The Hesperides & Noble Numbers/Hesperides/His Lachrymæ; or, Mirth Turned to Mourning

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Robert Herrick (1591-1674)2763259The Hesperides & Noble NumbersHesperides
His Lachrymæ; or, Mirth Turned to Mourning
1898Alfred Pollard

371. HIS LACHRYMÆ; OR, MIRTH TURNED TO MOURNING.

Call me no more,
As heretofore,
The music of a feast;
Since now, alas!
The mirth that was
In me is dead or ceas'd.

Before I went,
To banishment,
Into the loathed west,
I could rehearse
A lyric verse,
And speak it with the best.

But time, ay me!
Has laid, I see,

My organ fast asleep,
And turn'd my voice
Into the noise
Of those that sit and weep.