The Hesperides & Noble Numbers/Hesperides/His Desire

by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

1036. HIS DESIRE.

Give me a man that is not dull
When all the world with rifts is full;
But unamaz'd dares clearly sing,
Whenas the roof's a-tottering:
And, though it falls, continues still
Tickling the cittern^[1] with his quill.

1. Cittern, a kind of lute; quill, the plectrum for striking it.