116. TO HIS MISTRESS, OBJECTING TO HIM NEITHER TOYING OR TALKING

You say I love not, 'cause I do not play

Still with your curls, and kiss the time away.

You blame me, too, because I can't devise

Some sport, to please those babies in your eyes;

By Love's religion, I must here confess it,

The most I love, when I the least express it.

Shall griefs find tongues; full casks are ever found

To give, if any, yet but little sound.

Deep waters noiseless are; and this we know,

That chiding streams betray small depth below.

So when love speechless is, she doth express

A depth in love, and that depth bottomless.

Now, since my love is tongueless, know me such,

Who speak but little, 'cause I love so much.

A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick · 第 127 / 269 题