A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick

3. WHEN HE WOULD HAVE HIS VERSES READ

     In sober mornings, do not thou rehearse
     The holy incantation of a verse;
     But when that men have both well drunk, and fed,
     Let my enchantments then be sung or read.
     When laurel spirts i' th' fire, and when the hearth
     Smiles to itself, and gilds the roof with mirth;
     When up the Thyrse is raised, and when the sound
     Of sacred orgies, flies A round, A round;
     When the rose reigns, and locks with ointments shine,
     Let rigid Cato read these lines of mine.