope the fountains and the springs,
And come all to bucketings :
What ye cannot quench pull down ;
Spoil a house to save a town :
Better 'tis that one should fall,
Than by one to hazard all.


Scare-fire, fire-alarm.


Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol I.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 23.


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Created by Anniina Jokinen on September 27, 1998.
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