Living

The Vine.

by Robert Herrick 1591–1674

From Hesperides (1648)

Living

IDream'd this mortal part of mine
Was Metamorphoz'd to a Vine;
Which crawling one and every way,
Enthrall'd my dainty Lucia.
Me thought, her long small legs & thighs
I with my Tendrils did surprize;
Her Belly, Buttocks, and her Waste
By my soft Nerv'lits were embrac'd:
About her head I writhing hung,
And with rich clusters (hid among
The leaves) her temples I behung:
So that my Lucia seem'd to me
Young Bacchus ravisht by his tree.
My curles about her neck did craule,
And armes and hands they did enthrall:
So that she could not freely stir,
(All parts there made one prisoner.)
But when I crept with leaves to hide
Those parts, which maids keep unespy'd.
Such fleeting pleasures there I took,
That with the fancie I awook;
And found (Ah me!) this flesh of mine
More like a Stock, then like a Vine.

MLA

Herrick, Robert. “The Vine.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/herrick/39/.

Chicago

Herrick, Robert. “The Vine.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/herrick/39/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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