To Anthea who may command him Anything by Robert Herrick
Herrick read by Classic Poetry Aloud:\nhttp://www.classicpoetryaloud.com/\nGiving voice to the poetry of the past.\n\n---------------------------------------------\n\nTo Anthea, who may command him Anything\nby Robert Herrick (1591 \u2013 1674)\n\nBid me to live, and I will live\n Thy Protestant to be;\nOr bid me love, and I will give\n A loving heart to thee.\n\nA heart as soft, a heart as kind,\n A heart as sound and free\nAs in the whole world thou canst find,\n That heart I'll give to thee.\n\nBid that heart stay, and it will stay\n To honour thy decree:\nOr bid it languish quite away,\n And 't shall do so for thee.\n\nBid me to weep, and I will weep\n While I have eyes to see:\nAnd, having none, yet will I keep\n A heart to weep for thee.\n\nBid me despair, and I'll despair\n Under that cypress-tree:\nOr bid me die, and I will dare\n E'en death to die for thee.\n\nThou art my life, my love my heart,\n The very eyes of me:\nAnd hast command of every part\n To live and die for thee.