81. UPON LOVE

A crystal vial Cupid brought,

Which had a juice in it:

Of which who drank, he said, no thought

Of Love he should admit.

I, greedy of the prize, did drink,

And emptied soon the glass;

Which burnt me so, that I do think

The fire of hell it was.

Give me my earthen cups again,

The crystal I contemn,

Which, though enchased with pearls, contain

A deadly draught in them.

And thou, O Cupid! come not to

My threshold,--since I see,

For all I have, or else can do,

Thou still wilt cozen me.

A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick · 第 92 / 269 题