Time & Brevity
Dean-bourn, a rude River in Devon. by which sometimes he lived.
From Hesperides (1648)
DEan-bourn, farewell; I never look to see
Deane, or thy warty incivility.
Thy rockie bottome, that doth teare thy streams,
And makes them frantick, ev'n to all extreames;
To my content, I never sho'd behold,
Were thy streames silver, or thy rocks all gold.
Rockie thou art; and rockie we discover
Thy men; and rockie are thy wayes all over.
O men, O manners; Now, and ever knowne
To be A Rockie Generation
A people currish; churlish as the seas;
And rude (almost) as rudest Salvages.
With whom I did, and may re-sojourne when
Rockes turn to Rivers, Rivers turn to Men.
Cite this poem
MLA
Herrick, Robert. “Dean-bourn, a rude River in Devon. by which sometimes he lived.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/herrick/84/.
Chicago
Herrick, Robert. “Dean-bourn, a rude River in Devon. by which sometimes he lived.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/herrick/84/.
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